BFE-RMA Research Students' Conference 2027
Wednesday 6 - Friday 8 January 2027
Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities and St John's College
The British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) and Royal Musical Association (RMA) Research Students' Conference will be hosted by the University of Oxford on Wednesday 6 - Friday 8 January 2027. This will be an in-person event to allow networking and social interaction to take place, and to foster connections across a variety of music sub-disciplines.
The conference will take place in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, an interdisciplinary building which opened in October 2025. It is home to the Faculty of Music, the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, the Humanities Library, music studios and performance spaces. There is college accommodation nearby as well as many restaurants and cafés, all within a short walk of the bus and railway stations. We look forward to welcoming you to what promises to be a vibrant, supportive and diverse conference.
Booking information
Registration fees for full conference attendance (three days):
- Members of the BFE or RMA - £50
- Non-members of the BFE or RMA - £70
Registration fees for single days:
- Members of the BFE or RMA - £25
- Non-members of the BFE or RMA - £35
Refund policy:
- 100% refund if cancelled before or on 18 December.
- 50% refund if cancelled before or on 2 January.
- No refunds from 3 January.
If you are a member of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology or the Royal Musical Association, you are entitled to a discounted registration rate via a special link / promo code. You should have received this code from your society. If you have not received this code, please contact your society directly.
In addition to your booking information, you will be asked for any accessibility requirements and dietary requirements. Please note that the conference fee covers light refreshments, but not meals (see below). This is an in-person event.
Everything you need to inform your booking should be below, but please send any queries to rmabfe27@music.ox.ac.uk.
Conference schedule
The final programme, including further details of early evening activities and social events, will be published soon along with abstracts.
Presentations, workshops and events
The Research Students' Conference is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience presenting work, whether it be compositions, research-led performances or standard conference papers, in a friendly and welcoming environment amongst peers, established academics and publishers.
The conference caters for all areas of music research, including (although not limited to) performance, composition, ethnomusicology, sound studies, historical musicology, jazz and popular music, music analysis and critical editing.
Alongside presentations, the conference will feature a number of events catering to a diverse range of disciplines, including but not limited to: training workshops for postgraduate students wishing to pursue careers inside and outside academia, roundtable discussions, poster exhibitions, practice-based opportunities and composition talks. Delegates will have opportunities to engage with the Bate Collection of Historical Musical Instruments as well as our performance facilities, with live and social music making featuring as part of the schedule.
The winner of the Jerome Roche Prize, Peter Asimov, the BFE keynote speaker, Rasika Ajotikar, and the recipient of the Tippett Medal, Ed Cooper, will be giving keynote addresses at the conference.
Call for proposals
This call for proposals is now closed.
Keynote speakers
Recipient of the Jerome Roche Prize: Peter Asimov
Title: Isolde in the House of Mirrors
BFE Keynote Speaker: Rasika Ajotikar
Title: TBC
Recipient of the Tippett Medal: Ed Cooper
Title: TBC
Prizes
RMA/Musici Trust Prize for a paper on music before 1600
Speakers at the 2027 BFE-RMA Research Students' Conference will be invited to submit their papers to the RMA/Musici Trust Postgraduate Conference Award for a student paper on music before 1600. The Musici Trust, which offers this award together with the Royal Musical Association, is a charity that supports research into Early Music. The winner will receive a £300 prize, be offered mentorship and also be invited to present their work at the RMA Annual Conference.
Applicants should fill in the form on the Musici Trust website by Friday 15 January 2027. The automatic reply will provide a link to submit a single PDF comprising a copy of their paper and any associated material (a PDF file of any slides or handout). The written submission should closely match the paper delivered at the conference, and will be considered alongside a report from someone present at the conference. The winner will be announced by the end of March 2027. For further information, contact the Secretary of the Musici Trust (themusicitrust@gmail.com).
RMARC Student Paper Prize
The Royal Music Association Research Chronicle (RMARC) invites you to enter our student-paper prize, organised in collaboration with the 2027 BFE-RMA Research Students’ Conference. Participation is open to all speakers (in-person or online). Papers should fall under the remit of RMARC – i.e. to publish submissions from all areas of music research that make extensive use of primary sources widely conceived, such as recordings, digital-borne files, results of ethnographic work, and/or archival materials.
How to enter: To enter, please submit your paper to the RMARC editor Tamsin Alexander (t.alexander@gold.ac.uk) by Monday 1st February 2027. The written submission should closely match the paper delivered at the conference – i.e. it should not be significantly amended or expanded. You may add in-text references or footnotes and a bibliography if you wish, but you are not expected in this initial submission to adapt the text for publication as a journal article.
