How have the practices of composition, performance, improvisation, and listening been informed by the piano in its long history? How have the concepts, designs, materials, and sonorous resources of pianos been entwined with musical thought and affect across time and space? How might eighteenth-century pianos be re-situated in relation to harpsichords and clavichords, and how might the growing interest in nineteenth-century pianos contribute to a more colorful and imaginative interpretation of familiar repertoire or the revival of forgotten gems of the era?
The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, co-sponsored by the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies, invites proposals for recitals, talks and innovative presentations from performers, scholars, organologists, builders, and technicians for an international festival to be held at Cornell University from August 6-10, 2025. We particularly encourage individual and collaborative proposals that combine insights drawn from scholarship, performance, and organology and examine the ways in which pianos have generated, reflected, and modulated musical thought and behavior.
Proposals may focus on composers, performance traditions, instruments, improvisatory methods, and/or geographical centers of influence. Potential topics might include:
- the relationship of historical instruments and pedagogical methods to “mainstream” musical culture;
- ways in which historical instruments can serve as points of contact between disparate musical periods, playing styles, and repertoire;
- the exploration of overlooked composers, repertoire, and practices via the study and use of historical instruments;
- the conservation of existing instruments and collections as well as current trends and future prospects for building, restoration, and repair;
- the study and practice of improvisation in its many forms;
- the future of artistic and scholarly research involving historical instruments;
- the study of particularly influential instruments;
- the roles of historical pianos in chamber music;
- the use of historical instruments to create new creative works and soundscapes.
The festival will be centered on an array of historical instruments and replicas by prominent builders, and we encourage proposals that will take full advantage of the opportunities these pianos afford. Descriptions, photographs, and recordings of the instruments are found at https://historicalkeyboards.as.cornell.edu/pianos and additional information can be provided upon request. Potential presentation formats may include (but are not limited to) traditional conference papers, lecture-recitals, lecture-demonstrations, discussion panels, and performances.
Please state if you wish to participate in a "Tea and Conversation" session, which will take place daily during the festival. These informal sessions will feature lightning talks aimed at the general public in which speakers present to a rotation of small audience groups for 10 minutes, plus 5 minutes for discussion. Visual and interactive aids are encouraged and refreshments will be provided.
Proposals must include a 250-word description, a bio, and (for performers) a link to an audio or video recording lasting at least 15 minutes. These items must be submitted via this form by September 30, 2024.