RNCM to Host 2015 ESCOM Conference

The Ninth Triennial Conference of ESCOM (the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music) will be held at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) between Monday 17 and Sunday 23 August 2015, supported by a £30,000 subvention from Marketing Manchester and sponsorship in kind from SAGE Publishers, the Institute for Musical Research and the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research. The Conference will be chaired by Professor Jane Ginsborg, Associate Dean of Research and Enterprise at the RNCM and current President of ESCOM.

Up to 300 delegates from mainland Europe and further afield, as well as up to 150 UK and local delegates, ranging from distinguished researchers to postgraduate students, are expected to attend. The subvention from Marketing Manchester will pay for a civic reception at Manchester Town Hall, support reduced registration fees for young and early career researchers, and fund student and recently-graduated musicians from the RNCM to perform to an international audience at the conference. Further details of the keynote speakers, call for papers, and conference schedule will be made available over the coming months.

ESCOM is an international non-profit society supporting theoretical, experimental and applied research and encouraging European and international cooperation between researchers in the cognitive sciences of music. Founded in 1991, it disseminates knowledge of music perception through its triennial conferences and the journal Musicae Scientiae, as well as promoting regular seminars, educational programs and summer schools.

Richard Wistreich, Dean of Research and Enterprise at the RNCM, said: ‘I am delighted that Marketing Manchester has offered to support this conference, enabling the RNCM to introduce ESCOM delegates to Manchester as a vibrant, dynamic city that is home to music – central to their research – of the highest order in the most attractive of surroundings.  A large number of scholars – many of whom hold responsible positions in their own institutions and can urge colleagues and students to travel to Manchester to take part in the conference – will have the opportunity to experience the College and the city as a cultural centre equal to, if not more impressive than, any other in Europe.’

For more information please contact Christina Brand, Research and Knowledge Exchange Manager, at [email protected] or 0161 907 5386. 

13 January 2014