Von: Lepa, Steffen via ak discourse
Datum: Mon, 12 Oct 2026
Betreff: [ak-discourse] WG: XR in Musical Performance and Engagement: Potentials, Practices, and Perspectives
[Apologies for X-posting]
Call for Papers, Posters and Demonstrations
XR in Musical Performance and Engagement: Potentials, Practices, and Perspectives
25–26 May 2027
Gustav Mahler University of Music, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria
Extended Reality (XR) technologies — here understood primarily as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) — are opening up new possibilities for musical performance, creative practice, education, and audience engagement. At the same time, they raise important questions about perception, embodiment, participation, accessibility, learning, sustainability, and the changing relationships between performers, audiences, technologies, and institutions.
The two-day symposium XR in Musical Performance and Engagement: Potentials, Practices, and Perspectivesbrings together researchers, musicians, educators, artists, and technologists to explore the artistic, psychological, pedagogical, and technological dimensions of XR in musical contexts. Combining academic exchange with artistic and practice-based exploration, the symposium aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and to provide opportunities for experiencing, testing, and critically discussing XR applications in practice.
Call for Contributions
We invite proposals for papers, posters, and demonstrations. We welcome empirical, theoretical, artistic-research, pedagogical, technological, and practice-based contributions that engage directly with XR technologies, including VR, AR, and MR, in musical contexts.
While we recognise that audiovisual and other digital formats can also create immersive experiences, priority will be given to submissions that specifically involve, investigate, develop, or critically examine XR/VR/AR technologies and practices.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- VR, AR, and MR in musical performance and concert settings
- Aspects of XR-based audience experience, including presence, embodiment, interaction, and social connectedness
- XR applications in music education, instrumental learning, and performance training
- artistic research and creative practice using VR, AR, or MR
- design, development, and evaluation of XR environments and applications for music
- immersive and interactive musical experiences enabled by XR technologies
- multisensory and haptic interaction in XR-based musical environments
- virtual and augmented stages, performance spaces, and concert environments
- networked XR performance and musical metaverse environments
- XR-based storytelling, dramaturgy, and opera
- accessibility, inclusion, and participation through XR technologies
- performer–audience interaction in VR, AR, and MR
- psychological and perceptual dimensions of musical experience in XR
- authenticity, mediation, and technological presence in XR-based musical settings
- sustainability and institutional implications of XR technologies in music
- methodological challenges in researching musical experience, learning, and performance in XR
The symposium is explicitly designed to connect scientific reflection with artistic and hands-on experience through academic contributions, demonstrations, and artistic presentations.
Confirmed Guests
Confirmed guests include Dr. Konstantina Orlandatou (HfMT Hamburg), Dr. Christian Stein (playersjourney, Berlin), Professor Toby Young (Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London), Dr. George Waddell (Royal College of Music, London), Phillip Feneberg (Mozarteum Salzburg), and Dr. Svetlana Rudenko (concert pianist, educator, and researcher).
Submission
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, excluding references where applicable, and indicate whether you are proposing a paper, poster, or demonstration.
Submission deadline: 1 December 2026
Notification of acceptance: early January 2027
Submission by email: mats.kuessner@gmpu.ac.at
Organisation and Support
The symposium is co-organised by Prof. Dr. Mats Küssner (Gustav Mahler University of Music) and Dr. Gina Emerson (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin).
The symposium is generously supported by internal funding from the Gustav Mahler University of Music and by the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE) (http://www.sempre.org.uk).