We are very pleased to announce the 23rd International EAS Student Forum, which will take place from April 06 (Easter Monday) to April 09, 2026 prior to the 33rd EAS Conference in Vienna/Austria (main conference date: April 08–11, 2026).
About
The Student Forum (SF) has become an established part of the annual EAS conference and is proving to be a very successful activity – both for the students and also for the conference as a whole. As in recent years, it will be again closely connected with the congress activities: including an EAS student forum presentation at the EAS conference. The EAS SF programme will include workshops, discussions, presentations, and musical activities.
The Student Forum starts at 05:00 p. m. on Monday afternoon, April 6th (Easter Monday), and ends at 1:30 p. m. on Thursday, April 9th, 2026. However, SF participants can take part for the rest of the conference free of charge. The aim of the Student Forum is to give student teachers the opportunity to share and exchange their experience and views of music teaching and to discuss issues, which impact upon music education in schools.
(More information on programme and application process
will follow as soon as possible)
SF Theme and Programme
The theme of the Student Forum is in line with the main conference theme:
“Advance Democracy. Participation, Diversity, and Social Cohesion in Music Education”.
There will be three elements to the programme:
- Practical and creative music making through sharing examples of musical activities and repertoire from one’s own context, and creating new music together.
- Discussion focused on the theme of the Forum and sharing the students’ different experiences and perspectives of learning to become a teacher in their own school system.
- Participation in selected conference activities and group work.
Students will gain insight into each other’s ideas, approaches in music education and the school contexts of the different countries. The hope is that they will not only discover common ground, but also explore new perspectives, and thus develop a deeper awareness of their own context. We are sure, that they will also come away with new friends, and a place within the EAS network.
Application Process and Selection Criteria
Participants will be selected by the national coordinators of their countries. If you are interested, contact your national coordinator. The deadline for applications is December 12, 2025. The applicants should …
- currently be in the final years of their music teacher training programme;
- be delegated from the nominating country and not a student on an Erasmus exchange in the nominating institution;
- be interested in European and international perspectives in music education and be able to prepare materials prior to the meeting;
- have the ability to communicate in English, since the whole programme of the Student Forum will be conducted in English;
- have the ability to work with others and contribute to debate;
- attend an institution that is willing to cover the travel costs.
The selected students have to register with the conference tool. There also is a fee for participation: 50 €. Please note that this fee is non-refundable.
EAS Student Forum Team 2026
- Sandro Kemter (mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna),
mail: sandro.kemter@students.mdw.ac.at - Eduarda Ferreira (ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon), mail: eduardacastrof@gmail.com.
- Prof. Dr. Branka Rotar Pance (University of Ljubljana, Academy of Music, Slovenia)
mail: branka.rotar-pance@ag.uni-lj.si. - Prof. Dr. Oliver Krämer (Rostock University of Music and Drama, Germany),
mail: oliver.kraemer@hmt-rostock.de.