Hochschule Darmstadt, Darmstadt, 27-30 July 2025 (in collaboration with the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music)

SIMM research seminar #10 on participatory opera and music theatre projects:
The 10th SIMM research seminar is organized by the Hochschule Darmstadt, in collaboration with the Academic Chair Jonet / CESAMM (Ghent), the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) and the research platform SIMM.

Following the 1st and 2nd such seminars on participatory opera and music theatre organised in June 2023 in Barcelona (see link here) and in September 2024 in London, this research seminar takes place from 27 to 30 July 2025 at the Hochschule Darmstadt (DE).

The 3-day research seminar itself is taking place from Monday 28th until Wednesday 30th July at the Darmstadt Hochschule, but on Sunday 27th July at 12 o’clock a public presentation is organised at the campus (Mensa at Lichtenberg Schule) within the Discourse series of the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music: Lukas Pairon (also co-founder and former general director of the Ictus Ensemble) gives a presentation of examples of participatory opera and music theatre projects, as well as findings of research in this field, and following this presentation an exchange was possible with practitioners and researchers attending this public meeting.

Here you can see the video recording of Lukas’ lecture of 27.07.25 at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik. And here you can find the text of this lecture.

Here you can find the report on this 10th SIMM research seminar in Darmstadt.

Towards the end of this research seminar – on Wednesday-afternoon 30th July – we were invited to give a public presentation at the Schader Foundation in Darmstadt. The rest of the seminar takes place behind closed doors.

The 10th research seminar welcomed a group of these post-graduate students, early-career researchers as well as experienced researchers – who are all involved in ongoing research on participatory opera and music theatre programmes – to spend a 3-day seminar during which they will share their research experiences with each other:

-Ana CORIC (Croatia) – University of Zagreb

-Erica FRYBERG (Australia) – University of Queensland

-Michelangelo GALEATI (Italy) – Pegaso University, Napoli

-Hannah GRIFFITHS (UK) – University of Warwick / Opera Europe

-Jan Ruerd OOSTERHAVEN (Netherlands) – Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen

-Thalia KELLMEYER (Germany) – Freiburg University of Music

-Anna-Sophia KLAUS (Germany) – University of Music and Performing Arts Munich & University Düsseldorf

-Iris SKOLIDI (Greece / Netherlands) – Master Musical Leadership, Conservatory of Amsterdam

-Maia STEINBERG (Uruguay / Netherlands) – RESEO / Fontys University

Prof. Dr. Sara Hubrich (Hochschule Darmstadt), Prof. Sean Gregory (Guildhall School) and Prof. Dr. Lukas Pairon (SIMM & Chair Jonet) were the facilitators, who helped the participants in sharing their experiences and ideas and research methodologies.

The scientific committee for this seminar was composed of:  An De bisschop (chairholder Chair Jonet), Sean Gregory, Sara Hubrich, Lukas Pairon, and Fiona Stevens (Hochschule Darmstadt).

The next SIMM research seminar on participatory opera and music theatre will be organised in February 2027 at and in a close collaboration with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (see announcement and call for applications here).

You can also listen to the 2 episodes (#17 and #18) of the SIMM-podcast which we broadcasted on the practice and research on participatory opera and music theatre, including interviews with Imogen Flower, Graça Mota, François Matarasso, Paulo Lameiro, Sarah Théry and Claire Pasquier.