The Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Composers' Union invite to participate in the international conference entitled "Paris and its influence on the musical culture of 20th-century Central and Eastern Europe". The official conference language will be English. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2026.
The role of Paris as one of the centres of global migration in the world of culture and music has been discussed many times, as has the activity of musicians from Central and Eastern Europe in the French capital. With regard to Polish music, researchers have been particularly interested in the neoclassical movement, including the role of Nadia Boulanger as a teacher of several generations of Polish composers and a promoter of Igor Stravinsky's artistic concepts. However, the subject of Paris and its role in the culture of Central and Eastern European countries still seems far from exhausted and its study may yield new perspectives and discoveries. In the proposed conference, we aim to examine the role of Paris as a key hub of cultural transfer and exchange between the French capital and Central and Eastern European countries, including both the states as well as diasporic communities.
Who was responsible for promoting musical ideas from Paris in Poland, Lithuania and other countries? What did newcomers bring to Paris and how did their presence transform its musical life? What networks did they create? What role did the great masters, individual artists and organisers of musical life play as actors building various circles of influence and relations between Paris and their homelands, between artists and their native cultures? What role did Paris play in the lives and work of emigrants who found their place there, both in the interwar period and during the Cold War? At the conference we want to discuss the above issues, following thematic areas centred on various cultural networks with Paris as a focal point.
Suggested themes include, but are not limited to:
- Between Paris and the homeland: cultural transfer between Paris and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe:
- exchange of ideas, concepts and artists: musical networking beyond borders;
- role of musical diasporas: École de Paris, Association of Young Polish Musicians;
- musicians as members of wider artistic diasporas: cultural transfer between arts;
- comparative perspectives on different national diasporas in Paris.
- Paris as a place of transition, a significant stopover or a new home for musical migrants before and after World War II: composers, performers, film and popular music makers:
- Jewish emigration before World War II;
- Political refugees: composers form the USSR and the Soviet zone;
- Paris as a transit point to the United States: transatlantic émigré networks and connections.
- Paris and the Cold War:
- composers and musicians within the circles of émigré networks of intellectuals and oppositionists: Kultura journal and its editor Jerzy Giedroyc; Congress for Cultural Freedom; Centre for Dialogue of the Pallottine Fathers; connections with Radio Free Europe and other émigré media;
- political refugee émigré composers in Paris;
- cross-national networks and collaborations.
- Paris as a place of education for composers from Central and Eastern Europe:
- great pedagogues and visionaries: Nadia Boulanger, Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, Gérard Grisey – their role in spreading musical ideas;
- École Normale de Musique – creating an international network of musicians: the idea, professors, students (their activities after returning to homeland);
- GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique) – music and technology (e.g. musique concrète, musique spectrale, electronic and computer music) in building transnational networks;
- International Rostrum of Composers (IRC), Domaine Musicale, and other institutions as promotors of cultural transer.
- Methodological approaches:
- transnational and comparative perspectives: beyond national narratives
- networks and actors: studying émigré musicians, organizers of musical life, and their cultural interactions
- diasporic identities and cultural transfer: music as a contact zone between diaspora and the homeland
- sources and methods: archives, oral histories, and other approaches.
The programme will feature keynote lectures, thematic panels, and roundtable discussions designed to foster dialogue across disciplines. Contributions are welcome from researchers and practitioners at all career stages and across disciplines. We invite proposals for papers and panels.
Submission Guidelines:
- Abstracts: 250–300 words for individual papers
- Biography: Short bio (100 words) including affiliation and contact details
- Deadline for submissions: 1 February 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 28 February 2026
Please send proposals to:
The official conference language is English. The conference is planned as an in-person event and will take place in the Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, Długa 26, Warsaw.
The conference fee is: 120 euro or 500 PLN. It will be due to pay after acceptance of submissions.
Selected papers will be considered for publication in an edited volume of the book series ‘Muzyka polska za granicą’ [Polish Music Abroad]. The deadline for submitting paper for publication will be October 31, 2026.
Conference will be held as a part of the DAINA 3 research project ‘Polish and Lithuanian émigré music cultures in France and the USA in the 20th century.’
Programme Board:
Prof. PAN dr hab. Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska, Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Prof. PAN dr hab, Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak, Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw
Prof. dr hab. Iwona Lindstedt, Instutute of Musicology, University of Warsaw
Prof. AMFN dr hab. Barbara Mielcarek-Krzyżanowska, Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, Bydgoszcz
Conference Secretary:
Łucja Siedlik, PhD candidate, Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences
email:
