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Building a cross-disciplinary network dedicated to thinking, writing, performing and exploring music.

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Music Futures is an initiative dedicated to thinking, writing and performing music, jointly hosted by the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ European Institute and the Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ Institute of Advanced Studies, with support from Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ Grand Challenges. Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ does not have a dedicated department of musicology, but it has a great wealth of Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ academics working on and with music in a wide range of disciplines - be it in literature, history, philosophy, technology, law, cognitive neuroscience, fine arts or elsewhere. Music Futures aims to foster a new cluster of scholarship and creativity in this space. This includes research about music as well as research qua creative or performative practice. To this end, we also draw in musicians, composers and performers external to Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾. 

The initiative curated a series of events, societies and clubs; recordings, podcasts and films; projects and publications; teaching and engagement. In addition, nine projects were supported under the initiative, selected from the response to the Music Futures call for proposals. This has led to the initiative building a cross-disciplinary community and network, bringing together musicians, artists and academics working on music from across Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾.

The initiative culminated in the week-long Music Futures Festival in June 2022, but it will not end here. Whilst initially planned only for Academic Year 2021-22, due to it's success in building a cross-disciplinary network, the initiative carried on into 2022-23, including through the establishment of Â鶹´«Ã½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ & Royal Academy of Music Interdisciplinary Collaboration. The Music Futures initiative and programme of events and engagement, continues to generate lasting impacts.