Welcome participants of the 2nd Conference of the ICTMD Nordic-Baltic Network!

In this page you will find information about ICTMD, its members, aims, and activities. You can use the search function at the top of the screen or navigate the website's contents using the left-hand-size navigation bar. 

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General information

Founded by scholars and musicians on 22 September 1947, the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance is a scholarly organization which aims to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries. To these ends the Council organizes World Conferences, Symposia, Colloquia, and Fora, and publishes the journal Traditions of Music and Dance and the Bulletin of the ICTMD.

As a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and by means of its wide international representation and the activities of its Study Groups, the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance acts as a bond among peoples of different cultures and thus contributes to the peace of humankind.

To learn more about the history of the Council, please visit this page.

Scholarly events

World Conferences

ICTMD World Conferences have been held since 1948 and are presently biennial. They constitute the main scholarly gathering of ICTMD members, offering opportunities for exchanges on a broad range of issues.

The most recent ICTMD World Conference was held in January 2025 in Wellington (New Zealand), and the next will take place in January 2027 in Santiago, Chile. Previous World Conference sites include Legon (Ghana), Lisbon (Portugal), Bangkok (Thailand), Limerick (Ireland), Astana (Kazakhstan), Shanghai (China), and St. John's (Canada).

Colloquia and Fora

Colloquia have been organized by invitation since 1981. These events focus on selected themes, intensively discussed by smaller groups of scholars and representatives from related fields.

Fora are scholarly events organized in collaboration with other national, regional, and international scholarly organizations on a theme of common concern.

Governance

Executive Board

The management of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance is vested in the Executive Board, consisting of a President, one or two Vice Presidents (Officers), and nine Ordinary Members, all of whom are elected by the membership of the Council.

The current President is Tan Sooi Beng (Malaysia), and the two Vice Presidents are Samuel Araújo (Brazil) and Brian Diettrich (New Zealand). To learn more about the ICTMD Executive Board and its constituency, please visit its home page.

Secretariat

The Secretariat is the body responsible for the day-to-day operations of ICTMD, and is the main channel of communication between the Council’s governing body—the Executive Board—and its members, subscribers, partners, and affiliates.

The current Secretariat is registered as a nonprofit organisation in the Republic of Slovenia since July 2011. The current Secretary General is Lee Tong Soon (Singapore), and the current Executive Secretary is Carlos Yoder (Argentina/Slovenia). To learn more about the ICTMD Secretariat, please visit its home page.

Study Groups

ICTMD Study Groups are formed by ICTMD members sharing a common area of scholarly study. They periodically meet at Study Group Symposia (see the Calendar of Events for upcoming Study Group Symposia).

Currently there are 29 active ICTMD Study Groups, with foci on Applied Ethnomusicology; Audiovisual Ethnomusicology; Ethnochoreology; Gender and Sexuality; Global History of Music and Dance; Iconography of the Performing Arts; Indigenous Music and Dance; Maqām; Mediterranean Music Studies; Multipart Music; Multispecies Sound and Movement; Music and Allied Arts of Greater South Asia; Music and Dance in Latin America and the Caribbean; Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe; Music and Dance in the Turkic World; Music and Dance of Oceania; Music and Dance of the Slavic World; Music and Minorities; Music Archaeology; Music, Education and Social Inclusion; Music in the Arab World; Musical Instruments; Musics of East Asia; Performing Arts of Southeast Asia; Sacred and Spiritual Sounds and Practices; Sound, Movement, and the Sciences; Sources and Archives for Music and Sound Studies; Traditions of African Music and Dance; and Voice Research Across Musical Traditions.

The ICTMD World Network

The ICTMD World Network is composed of individuals, called Liaison Officers, and representatives of organisations, called National and Regional Committees. They all act as links between the Council and the community of individuals and organizations involved with traditional music and dance in their country or region.

As of April 2025, the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance is officially represented in 129 countries or regions.

Membership information

ICTMD members are entitled to:

• Submit their research for presentation at ICTMD World Conferences
• Receive all ICTMD publications, including two issues of Traditions of Music and Dance, usually published in July and December, and the Bulletin of the ICTMD, usually published in January, April, and October
• Access all issues of Traditions of Music and Dance and its predecessors via Cambridge Core
• Participate in the activities of all Study Groups, National Committees, Colloquia, and Fora
• Join the Council's mailing list, where members share calls for proposals, job posts, and other relevant information
• Vote in the elections of the ICTMD Executive Board, Study Groups, and National Committees
• Access premium website content, such as the ICTMD Online Membership Directory

Our members hail from every corner of the world, and we strive to make membership fees as fair as possible to all who wish to join the Council. In 2025 a new tiered membership system was implemented, that matches membership fees with members’ gross annual income. Limited numbers of both discounted and waived memberships are also available every year. 

Please visit www.ictmd.org/membership to learn more.