Biennial Meeting of the American Bach Society
Riemenschneider Bach Institute at
Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio)
October 1–4, 2026
“Celebrating Bach”
Call For Proposals

For questions about the upcoming conference, please contact the ABS vice-president.

The 2026 American Bach Society (ABS) meeting will take place at Baldwin Wallace University (BW) in Berea, Ohio. BW is home to the first collegiate Bach Festival in the United States, the Riemenschneider Bach Institute (RBI), and BACH: The Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute. In recognition of BW’s long history of promoting Bach, the meeting will be centered around the idea of “celebrating Bach.” The ABS invites individual paper proposals (30 minutes) that critically investigate the past, present, and future of the many ways in which we celebrate Bach. Papers on all aspects of Bach research are welcome; preference will be given to those related to the conference theme. Topics related to this theme could include but are not limited to:

  • Bach festivals, societies, museums, competitions, or websites
  • Visual celebrations of Bach (monuments, postage stamps, films, etc.)
  • Bach anniversaries
  • Private and public collections of Bach’s works
  • Publications, recording projects, or documentaries highlighting Bach
  • Compositions inspired by Bach
  • Bach celebrated in popular culture
  • Bach as part of cultural or political celebrations
  • The future of Bach celebrations and studies in a changing world

Please send your proposal as an abstract of up to 300 words emphasizing the results of research as a Word document [last name_first name.docx] to vicepresident@americanbachsociety.org by January 15, 2026. Please include your name, institutional affiliation or city of residence, and email address, and indicate any audio, visual, or other needs for the presentation. Applicants will be notified of the program committee’s decision by March 1, 2026. Note that all papers will be given in-person; therefore the American Bach Society will offer subsidies for travel for papers accepted from scholars without institutional support.