28-31 MAY 2026
REAL EDIFÌCIO DE MAFRA 
​
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Transnational musical and theatrical influence in the 18th-century Atlantic world
​the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music - Divino Sospiro-Centro de Estudos Musicais Setecentistas de Portugal- Museu Naciona da Música

International Conference
Transnational musical and theatrical influence in the 18th-century Atlantic world
May 28-31, 2026
 
Location: Royal Building of Mafra - The National Music Museum (near Lisbon, Portugal)
This international conference, jointly sponsored by the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music (SECM) and Divino Sospiro-Centro de Estudos Musicais Setecentistas de Portugal (DS-CEMSP), will explore transnational musical and theatrical influence in the 18th-century Atlantic world. The conference will be held at the Royal Building of Mafra in collaboration with the National Music Museum, recently installed at Mafra, near Lisbon. We invite proposals and presentations on historical, cultural, analytical, and pedagogical approaches to this topic, especially within the following thematic areas:
  • Transnational contexts and networks for artists (e.g., composers, singers, musicians, actors, scenographers, etc.) and repertoires, especially but not limited to Luso-American, as well as those that engage in exchange between “principal” and “peripheral” centers
  • Political, religious, economic, socio-cultural, or other impacts relating to transnational musical or theatrical activity
  • Contemporary influence of 18th-century music, including in the circulation and adaptation of 18th-century repertoires to new global publics through transnational projects, performances, collaborations, pedagogies, and/or exchanges
  • Other innovative historical, cultural, analytical, and pedagogical approaches to 18th-century music
Presentations may be:
  • traditional papers of 20 minutes;
  • work/dissertation-in-progress presentations of 10 minutes; 
  • lecture recitals (up to 45 minutes); or 
  • themed panels on scholarly, pedagogical, or professional development topics (3-4 presenters, 15 minutes each, total length up to 90 minutes). 
To submit a proposal:
The official conference languages are English and Portuguese.
The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2025. Please upload an anonymized file that includes the title and abstract of presentation (250 words) using this ​​Google form. Only one submission per author will be considered. The committee’s decision will be announced in January 2026. 
For questions, please contact conference organizers Dr. Danielle Kuntz and Dr. Iskrena Yordanova at [email protected]
15-17 SEPTEMBER 2023
PALACIO NACIONAL DE QUELUZ
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DS-CEMSP 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
HISTORICALLY INFORMED PERFORMANCE –
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE 18TH-CENTURY MUSICAL AND THEATRICAL REPERTOIRE

15-17 SEPTEMBER 2023
PALACIO NACIONAL DE QUELUZ
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DS-CEMSP 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
HISTORICALly informed PERFORMANCE –
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE 18TH-CENTURY MUSICAL AND THEATRICAL REPERTOIRE

Organization:
Divino Sospiro – Centro de Estudos Musicais Setecentistas de Portugal 
Scientific Committee:
Cristina Fernandes, Giuseppina Raggi, Iskrena Yordanova,
Ricardo Bernardes, José Camões, Francesco Cotticelli, Paologiovanni Maione
 
DS-CEMSP will hold from September 15th  to 17th 2023, the 11th International Conference at the National Palace of Queluz (Portugal). The general topic of this year is the Historically Informed Performance – Theory and Practice of the 18th-century Musical  and Theatrical Repertoire. The conference aims to promote a multidisciplinary dialogue around the specificity and the heterogeneity of musical and theatrical repertoire of the 18th century, calling for the participation of researchers of various areas related to this subject. Cases concerning the historically informed interpretation and its theory, as well as aspects of theatrical configurations, staging, contexts, inherent occasions and variety of approaches, solutions, and translations through the prism of contemporary understanding and aesthetics will be taken in consideration.
TOPICS:
  • Critical theory in historical performance research
  • Modern relevance of historical performance, entrepreneurship, and cultural production 
  • Source studies
  • Historical improvisation and partimenti
  • Early music theory and performance
  • Organology 
  • New technologies and contemporary solutions in historical performance
 
Scholars are invited to submit individual proposals. Each paper shall not exceed 20 minutes. Session proposals will be accepted as well: a maximum of three or four papers will be taken into consideration, and the session should not exceed 1h30. 
Official languages of the conference are Portuguese, English, Italian, Spanish
Abstracts in Word format (.doc), should not exceed 300 words.
Please enclose in the same file a brief curriculum vitae of 150 words max., providing your name and surname, postal address, e-mail and telephone number, as well as your institutional affiliation.
Please indicate to which topic your proposal belongs. 
Deadline for sending abstracts is April 15th, 2023
E-mail: [email protected]
The scientific board will examine all the abstracts by April 17th, 2023 and contributors will be informed immediately thereafter.
27-29 JUNE 2019
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DS-CEMSP 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY THEATRE CAPITALS: FROM LISBON TO ST. PETERSBURG
2018 "PADRON MIO COLENDISSIMO...": LETTERS ABOUT MUSIC AND STAGE IN THE 18TH CENTURY
2017 CULTURAL AND DIPLOMATIC EXCHANGE BETWEEN AUSTRIA AND PORTUGAL: MUSIC AND THEATER CONTEXTS DURING THE ANCIEN RÉGIME
2015 THE SERENATA AND THE FESTA TEATRALE IN 18TH-CENTURY EUROPE
2014 NICCOLÒ JOMMELLI, CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK, PEDRO ANTÓNIO AVONDANO: 300 ANOS DO NASCIMENTO