The script must be submitted as an .odt, .doc or .docx file. The text should be double spaced and in a commonly used font, size 11 or 12. Figures, musical examples and links are permitted as long as they are essential to the comprehension of the paper. You may use any referencing style of your choice. Please do not submit PowerPoint files or similar.
Prizes: The entries will be judged by the editing team of the RMARC, and the winner will be announced by May 2027. The winner will receive a £100 book token from Cambridge University Press as well as mentorship from the RMARC to develop and expand their submission for publication. The submission will then be published in the RMARC, subject to satisfactory peer-review, as per the journal’s usual procedures.
Please feel free to contact the editor t.alexander@gold.ac.uk for any questions.
Getting here
Daytime conference activities will take place at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities (Woodstock Road, OX2 6GG), with a few events taking place elsewhere: keynotes and receptions will be at St John’s College (St Giles', OX1 3JP) and the conference dinner will be at Christ Church (St Aldate's, OX1 1DP).
The Schwarzman Centre is located in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, near central Oxford. It is a 15-20-minute walk from the Oxford Railway Station and a 10-minute walk from the Gloucester Green Bus Station. Information on getting to Oxford, including London airports, trains, coaches, taxis, and parking can be found on the University website. See also an interactive map of Oxford and information on visiting the Schwarzman Centre, including the building map and hours.
Invitation letters and electronic travel authorisation
If you are travelling to us from outside the UK, please be aware of the new requirement for visitors to be in possession of an ETA; see: Apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) and Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet.
If you require an invitation letter for a visa application, please register for the conference first and then email us at rmabfe27@music.ox.ac.uk.
Accomodation
We have negotiated conference rates in St Anne’s College (OX2 6HS) accommodation. Discount codes will be sent to conference registrants in a confirmation email after completing the registration form. The deadline to book St Anne’s rooms at this discount is Monday 30 November 2026 at 15:00 GMT.
Delegates might also wish to find their own rooms through UniversityRooms, or by booking at a local hotel. Hotel options close to the Schwarzman Centre include:
- Rewley House, OX1 2JA
- The Jericho Hotel, OX1 2JG
- Premier Inn Oxford City Centre (Westgate), OX1 1BE
- Royal Oxford Hotel, OX1 1HR
Food and drink
Light refreshments will be provided throughout the conference, and a three-course conference dinner will take place on Wednesday 6 January at Christ Church. The conference dinner will cost £34.50 per person, and will be available to book as an add-on when you register. The Schwarzman Centre includes a café for breakfast and lunch, a coffee bar, and a foyer bar. It is also located near numerous food and drink outlets. Please feel free to ask the Committee for directions.
The nearest places are:
- The Jericho Café, Walton Street
- Opera Café, Walton Street
- Sainsbury’s Local, Walton Street
- Co-op, Walton Street
- Taylors, Woodstock Road/St Giles’ (deli)
- Jude the Obscure, Walton Street (pub)
- The Jericho Tavern, Walton Street (pub)
- The Lamb and Flag, St Giles’ (pub)
- Alfonso Gelateria, Little Clarendon Street (gelato)
- George & Davis, Little Clarendon Street (ice cream)
Other places in the Oxford City Centre (within 20 minutes’ walk) include:
- Oxford Outdoor Market, Gloucester Green
- Oxford Brunch Bar, George Street
- Italiamo Café, Broad Street
- Tesco Express, Magdalen Street
- Five Guys Burgers, Magdalen Street
- Greggs, Cornmarket Street
- Chiang Mai Kitchen, High Street
- The White Rabbit, Friars Entry (pub)
- The King’s Arms, Holywell Street (pub)
- Turf Tavern, Bath Place (pub)
Organisers
Co-chairs (University of Oxford): Jim Hickson and Lorane Prévost
Host Management Team: Emma Arthur, Anna Braddick, Christopher Butler-Cole, François Cloete, Jim Hickson, Clara Mezzanatto, Mark Murphy, Hoi Yin Ng, Lorane Prévost, Prof. Jason Stanyek, Prof. Laura Tunbridge.
Programme committee: Emma Arthur (Oxford), Michelle Assay (RMA Flagship Conferences Coordinator), Anna Braddick (Oxford), Christopher Butler-Cole (Oxford), Jim Hickson (Oxford), Luigi Monteanni (BFE Conference Liaison Officer), Günseli Naz Ferel (RMA Student representative) Noa Kurumi Nishizawa (RMA Student Representative), Lorane Prevost (Oxford), April Wei West (BFE Student Representative), Freya Jarman (Liverpool, RMA-BFE host 2028).