Dear ICOM MUSIC community,

As the temperature continues to warm up, so does the activity of ICOM MUSIC. As you will see below there has been a steady stream of work happening behind-the-scenes as we prepare for our annual conference, work on editing the latest volume of our Proceedings, and keep up-to-date with the latest news from ICOM.

Announcements:
The call for papers for the 2026 annual meeting taking place in Tbilisi, Georgia from 3-5 September is open. The theme for this year’s meeting is “Musical Instrument Collections in Digital Transformation: Research, Access, and Museum Ethics”. The deadline for submission is 30 April, so please do submit your proposal through this online form.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming announcements for applications for travel grants for the 2026 conference. There will be two grants available this year: ICOM MUSIC Travel Grants for Young Members and the Giorgi Mtatsmindeli University of Chant Student Travel Grant. More information, including eligibility requirements and how to apply will be distributed through the ListServ soon.

Please note that we are experiencing technical difficulties with the ICOM MUSIC website. We are aware of the problem and are working with the ICOM Secretariat to resolve the issues. If you require access to any documents that are currently unavailable, please contact the ICOM MUSIC secretary via email Sarah.Deters@ed.ac.uk.

Ongoing activities in March & April 2026:
2026-03-09: Statement: ICOM Calls for Protection of Museums and Cultural Heritage Amid Conflict in Iran, the Gulf Region and the Eastern Mediterranean (CIMCIM-L)
2026-03-12: ICOM MUSIC Bulletin December 2025 issue published (website)
2026-03-17: ICOM MUSIC Annual Meeting 2026 – Call for Papers (CIMCIM-L, website, etc.) 2026-03-18: Ordinary Board Meeting (online)

2026-03-31: Petition “Safeguard the Tagliavini Collection of Historical Musical Instruments” (shared on CIMCIM-L)

2026-04-08: IC Forum for Chairs (online, Chair attended)
2026-04-08: Mexico Proceedings meeting (online)
2026-04-09: Call for Applications to join ICOM Standing Committees (SCD, SPC) and Working Groups (forwarded on CIMCIM-L)
2026-04-09: Get involved in International Museum Day 2026 (CIMCIM-L)
2026-04-15: Annual Meeting 2026 in Tbilisi planning meeting (online)
2026-04-15: Executive Board Meeting (online)
2026-04-15: Ordinary Board Meeting (online)
2026-04-22: ICOM Preliminary Meeting of the International Committees (Chair attended) 2026-04-23: ICMEMOHRI & ICOM MUSIC joint contribution to the ICOM Dubai 2025 Final Report submitted
2026-04-24: Dubai 2025 Proceedings planning meeting (ICOM MUSIC & ICMEMOHRI)

Useful Information:
The ICOM MUSIC Board meets every month, and if you have matters that you would like the Board to take up, please let us know.

To receive important information and news from ICOM, we kindly urge you to subscribe to ICOM’s Newsletter. Please, visit https://icom.museum/en/, scroll down to “Sign up to our Newsletter”, and fill in your email address.

Have you changed your email address recently? Log in the ICOM Database and update your information – and please see the ICOM MUSIC webpage for instructions on how to subscribe to the CIMCIM-L to receive important information and news from ICOM MUSIC.