Long relegated to the sidelines of music scholarship in the Baltic States, popular music and music cultures have recently emerged as a vital domain of research and interest, both within and beyond the academy. Recent work, often bridging methodologies of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and sociology, has challenged long-held assumptions about the capacity of state authority to control cultural production, about the ability of musicians to leverage the affordances and porousness of political and economic regimes to advance their work and even to resist or inflect authoritarian power, and about the fragility, contingency, and opacity of the archival record itself.

To mark the fiftieth issue of the biennial Baltic Musicological Conference, the journal “Lithuanian Musicology” announces a call for submissions on the topic:

“Popular Musics of Baltic Europe: History, Memory, Historiography”

The editors of this special issue, to be published in 2027, welcome a wide range of articles on the histories of popular musics and music-making in the region, touching upon — but not limited to — such themes as:

  • underground and alternative cultures and scenes;
  • technologies of production and mediation;
  • samizdat, magnitizdat, and other DIY forms of music-making and music culture;
  • migration and emigration / immigration;
  • music-making amidst and across political transition;
  • festivals, discotheques, concerts and clubs;
  • international collaborations and networks;
  • problems and challenges of archival and oral-history research of popular musics;
  • transmission of knowledge, network cultivation, and marketing within and beyond the region;
  • structures of support for music-making, whether formal or informal.

Submissions of no more than 6000 words will be welcomed through 31 October 2026.

The language of the issue will be English.

The editors of the special issue – Rūta Stanevičiūtė (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) and Kevin C. Karnes (Emory University) – also welcome inquiries.

Submissions should be emailed to:
ruta.staneviciute@lmta.lt

“Lithuanian Musicology” is a peer-reviewed journal published by the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.

  • SCOPUS
  • ERIH PLUS
  • EBSCO Humanities International Index
  • EBSCO Humanities International Complete
  • British Humanities Index
  • MLA International Bibliography
  • RILM Abstracts of Music Literature

Further information, previous issues, and guidelines for contributors are available at:
https://žurnalai.lmta.lt/en/journal/lithuanian-musicology/