→ The book of abstracts can be downloaded at this link. ←
After two succesful editions (UIC 2021 and UIC 2023) and the establishment at the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria of the world’s first university program of study specialized in ukulele performance, the Third Ukulele International Conference (UIC 2025) – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Performance, Composition, Pedagogy and Organology is organized and hosted by the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria (Italy), in collaboration with the Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment – University of Milan, and co-directed by Giovanni Albini and Giovanni Cestino. Its aim is to delve into the diverse cultural identities and resources of the ukulele from both academic and artistic perspectives. A volume of the conference papers will be published in 2026 (at this link, the Proceedings of UIC 2021, published by Milano University Press). Adam Jansen (Hawai’i State Archives) will deliver the keynote lecture. The conference will be held at the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi”, in Alessandria (Italy) on October 24 and 25, 2025.
UIC 2025 will host participants in the broad interdisciplinary community of research around the ukulele who will converge, share and celebrated their ongoing research efforts, focusing on one or more of the following themes:
- ukulele performance, techniques, and repertoires;
- composing, arranging, and transcribing for ukulele;
- ukulele organology and making;
- relationship between the ukulele and other instruments;
- cultural history of the ukulele;
- the ukulele in media and popular music;
- ukulele in/for music education and pedagogy.
Conference program
Events will be in-person, in Aula Abbà-Cornaglia, Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Vivaldi” in Alessandria (Italy), as well as live-streamed on Zoom. Access to the conference, both in-person and online, will be possible only for registered participants. Speakers of paper presentations (selected through a call for papers and double blind peer review) must attend in person and register for the conference. A small fee is required to complete the registration. The language of the conference is English. All travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the participant(s).
→ The registration process is now closed ←
Friday, October 24, 2025
9:30 Conference registration
10:30 Welcome and institutional greetings
11:00 Lecture: Jim Dalton (Boston Conservatory at Berklee, US), Microtones: Small Intervals for a ‘Small’ Instrument
14:00 Paper session #1 (chair: Giovanni Cestino)
- Christopher Davis-Shannon (independent scholar, UK) and Pablo de Orellana (King’s College London, UK), From Hawaii to the London Blitz: A Genealogy of Hawaiian music in WWII British Military Morale
- João Tostes (independent scholar, BR), Decoding Brazilian Ginga: New Pathways for the Ukulele in Performance and Pedagogy
- Sabine Walter (independent scholar, DE), Why Play J.S. Bach’s Violin Partitas on the Ukulele?
16:00 Paper session #2 (chair: Giovanni Albini)
- Teh Bee Teen, I-Ta Wang and Feng-Hsu Lee (Universiti Malaya, MY), Rote versus Note Learning for Rhythmic Accuracy in Beginner Ukulele Students (aged 8–10): A Motor Learning Perspective
- Tim Carson (University of Auckland, NZ), Self-regulated learning in the music classroom
- Charlie Fischer (Zurich University of the Arts, CH), Changing Strings and Building Bridges: Creating Ukulele Music Exams for Swiss Music Schools
- Anastasiia Ishimova (Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, RU) and Anastasiia Podkorytova (independent scholar, RU), Peculiarities of Ukulele Teaching in Russia
18:30 Presentation of the UIC 2023 Conference Proceedings
Saturday, October 25, 2025
9:00 Keynote presentation: Adam Jansen (Hawai’i State Archives, US), Advancing ‘Ukulele Research: The Hawaiian Music Archives Project
10:30 Paper session #3 (chair: Giovanni Albini)
- Anastasiia Podkorytova (independent scholar, RU), Developing Artistic Needs of the Younger Generation Through Online Teaching Ukulele
- Cynthia Kinnunen (Wilfrid Laurier University, CA), The ‘Ukulele’s Interweaving Pedagogical, Social, and Relational Potential within an Amateur Adult Community Ensemble
- Anne Ku (independent scholar, US), What Concerns Ukulele Instructors: Professional Development Beyond FAQ
- Danieli Machado Bezerra (Universidade Federal Fluminense, BR), Uketerapia: The Ukulele and the Magic of the Collective
14:30 Workshop: Francesco Verginelli (UMA Lab, IT), The Art and Science of Ukulele Tuning
15:00 Paper session #4 (chair: Fabrizio Nastari)
- Elisabeth Pfeiffer (ZHdK Zurich, CH; University of Surrey, UK), Idiomatic Ukulele Tone Production and its Contemporary Application
- Nush Agarwal (Temple University, US), Techniques of the Solo Ukulele Performance Tradition
16:30 Paper session #5 (chair: Giovanni Cestino)
- Davide Donelli (Conservatorio di Alessandria, IT), Traces of the Ukulele in Early 20th-Century Italy: The Catanese Luthiery Tradition
- Marco Borsetti (independent scholar, IT), The Ukulele and Ingenuity: A History of Intertwining between Engineering and Ukulele out of the Box of Traditional Luthiery
- Massimiliano Sanfilippo (independent scholar, IT), The Environmental Sustainability of Ukulele Production
18:30 Roundtable: Small Instrument, Big Questions: On the Complexities of Ukulele Education (chair: James Hill)
Speakers: Anastasiia Ishimova (Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, RU), Anastasiia Podkorytova (independent scholar, RU), Anne Ku (independent scholar, US), Charlie Fischer (Zurich University of the Arts, CH), Christopher Davis-Shannon (independent scholar, UK), Cynthia Kinnunen (Wilfrid Laurier University, CA), Elisabeth Pfeiffer (ZHdK Zurich, CH; University of Surrey, UK), Giovanni Albini (Conservatorio di Alessandria, IT), João Tostes (independent scholar, BR), Teh Bee Teen (Universiti Malaya, MY), Tim Carson (University of Auckland, NZ)
Organizing committee
- Giovanni Albini, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Giovanni Cestino, Università degli Studi di Milano (IT)
Scientific committee
- Fabrizio Nastari, Conservatorio di Musica “L. Canepa” di Sassari (IT)
- Jim Dalton, Boston Conservatory at Berklee (US)
- Jim Tranquada, independent scholar (US)
- Jonathan De Souza, University of Western Ontario (CA)
- Laura Conti, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Mariagrazia Baroni, Conservatorio di Musica “A. Vivaldi” di Alessandria (IT)
- Paulo Esteireiro, Conservatório – Escola Profissional das Artes da Madeira (PT)
- Shawn Yacavone, independent scholar (US)
Keynote lecture
- Adam Jansen, Hawai’i State Archives (US)
