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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Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 1st Sept 2026, 02:57:04am EDT
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Daily Overview |
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20th Century Historiographies Session Chair: Amanda Hsieh, Durham University | |
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The Bartóks in Exile: Peter Bartók’s Wartime Escape from Europe, Hungarian Émigré Networks in the United States, and Their Impact on Béla Bartók’s American Years Texas A&M University - Kingsville The commonly understood story of Béla Bartók’s voluntary exile from Europe during World War II typically emphasizes his uncompromising resistance to fascism, declining financial circumstances, and tragic illness. His immigration to the United States, which began as his third US concert tour, contributes to the image of self-sacrifice emblematic of his American years. As studies by Malcolm Gillies and Carl Leafstedt on Bartók’s finances and American estate have already begun to reveal, however, the story is more complicated. When Bartók and his wife, concert pianist Ditta Pásztory Bartók, traveled together to the US in 1940, they left behind not only many of Bartók’s irreplaceable personal possessions, but also their families, including their teenage son, Peter. The circumstances of Peter’s escape from Europe provide a fuller picture of Béla Bartók’s American years and the circle of fellow émigrés in which they operated while in the United States. Drawing on numerous recently rediscovered archival sources—including Bartók family correspondence, photographs, and performance contracts, as well as Peter Bartók’s unpublished journal and commentary on his immigration experience—this paper offers a more thorough understanding of the Bartók family’s effort to make a life for themselves in the United States. In doing so, it demonstrates that, amid concert tours, ethnomusicological research, and compositional activities, Béla Bartók was engaged in a protracted effort to rescue Peter from war-torn Europe. While in alliance with Nazi Germany, Hungary had no diplomatic ties to the US, and all communication from Hungarian citizens came through Swedish authorities. Peter’s eventual arrival in New York City in April 1942 was the result of efforts by his parents and their extensive network of Hungarian émigré artists and professionals, including costly travel and visa processes. This paper ultimately reveals the extent to which securing Peter’s safe travel to the United States affected the family’s overall financial and emotional wellbeing, and it highlights Bela Bartók’s position not only as an artist refashioning a career for himself in a new country, but also as a concerned father attempting to reunify his family in a time of war. | |