The 10th SIMM-posium will be hosted by the academic Chair Jonet and its Centre for Social Action and Music-Making at the University of Ghent, in a close collaboration with the international research platform SIMM (Social Impact of Music Making).
Building on the previous SIMM-posia in Ghent, London, Porto, Bogota, Brussels, Paris, London, Brisbane (and the promising upcoming one in Copenhagen), the 2025 Ghent SIMM-posium will feature presentations, thematic panels and keynotes, exploring the social impact of participatory music-making across a wide range of cultural contexts.
Delegates are warmly encouraged to join in person in Ghent, even though online presentations will also be accommodated where necessary, and the event will be livestreamed.
There is provision in the programme for up to about 40 brief (10 minute) presentations of academic as well as artistic research, research-related work in progress or critical reflections on research, which are curated into thematic panels and followed by plenary discussions. Artistic and creative research methods are welcomed alongside presentations of community-centred empirical theoretical or methodological inquiry.
Keynote speaker will be Professor Lee Higgins, director of the International Centre for Community Music, York St John University.
Presentations of research will be welcomed which tries to help us come to a better understanding of the possible role of the practice of music-making within social and community music projects and programmes. Specific topics of interest of this conference will be communicated later on.
About SIMM: SIMM is an international network of researchers and organisations examining the social impact of music-making across a wide range of cultural contexts. Founded in 2015 it has grown to encompass a number of events, including research conferences, research seminars, international comparative research projects, podcasts and doctoral programs.
This will be the second time a SIMM-posium will been organised in the city of Ghent, as the very first one was also held here in 2015.
