The European Music & Art School Symposium (EMSS)

mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Department for Music Education Research and Practice (IMP)

Collaboration partners:
European Music School Union (EMU)
Conference of Austrian Music School Associations (KOMU)
Musikschulen der Stadt Wien
 
The European Music & Art School Symposium is the leading international meeting place for music and art school researchers, teachers, leaders, former and current students, university and conservatoire teachers and professors, representatives from music and art school organisations and from municipalities, and others who are committed to the development of strong, inspiring, and resilient music and art schools. We maintain the tradition of the international music school symposium initiated by mdw in 2017 – and have expanded the title in order to reflect the growing aspirations across Europe to include a wider range of art forms in the institutional framework (as in kulturskoler, taiteen perusopetus, základní umělecké školy, and many more).

The 4th European Music & Art School Symposium (EMSS 2026)
The Ethical Horizons of Music and Art Schools
25–26.09.2026

will take place at mdw in Vienna with both in-person and online participation options. 

The topic invites reflection and scholarly work on ethical commitments that emerge in this educational and institutional context, from interpersonal spheres to local communities and wider society. By focusing on questions related to what might be considered right, good, fair, and obligatory, we hope to engage participants in conversations about the many and sometimes challenging ethical dimensions of music and art school activities. 

We are delighted to welcome two distinguished keynote speakers: 
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Kertz-Welzel, Professor and Chair of Music Education at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, whose address will be given in both English and German.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Guadalupe López-Íñiguez, University Researcher in Instrumental Pedagogy and Performance Science, Research Council of Finland Fellow, Sibelius Academy/University of the Arts Helsinki:
Musically gifted children, exceptionalised and erased: Care ethics amid the ethical cracks of music education (in English with German subtitles)

The traditional Friday concert will be in chamber format and designed by Karin Meissl, a musician and music mediator whose outstanding creative work with artists and audiences of all ages has led her to collaborate with institutions such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Wiener Symphoniker, the Vienna State Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, and numerous ensembles and festivals.  

Am Samstag Nachmittag wird eine Österreich-Session (auf Deutsch) stattfinden, die für den Austausch über ethische Dimensionen der generationenübergreifenden Arbeit in Musikschulen konzipiert ist.

In the same week, we organise a five-day summer school for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers.
Aligned with the overall theme, the summer school focuses on ethical issues in music and art school research. See further information under "Summer School". 

We welcome submissions of both research and practitioner papers.
Selected papers will be eligible for inclusion in a peer-reviewed anthology planned for publication with mdwPress. 

Important dates:

Call for papers: 15 January 2026
Submission deadline: 15 March 2026
Notifications: 15 April 2026
Registrations: 15 April–31 August 2026
Symposium: 25–26 September 2026
Summer school for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers: 21–25 September 2026

All symposium submissions and registrations are handled through our event platform ConfTool:

https://www.conftool.net/emss2026/

Please create a user account and follow the instructions on the platform. 

Applications for the summer school are handled separately, please see "Summer School". 

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Previous symposia:

6-7 October 2023

Music Schools and Their Ecosystems: Building Sustainable Futures

15-16 October 2022    

Music Schools and Their Ecosystems: Building Sustainable Futures (Pre-symposium)

10-11 October 2019  

Music schools – Masters of Collaboration? Creating Interfaces in Music Education Systems

6-7 October 2017  

The Future of Music Schools. Today’s Challenges and Tomorrow’s Solutions

Full programmes and books of abstracts from all symposia can be found in the website menu. 

Each of the symposia has been followed by an international publication (please see below).

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Finnish Journal of Music Education, Vol. 27 no 1

Special issue on sustainability in music education (Open access)

Guest editor: Cecilia Björk, mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Music Schools in Changing Societies
How Collaborative Professionalism Can Transform Music Education

Michaela Hahn, Cecilia Björk, Heidi Westerlund (Eds.)

Routledge, 2024

234 Seiten

Hardback ISBN 9781032431338

e-book ISBN 9781003365808

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003365808