COLOURING GLOBAL VOICES: VOCAL TIMBRE IN WORLD MUSIC TRADITIONS (AAWM 2027)
2027 10–11 APRIL
Sweden

The Analytical Approaches to World Musics (AAWM) journal and the Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research are pleased to announce the forthcoming symposium Colouring Global Voices: Vocal Timbre in World Musics, which will be held online between 10–11 April 2027.

The event will feature traditional paper sessions, discussion panels, workshops and other presentation formats, as well as keynote lectures by Professor Tomas Riad (Stockholm University, Sweden; Swedish Academy), and Professor Nori Jacoby (Cornell University, USA).

All participants will be invited to participate in a special co-edited peer-reviewed volume of the conference proceedings, to be published as the most recent installment of our book series New Directions in World Music Analysis (Routledge).

This symposium aims to bring together scholars, performers, composers, and practitioners to explore interdisciplinary and cross cultural scholarship focussing on vocal timbre, in world music traditions, past and present, and to engage with theoretical paradigms, cultural frameworks, and analytical methodologies pertinent to the music of local communities and of the world. In order to foster interdisciplinary and cross – cultural dialogue, promote new research methods and collaborative research, the program will include numerous special panel sessions, paper sessions, roundtable discussions, performance workshops, analysis workshops, and music performances.

The symposium will include several special panel sessions, including the following:

  • Revisiting Robert Cogan’s Theories of Musical Color and Phonology (Lawrence Shuster, chair).
  • Vocal timbre in Rabindrasangit (Anton Vishio, chair).
  • Contrastive linguistic voice qualities (Laura McPhearson).
  • Multi-modal Approaches – vocal timbre in context (Kristin Jonzon, chair).

Symposium Website: https://conferences.iftawm.org/conferences/

Symposium Email: aawmsweden27@gmail.com

Submission Guidelines

Papers: Proposals for spoken papers should include a short abstract of no more than 350 words, including footnotes but not counting examples and bibliography. Supporting media files can also be submitted. Accepted papers will be allotted 20 minutes for presentation plus 10 minutes for discussion.

Panel Sessions: Authors of papers that share a common theme may propose to deliver them in a panel session. Each paper should be submitted separately and will be reviewed following the same process as that for spoken papers. In addition, a separate submission should be entered for the panel session, including a 350 word abstract.

Workshops / Lecture Recitals / Alternative Formats: Proposals for workshops or other alternative formats should also be submitted as a 350 word abstract. They should provide as many details as possible about the precise format they will employ, how many participants will attend, and the size and type of space they will require. We welcome presentations that involve music performance, if they include a substantial analytical or theoretical component consistent with the call for papers.

Abstracts and full proposals of the accepted papers will be published online.

Submission Process

All proposals should be submitted electronically using the following link: https://forms.gle/sLfeFu2AavWMHGHN8

Submission deadline: 15 December 2026 (11:59pm Pacific Time)

Notification of Acceptance: 15 January 2026

Organising Committee

  • Kristin Jonzon (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research, Sweden)
  • Lawrence Shuster (Cornell University, USA)
  • Eshantha Peiris (Vancouver Community College, Canada)
  • Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research)
  • Anqi Wang (Rutgers University, USA)
  • Sam Falotico (Eastman School of Music, USA)
  • Jonathan Gregory (Independent researcher, Brazil)

Local Arrangements & Program Committee

  • Kristin Jonzon (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research)
  • Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research)
  • Karin Strand (Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research)