Conference: 12–13 December 2025 | Faculty of Music, University of Oxford Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Oxford, UK
Convenors: Professor Suzanne Aspden, Zhaoyi Yan
This two-day conference invites papers that explore how gender is made, staged, and reimagined in opera in both Eastern and Western traditions, aiming to initiate discussion about diverse approaches to gender representation in a range of different operatic and theatrical genres. We welcome proposals from scholars in musicology, ethnomusicology, performance studies, anthropology, theatre studies, cultural studies, and related disciplines whose work engages with the broad theme of opera and gender.
Possible areas of discussion include cross-gender performance, voice and vocal training; operatic representations of gender; reception and celebrity culture; migration, diaspora, and intercultural production; opera industries and institutions; as well as the ethics and politics of gender representation on stage. We also welcome methodological reflections on archival, ethnographic, digital, or practice-based approaches.
Papers should be 20 minutes in length, and will be followed by discussion.
Proposals should include a paper title and abstract of no more than 250 words, along with a short bio of 80–120 words. Please submit these materials in English to genderopera@outlook.com by 15 November 2025. Applicants will be notified of the results by 23 November 2025.
The conference will take place at the Faculty of Music, University of Oxford, in the new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. Selected papers may be considered for inclusion in a proposed edited volume following the event however not guaranteed.
For all submissions and questions, please write to genderopera@outlook.com.
