New Directions in 19th Century Woodwind Research
Conference taking place 27-30 January 2027
Go join an orchestra! That is the proper place to appreciate the players of clarinet, flute, oboe and bassoon; the times are past when these wandering artists came in hordes to perform on their boring lonely pipes.
Woodwind instruments, their players, and their repertoire have often been treated as peripheral in histories of 19th century music, Hanslick’s dismissive characterisation reflecting a wider notion that their golden age had ended. As a result, woodwind performance in this period is less widely understood than other instrument families, and researchers face particular challenges relating to the availability of instruments, primary sources, contextual information, practical support, and appropriate critical and methodological frameworks. Most importantly, however, we lack regular opportunities to come together and discuss our work among a community of specialists.
This conference will be a space to share ideas, address common challenges, and discuss the future of our research field. It is open to all researchers working on topics relating to woodwind performance in the long 19th century, including graduate students, independent researchers, artistic researchers, and instrument makers. There will also be workshops for advanced student performers and chamber ensembles.
Wednesday 27 January 2027
| Time | Ghent | |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00-12:30 | Workshop with conservatoire students | |
| 13:00-13:45 |
Registration (lunch not provided) |
|
| 13:45-14:00 |
Welcome |
|
| 14:00-15:30 | Session 1: Improvisation Vera Plosila — Lecture Recital: Learning from Kuhlau: Historically Informed Arrangement, Improvisation, and Variation in Early Nineteenth-Century Flute Performance Robert de Bree — Puzzle Pieces for Improvisation - An audience-inspired improvisatory journey |
|
| 15:30-16:00 | Break | |
| 16:00-17:15 | Session 2: Methodologies Christopher Palameta — What Am I Doing With This Oboe? Theorising 19th-Century Historical Performance Through Reflexive Practice Ekaterina Polyakova — Lecture Recital: Speaking with Ten Tongues: Embodying Anton Reicha’s Woodwind Rhetoric through a Comparative Performance Cross-Trial |
|
| 17:15-17:45 | Break | |
| 17:45-18:45 |
Emily Worthington — The Carl Baermann Project |
|
| 18:45-19:30 | Performance: Anne Pustlauk, Emily Worthington, Christopher Palameta, Toby Sermeus | |
| 19:30 | End (dinner not provided) | |
Thursday 28 January 2027
| Time | Concert hall | Auditorium |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 | Late arrival registration | |
| 09:00-10:30 |
Session 3a: Microhistories Vera Balogh — Hungarian Jurist & Flutist: Ignaçe Végh de Vereb (1763-1820) Rachel Becker — “The Only Lady Oboist”: manufactured novelty in woodwind playing of the long nineteenth century Rachel Cowgill — An Oboist and a Gentleman? Music, Status and Social Mobility in the Life of John Erskine of York (1765/6–1847) |
Session 3b: Low Clarinets Keith Bowen and Albert R. Rice — The bassoon-form bass clarinet in the nineteenth-century repertoire Jason Alder — Reassessing the Contra Clarinet: Repertoire and Performance Practice in the Long Nineteenth Century |
| 10:30-11:00 | Break | |
| 11:00-13:00 |
Session 4a: Poland Jan Hutek — Lecture Recital: Solo repertoire of the oboists of The Grand Theatre in Warsaw in 19th century. Know and lost music of Polish composers and oboists prior 1914. Katarzyna Pilipiuk — Lecture Recital: The Oboe in the Partitioned Territories of Former Poland in the 19th Century and an Attempt to Reconstruct its Repertoire Katarzyna Bialorucka — Lecture Recital: The Keyed Flute in the Musical Culture of Polish Sentimentalism |
Session 4b: Instrument Makers Ignace de Keyser — New Prestige Strategies in Woodwind Instrument Making 1750-1914 Simon Waters — Competition and Cooperation: The scale and interconnectedness of London wind instrument making businesses in the early 19th century. Lewis Jones —Woodwind Instruments Offered for Sale in 1820s London. Josua Gayer — ‘Reform flutes’: Reception, Dissemination, and Cultural Significance in Central Europe, 1885–1940 |
