British Musical Postminimalism Revisited: Performance, Repertoire, Networks 1979-97

Wednesday 10 June 2026

Music and Media, Performing Arts Technology Studios (PATS building), University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

This is the second conference that investigates a period at the turn of the 1980s and into the 1990s in which a young generation of British composers sought to realign themselves away from the prevailing modernism within the UK new music mainstream.

The first conference, ‘More Sounds, More Personalities’, in September 2024, brought together composers, performers, theatre- and dance-makers, musicologists, journalists, broadcasters and others to begin an investigation of research questions around compositional approaches, aesthetics, archives, collaborations, and social history. The connection between young British composers of the period, minimalism and experimental music (both its US and UK strains) formed some of the key preoccupations of the conference. The outline of the conference, including presentations and papers, can be found HERE.

This second conference builds on themes raised in the first, and invites closer scrutiny of aspects of performance and repertoire, as well as broadening to examine parallels in other contemporary artforms and other music genres. We are interested in exploring the culture through which a largely London-based independent and progressive art music scene was incubated, but also its parallels outside London and the UK. In particular this conference welcomes consideration of work and activity from the latter part of its time period.

Proposals for 20 minute papers (plus 10 minutes for questions) are invited on, but not limited to, the following topics (as they relate to the period under consideration):

  *   Performance and ensemble aspects: instruments, instrumentation, instrumentalists; repetition, pulse, groove, tightness / looseness; dynamics, orchestration, flatness; aesthetics of live sound, amplification and production
  *   Reinvention of standard classical chamber groupings: quartet, trio, solo, vocal group
  *   Commonalities with other independent art music ensembles and organisations of the period, outside of the ‘postminimal’ domain, e.g. ‘New Complexity’, jazz, electronic and improvised music
  *   Parallels to similar scenes in Europe and the US in this period
  *   Close analysis of individual works or composers
  *   Collaborations and crosscurrents with other artforms at the time, e.g. contemporary dance and performance art, alternative theatre, experimental literature, postmodern and conceptual art
  *   Connections to contemporary popular culture, e.g. indie pop, EDM, TV and film
  *   Institutions, curation, programming: festivals, BBC, record labels
  *   Intersections between postminimalism, postmodernism, polystylism, crossover
  *   Legacies and connections to 21st century art music practices, movements, concepts and techniques.

Abstracts of up to 350 words (in addition to a very short biography) should be submitted to Tom Armstrong at t.armstrong@surrey.ac.uk<mailto:t.armstrong@surrey.ac.uk> by Monday 30 March 2026. Notification of successful abstracts will take place by Monday 13 April.

A modest registration fee of £15 (£10 for undergraduate/postgraduate students and unwaged) will be payable once registration for the conference opens.

Queries to t.armstong@surrey.ac.uk or i.gardiner@gold.ac.uk