The International Symposium on Musical Acoustics (ISMA) is a conference that collects together researchers and enthusiasts every few years to talk about their research related to musical acoustics in particular from the engineering point of view. The topics span acoustics of musical instruments, performance, psychoacoustics, synthesis, instrument making, signal processing, room acoustics, and etnomusicology among other things.
The event typically attracts around 100-150 people. Aside from scientific talks and posters, the activities include workshops and evening programme, such as jam sessions, related to the symposium themes.
For the Helsinki 2026 Edition of the ISMA, the topic of the conference is “Sounds of the past into future”, which reflects in particular the conservation work that goes into understanding musical instruments, and musical traditions from the technical point of view, and the opportunities that this work brings into making music in the future. The topic will be reflected in the invited plenary speakers and in the workshops.
The evening program includes sauna and barbecue, and getting to know the Finnish nature, among others.
ISMA 2026 Helsinki is hosted by the University of the Arts, Helsinki, and it is organised by Postdoctoral Research Fellow Henna Tahvanainen, isma2026helsinki(a)gmail.com
International Symposium on Musical Acoustics 