People who aspire to be academics: I wish to live a life of the mind Actual academics:

If you are a historian of any kind, take the time to read this thread and the responses. And follow @dbellingradt.bsky.social - he reliably has threads like these.

Very happy to have received the final reader report for my upcoming book on American pianists in Berlin, Weimar, and Vienna around 1900. Phrases like " a tour-de-force of meticulous, careful analysis of primary sources" got thrown around, while also identifying a couple of traps that I could avoid.

Sad news out of Nottingham Uni: "world-leading" but suspending (i.e. closing for now) music and modern languages programmes? Surely not. I hope they reconsider. Please sign this petition protesting the closure of the music programmes: c.org/k884FyfWPt

I am so looking forward to waking up to a chorus international political commentaters and their no doubt terrible takes on the Dutch election results.

Out now: my full issue of NCMR on Playing the Classics in the Nineteenth Century! Thanks to all of the authors and my co-editor Annelies Andries for their amazing work! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I used to see a lot more threads like this one back in the other place. This is a super helpful and ongoing summary of a discussion that affects all in academia, whether you are junior, mid-career, or a senior academic. Recommended!👇👇👇

If you are interested in research into early recordings, check out our blog reporting on the STSM hosted by @evamoreda.bsky.social at the University of Glasgow in June 2025! earlymuse.eu/publications...

One day I will write an article about all the ways my name has been misspelled in (usually positive) reviews.

Since the news is out now anyway, I am very happy to share that I have been awarded a large research grant from the @dfg.de for my research project 'The Material, the Artistic, and the Social: Orchestral Rehearsals in and around Berlin and London, 1813 – 1869'. See gepris.dfg.de/gepris/proje...

NEW Blogpost: at the University of Valencia, six musicologists from all over Europe met to discuss the position of historical musicology in higher education. Have a look!

A difficult week, as I returned to Manchester for the memorial of my friend and to place a plaque in his memory, co-written by his loved ones, in the concert hall that he frequently visited. Now 7 days in Naples for an entirely different kind of co-writing: a text on artistic research for EarlyMuse.

Happy to announce that my book on anti-Americanism and the American pianists who studied in Weimar, Berlin, and Vienna around 1900 is now under contract with @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social . The book should be out in 2026, and is the primary outcome of the big DFG-Project that I worked on in Lübeck.

Very troubling: the University of Greifswald @unigreifswald.bsky.social is threatening to abandon its musicology department. www.faz.net/aktuell/karr...

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

Our beloved institute at Leiden University, the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, is under fire. Please consider signing and sharing 🙏 chng.it/rFQcwt4qMz

Thank you, mysterious peer reviewers, for being so kind to my project proposal. More about this soon.

My special edition of NCMR on Playing the Classics in the Nineteenth Century is finally being published! Many thanks to all the authors, and my co-editor Annelies Andries from Utrecht University. Our introduction to the issue can be read here: www.cambridge.org/core/service...

Sofia Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025).

My Alma Mater, University College Roosevelt, which was called Roosevelt Academy when I was there, has decided to axe entire fields of studies, including almost all the courses that I took and subsequently based a career on. It's a really crazy story, more here: dub.uu.nl/en/news/ucr-...

Very happy to be on my way to beautiful Slovenia for another meeting on the performance of early music for EarlyMuse. Looking forward to discussing recent developments in artistic research across Europe with scholars from across the continent.

Okay, you can all unclench those fingers and toes now. Good news came today! (Cannot share publicly yet, as these things go....)

Very worrying to see this happen, particularly to my alma mater: www.dutchnews.nl/2025/02/dutc...

Alright, folks - important week. Kindly keep all available fingers and toes crossed.

In the midst of all the bad news from the UK: here's a nice job in Munich for musicologists with a focus on music before 1750. Apply apply! www.academics.de/jobs/profess...

Here is a petition to avoid closure of the Cardiff School of Music, announced yesterday. Please consider signing. www.change.org/p/save-cardi...

Really sorry to see these awful rumours about Cardiff. Thinking about friends in their Music department. I hope there can be a swift pushback and that their leadership will listen to alternative proposals. nation.cymru/news/huge-jo...

The @udkberlin.bsky.social has published a rather beautiful obituary of my friend Stephan Schönlau, who passed away a month ago today. www.udk-berlin.de/universitaet...

Are you working in a conservatoire in Europe, and do you have an ORCID profile? Following on from last week's post on the state of historical musicology in European conservatoires, this week a blogpost reporting on how the ORCID system allows everyone a greater overview of the field of musicology.

New blogpost from EarlyMuse on the state of historical musicology in conservatoires and arts academies around Europe! Check it out! earlymuse.eu/publications...

Last call (Deadline 10 January!) for musicologists: 30 places for Short Term Scientific Missions across Europe. See here: earlymuse.eu/wp-content/u...

Beautiful obituary of my dear friend Stephan Schönlau by @wendelinbitzan.bsky.social : wendelinbitzan.de/in-remembran...

So today is (probably) Beethoven's birthday. What's the most interesting thing you learned about him, his music, his influence, and his surroundings? I'll go first: This year, I read Theodor Albrecht's new book on the rehearsals for the 9th (boydellandbrewer.com/978183765105...)

Where are my musicologists at? I’m still trying to find a book reviewer for this book, www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...? It’s an important one and I would love to get a thoughtful review for the Journal of Musicological Research (I’m book reviews editor)!

If you or a friend likes video games and history, you should play this: store.steampowered.com/app/1205520/... Absolute gem that explains the complexities of historical research, with a pretty engaging story that can only be told in an interactive medium. Beautiful music, and great visuals too!

If you are a historical musicologist (i.e. you have or are working on a PhD on any kind of historical music, including stuff written yesterday) and you want to gain international experience, consider applying to the fully funded projects in the link below! drive.google.com/file/d/1ug-u...

FAO UK colleagues: french unis are facing massive budget cuts, forced to reduce numbers. They’re are protesting today; the VC of Lille has closed the whole Uni today to protest.

I have been wanting to see this gem for a couple of months now. Berlin cinemas, where are you at?

If you are a historical musicologist (i.e. you have or are working on a PhD on any kind of historical music, including stuff written yesterday) and you want to gain international experience, consider applying to the fully funded projects in the link below! drive.google.com/file/d/1ug-u...

Ik reken op een grote opkomst, morgen: collega’s van alle faculteiten, van alle universiteiten in Nederland. Acties zoals deze tonen aan dat er nog steeds solidariteit bestaat, en dat wetenschappers zich betrokken voelen bij álle vormen van het verwerven van kennis.

Are you an academic (preferably ECR) and interested in coming to work with me one week this summer in Glasgow on a database of early recordings of pre-1800 music, funded by the COST action EarlyMuse? All info in the link; apply by 10th January drive.google.com/file/d/1ug-u...

Allright, the @royalmusical.bsky.social is here. Now where is the German Gesellschaft für Musikforschung and the Dutch KVNM?

Music historians, I think we’re still finding our way here but please comment and I’ll add you. go.bsky.app/T6tNioi

In April next year, I will be involved in a conference called The Beethoven Summit in London, involving a whole bunch of very awesome people talking about Beethoven and performance practice after 1812. Some info is here, more on the way: www.iccmlondon.org

Hello, Bluesky! I hope that it is nicer here.