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 - 15:40 |
Session 5a: State of Field Thomas Carroll — Lecture Recital: Historical Instruments and Replica Models: Reexamining the early 19th Century Sounds of the Clarinet through Modern Interpretations Jennifer Brian — Change is in the Air: Reframing the preservation of woodwind collections in museums. David Gasche — Wind Music Studies: A Neglected Field of Musicology? |
Session 5b: Alternative Perspectives Petros Stergiopoulos and Alexandros Kalkos — Lecture Recital: Souvenir d'Orient" (1832) : Period Performance and New Insights into the European Image of Greek (Neohellenic) Music Kurt Bertels — Rethinking the Early Saxophone through the Reception of Elise Hall (1853-1924) Geoffrey Burgess — Peeking behind the Oriental Persona: Truth and Deceit in the Biography of Saxophone Virtuoso Ali-Ben-Sou-Alle |
| 15:40-16:15 | Break | |
| 16:15-18:00 | Round table: Curation and conservation of woodwind instruments | |
| 18:00-19:00 | Break | |
| 19:00 | Conference dinner | |
Friday 29 January 2027
| Time | Antwerp | |
|---|---|---|
| 10:15 | Late arrivals registration and welcome to Antwerp | |
| 11:00-12:50 |
Session 6: Csakan and Experimental Flutes(lunch not provided) Peter Thalheimer — The flauto d’amore in the 19th century – repertoire and instruments Nik Tarasov — New Evidence around the Csakan Rikki Wolpowitz — The Flute That Wanted to Be a Violin: Georg Bayr, Stephan Koch, and the Panaulon Controversy |
|
| 12:50-14:00 |
Lunch |
|
| 14:00-15:00 |
Anne Pustlauk — Lecture-recital: Playing with Time: How Historical Sources Help Us Play More Freely |
|
| 15:00-15:30 | Break | |
| 15:30-17:30 |
Session 7: Composition and Ensemble cultures Maryse Legault and Gili Loftus — Lecture Recital: Baermann’s Presence Eva Ivanova-Dyatlova and Trio Trifoi — Reconsidering Early Woodwind Trio Formation: Historical Performance Practice in Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon Marten Noorduin — The Material, Artistic, and the Social: The Wind Players Premiering the Ninth in Berlin |
|
| 17:30 |
Close |
|
Saturday 30 January 2027
| Time | Antwerp | |
|---|---|---|
| 10:15-11:45 | Session 8: Bassoon
David Wells — Bassoonists in Antebellum New Orleans Katherine Walpole — Performing Zelenka in the Nineteenth Century: Evidence from Manuscript Sources Jack Adler-McKean — Serpents and bassoons: a relationship re-evaluation |
|
| 11:45-12:00 | Break | |
| 12:15-13:00 | Session 9: Pedagogy
Emily Yoana Valderama — "Lecture Recital: Why Do We Still Practice Milde? A Contemporary Perspective on Nineteenth-Century Bassoon Pedagogy" Fanziska Hoffman — "Teaching Woodwinds in Early Nineteenth-Century Vienna – Instrumental Methods as Sources of Music Pedagogy and Musical Culture" |
|
| 13:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00-17:00 | Workshop with Conservatoire Students | |
Fees
- Full conference (4 days): 100 € (regular) / 0€ (students)
- Ghent only OR Antwerp only (2 days) : 60 € (regular) / 0€ (students)
The fee includes participation in the full conference programme and lunches.
Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation.
In addition, we offer a 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 on the evening of January 28. To help us reduce food waste and ensure accurate catering, participation in the dinner requires a small additional contribution of €40. (Please note that this is a symbolic fee that only partially covers the costs of the dinner, which includes a seated meal, drinks, and dessert.)
Address
- 27 and 28 January: Ghent Orpheus Instituut
Korte Meer 12,
9000 Ghent
Belgium - 29 and 30 January: Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp
deSingel - White hall
Desguinlei 25
2018 Antwerp
Belgium
Conference committee
- Dr Emily Worthington (University of York/Orpheus Instituut Gent)
- Dr Anne Pustlauk (Royal Conservatoire Antwerp)
- Dr Christopher Palameta (Royal Conservatory Brussels/Royal Conservatory of The Hague)
Deadline for registration: 30 November 2026 23:59 CEST
Cancellation policy: We are not able to process refunds after 20 December 2026
