CFP: The Japanese Classical Music Industry

Dear Colleagues,
Philip Seaton (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) and Yumi Notohara (Osaka College of Music) are planning a closed workshop at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies on Sunday 2 November, 9:00-16:00 JST, on the theme of the Japanese classical music industry (i.e. European-origin クラシック音楽 of Beethoven/Takemitsu et al). The plan is for the workshop to lead to publication of an edited volume from a leading academic publisher with a book series in music studies.

Project webpage: https://philipseaton.net/research/books/the-japanese-classical-music-industry/ 

We invite paper proposals on the following themes:

1) Actors in the classical music industry: performers, composers, teachers, management, educators, fans, critics, corporations.

2) History: origins of the classical music industry and its historical development.

3) Music industry issues: class/status, classical music as business, gender issues, transnational issues, Japanese classical music within the global industry, classical music in the digital age, the future of classical music.

4) Musicscapes: sites of classical music, festivals, classical music and machizukuri (community building), classical music and travel/tourism.

Notes:
• Papers will be selected to ensure a good distribution across the above themes.
• Diversity is strength in a project of this nature. We hope to receive proposals from PhD candidates through to full professors, and from a range of disciplinary and personal backgrounds. Applications from industry practitioners are also welcomed.
• The workshop is bilingual. Presentations may be in Japanese or English, although the final publication is in English.
• Fluent English is not a requirement. We prioritize argument/content. Comprehensive English-language support is provided by the editors for accepted papers.
• You may apply to be part of the book project even if you are unavailable on 2 November (but obviously attending the workshop enhances your input).
• No funding is available for travel to the workshop. We prefer in-person attendance at TUFS campus, but remote attendance (Zoom) is possible.
• Participants are invited to attend the public "symposium-concert" Music as Language and the Language of Music at TUFS on Saturday 1 November featuring performances of new works by Sota Kasagi and Philip Seaton, discussion by the composers/performers, and a keynote lecture by Yumi Notohara.
• As part of the project, we plan a large-scale survey of active classical musicians in Japan, so active participation in classical music (whether professional or amateur) and good networks among musicians are considered positively.

How to apply:
Send a proposal (maximum 2 pages of A4 in English or Japanese) to Philip Seaton by email (pseaton62@tufs.ac.jp) giving the following:
• Brief CV (current position, research interests, details of up to 3 relevant publications).
• Paper title and abstract (200 words in English, or 500 characters in Japanese)
• Statement about how you can contribute to the project (200 words in English, or 500 characters in Japanese).

Deadline for proposal submissions: 31 May 2025
Announcement of acceptance/rejection of proposal: 30 June 2025
Workshop date: 2 November 2025
Full paper submission deadline: 30 April 2026 (paper length depends on the number of chapters, but probably 5,000-8,000 words in English)
Submission of book proposal: Summer 2026
Publication: 2027

If you have any questions, feel free to email Philip Seaton at pseaton62@tufs.ac.jp

Regards from Tokyo and Osaka,
Philip Seaton and Yumi Notohara