Soundscapes of Entertainment: Music at Leisure in the 19th Century

From 17 to 19 September 2026, the international academic conference Soundscapes of Entertainment: Music at Leisure in the 19th Century was held at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, bringing together distinguished musicologists and researchers from around the world. The conference was organized by the Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini, the Croatian Musicological Society, Palazzetto Bru Zane, and the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. The three-day programme presented the latest research dedicated to music as a significant element of 19th-century social and cultural life. Through interdisciplinary presentations, participants discussed various aspects of musical culture, its role in public and private life, and the shaping of social and cultural identities. Plenary lectures delivered by two prominent musicologists, full professor dr. Vjera Katalinić and full professor dr. William A. Everett, made a special contribution to the programme.

The conference programme was enriched by the concert In Marinekreisen, which was performed at the Small Stage of the Istrian National Theatre. The Istrian Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Petar Matošević, performed compositions by bandmasters of the Pula Naval Orchestra, offering the audience a unique musical experience and highlighting the value of Pula’s musical heritage within the context of the conference themes. The event once again affirmed the importance of international academic collaboration and established the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula and the Faculty of Educational Sciences as a meeting point for researchers studying European musical and cultural heritage. The conference and concert are partially funded by EU NextGeneration within the framework of the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula’s institutional research project ISTRAMUZA – ISTRAživanje skladateljske baštine: MUZikološki, obrAzovni i izvedbeni potencijali (Research in Compositional Heritage: Musicological, Educational, and Performance Potentials), an interdisciplinary scientific-artistic project of the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
(project code: IIP_UNIPU_010156).