Conference Agenda
The Online Program of events for the 2026 AMS Annual Meeting appears below. This program is subject to change. The final program will be published in early November.
Use the "Filter by Track or Type of Session" or "Filter by Session Topic" dropdown to limit results by type. Some of the sessions are also color-coded: purple indicates performances, grey indicates paper forums, and orange indicates sessions which have been organized by one of the regional associations of IMS (ARLAC or IMSEA). (Sessions which are both IMS sessions and performances are only colored orange.)
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Click on the session name for a detailed view (with participant names and abstracts).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 1st Sept 2026, 02:34:47am EDT
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Daily Overview |
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Showcasing Virtuosity: Designing the Concert Experience Session Chair: Mark Pottinger | |
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Architectural Marvels and Changing Urban Identities: The Role of New Concert Halls and Programming Models in (re)Shaping Contemporary German Cultural Institutions East Carolina University This study explores the impact of newly constructed concert halls, from 2015 onward, on reorienting cultural institutions for the future. These structures, often in cities with imposing musical legacies, create “new relationships between the building, the cities” and their many subcommunities. They challenge traditional concepts of ‘high art’ by reshaping programming models, reflecting the socio-economic and cultural makeup of their cities and changing audiences, while upholding expectations. The initial phase of the study focuses on European institutions. Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, both opened in 2017, serve as case studies for this paper. Both organizations foreground musical diversity that reflects current socio-political discourses and changes representative of their cities’ identities. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the Elbphilharmonie anchors an urban (re)development project in HafenCity. It houses a large and small hall, multi-purpose studios, hotel, apartments, an observation plaza, and administrative offices. The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra performs in the vineyard-style large hall. Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, designed by Frank Gehry is a modular hall, seating 682, built around two interlocking ellipses. It offers a flexible space, egalitarian seating, and proximity to musicians. Home to the Barenboim-Said Academy and Boulez Ensemble, the hall reflects the collaboration of Pierre Boulez, Frank Gehry, Daniel Barenboim, and Edward Said. Fields such as cultural studies, urban planning, and architecture and design have begun to assess the impact of these new structures. Charles Jenks, for example, reads the Elbphilharmonie as a postmodern masterwork, a melding of high-art and pop-art. Musicology, however, overlooks these new institutions, rich with interpretive potential. To examine their role in shaping public art for the future, I rely on the Elbphilharmonie’s unprecedented amount of published data on concerts, finances, and visitor frequency as well as the Boulez Saal’s program archives. This paper analyzes the programming data to understand how the respective future-oriented missions are conceived but also to compare to peer institutions. This first analytical layer interprets the halls’ relationships to related socio-cultural policies. Using musicological and social sciences analytical tools it is possible to model ongoing socio-cultural analysis of these halls and other new institutions reshaping their legacies. | |