26^e année, 28 décembre 2025.

Voicing Innocence: Trauma, Memory, and Contemporary Opera in the Work of Kaija Saariaho

April 7–8, 2026, New York

The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)

Call for Papers

Deadline: January 5, 2026

A Conference Convened by The Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation ; The Graduate Center, City University of New York ; In Conjunction with the Metropolitan Opera’s 2026 Staging of Innocence

The Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation invites proposals for a conference inspired by the 2026 Metropolitan Opera premiere of Innocence (2021), the final opera by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. The conference coincides with the Metropolitan Opera's presentation of Simon Stone's original production that premiered at Aix-en-Provence in 2021. This momentous staging provides an opportunity to engage with Saariaho’s innovative compositional voice and the complex thematic landscape of Innocence, an opera that confronts trauma, cultural memory, multilingualism, and the limits of forgiveness.

Topics:
We welcome proposals that examine Innocence and adjacent topics across the fields of musicology, opera studies, trauma studies, cultural theory, performance studies, and beyond.

Saariaho's Operatic Vision

Analytical, aesthetic, and dramaturgical readings of Innocence

Innocence in the context of Saariaho's complete operatic output

Saariaho's musical language and its evolution: Saariaho's musical language and its evolution: spectralism, electronics, and orchestration

Collaboration with librettists Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière, and transdisciplinary practice

The intersection of Finnish and international opera traditions

Trauma, Silence, and Voice in Contemporary Opera

Representations of violence, terrorism, and collective trauma

Memory, testimony, and witnessing in operatic narrative

Ethical considerations in staging real-world violence

Opera as memorial or commemorative practice

Musical and Dramatic Innovation

Extended vocal techniques and vocal diversity in contemporary opera

Multilingual opera and linguistic multiplicity

Non-linear narrative structures and temporal manipulation

The role of folk traditions in art music contexts

Production and Reception

Staging trauma: ethics and audience reception

Simon Stone's production design and directorial approach

Critical reception and audience responses across productions

Posthumous premieres and the politics of legacy

Broader Contexts

Gender, authorship, and the legacy of women in 21st-century opera

Comparative approaches: Innocence alongside operas by Thomas Adès, George Benjamin, Missy Mazzoli, etc.

Finnish cultural identity and global operatic networks

Contemporary opera and social justice

Opera after catastrophe: 21st-century opera and global crisis

We encourage proposals from scholars at all career stages and welcome interdisciplinary submissions from practitioners, composers, directors, and artists whose work intersects with the themes of the conference.

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit the following as a single PDF:

Title of paper or presentation

Abstract (300–350 words)

Short bio (150 words)

Institutional affiliation

Contact information

Submissions should be sent with the subject line: Innocence Conference Proposal.

Deadline for submissions: January 5, 2026

Notification of acceptance: January 30, 2026

Conference Format

The event envisions academic panels, roundtables, and artist talks. Select sessions will be scheduled in coordination with the Metropolitan Opera’s performances of Innocence. Further details will follow in early 2026.

About the Barry S. Brook Center:

Housed at the CUNY Graduate Center, the Barry S. Brook Center is a hub for musicological scholarship, public music discourse, and research. In hosting this conference, the Center continues its commitment to bringing local events into a global context, and addressing the cultural questions shaping our time.

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ISSN 2269-9910.

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Samedi 27 Décembre, 2025