This week, RIAM is delighted to host some extraordinary artistry as the Royal Irish Academy of Music welcomes The Expansive Canvas: Large‑Scale Form in the Music of 19th‑Century Women Composers. Co‑presented with Trinity College Dublin’s Department of Music, this landmark international conference and recital series will run from 25 to 28 August 2025 and will celebrate the rich creativity of those whose voices, for too long, remained beyond the spotlight.
We are reframing musical history by centring the expansive works, symphonies, sonatas, chamber music and operas of women composers across the long nineteenth century (1789–1922). This is a moment of reclamation and urgent relevance, and RIAM is proud to amplify this work.
What’s happening
- Scholarly engagement: Leading thinkers and performers convene for four pivotal roundtable discussions exploring why this repertoire matters and how to embed it in performance, education, and artistic policy:
- Why the Expansive Canvas? (Tuesday 26 August, 11.00–12.00)
- Performance Perspectives (Wednesday 27 August, 9.00–10.30)
- Music Education Summit: Affecting Change from Childhood to Doctorate (Thursday 28 August, 9.30–11.00)
- The Expansive Canvas Across the Arts (Thursday 28 August, 11.30–13.00)
- Why the Expansive Canvas? (Tuesday 26 August, 11.00–12.00)
- Recital series: Performance lies at the conference’s core. A free programme showcases sonatas, fantasies, chamber works, songs, and an organ recital by composers such as Clara Schumann, Emilie Mayer, Luise‑Adolphe Le Beau, and Rebecca Clarke
- Monday 25 August, 6 pm: Organ Recital by Andrew Johnstone, St Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge
- Tuesday to Thursday (26–28 August): Lunchtime, evening and afternoon recitals in the Whyte Recital Hall at RIAM. No booking required.
- Monday 25 August, 6 pm: Organ Recital by Andrew Johnstone, St Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge
Dr. Nicole Grimes (TCD, Co‑Chair) champions this as a space reclaimed “opening up space, musically, historically, and culturally, for voices that have too often been sidelined”.
Professor Denise Neary (RIAM, Co‑Chair) frames it as a call to action, shaping how this repertoire is heard, taught and embedded across concert halls, curricula, and collective memory.
Through our partnership, RIAM ensures these performances are rooted in both artistry and impact. We translate scholarship into resonant, live encounters and we advocate for repertoire change with bold purpose.
Performers, educators, scholars, music‑lovers are invited to register for the full conference at the Trinity‑hosted venues Trinity College Dublin. The public is warmly invited to attend the free recitals, no booking required.
For more information and a full scheduled please visit https://expansivecanvas.com/