Welcome to The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch

1st International Music Livelihoods Symposium

Posted: October 11th, 2021 | Filed under: Calls for Papers | No Comments »

The Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre and/of the Creative Arts Research Institute will be holding the 1st International Music Livelihoods Symposium (online), December 6&7, 2021. Keynote speakers include Dr Nicole Canham (Monash University) author of recently-released Preparing Musicians for Precarious Work (Routledge).

The core theme of the symposium is “Educating for the Sustainable Musician in Post-Normal Times.” Postnormal times (PNT) is a concept developed by Ziauddin Sardar as a development of post-normal science. Sardar and Sweeney (2016; 2020) describe the present as “postnormal times”, “an in-between period where old orthodoxies are dying, new ones have yet to be born, and very few things seem to make sense” (n.p). The term “music livelihoods” further acknowledges the complex lives of musicians involving their changing musical identities, diverse career journeys, and an external environment impacting their values and opportunities.

Dr Canham’s Keynote Address: The luggage we must leave behind

C.S Lewis observed “you cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys” (1945, preface), and the journey for many creative people – not just musicians – into, through and out of COVID has been a tough one. In her keynote presentation, Dr Nicole Canham considers some of the ways we can light the way for creative people through a period that for some has been characterised by great upheaval and uncertainty. These difficulties have revealed the extent to which creative workers are marginalised in many societies, and highlighted forms of precarity that won’t be outrun by upskilling. Similarly, the present context calls for levels of adaptability, self-clarity and self-reflection that highlight the high degree of psychological ownership musicians need when it comes to their lives and work. What can we learn from tuning into musicians’ subjective experiences of career development and their passage through the past 2 years, and how might that alter our understanding of what sustainable livelihoods in music look like?

You are invited to submit a 200-250 word abstract of a 15-minute paper presentation for consideration of inclusion in the symposium program. Please review the information below and submit your abstract via this form by midnight AEST October 31, 2021. Successful applicants will be notified by November 7th, 2021. Registration for the Symposium is $60AUD for both days or $40AUD per day – details coming soon.

Abstracts regarding but not limited to the following are welcome:

  • Current or proposed innovative learning and teaching practice regarding the professional development of student musicians and/or new-emerging-established music practitioners
  • Research discussing professional musicians’ realities and practices towards sustainability prior, within or beyond a pandemic-affected work environment
  • Current disruption-inspired innovations and practices of professional musicians
  • Changing or challenging values of new-emerging-established music practitioners
  • Musicians’ health and well-being (physical, aural, mental, financial) concerns
  • Musical identities and journeys
  • Future trends and potential disruptors impacting musician livelihoods
  • Technologies enabling music livelihood futures.


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