Upcoming Co-Sponsored Events

Sociable Fortepiano Academy - March 5–9, 2026 – New York City. Historically, the “sociability” of the fortepiano served as a vital aspect of societal cultivation and discourse, acting as a hub for social connections between men and women while linking domestic and public spaces. This academy will explore and promote new ways of redefining and recreating fortepiano “musicking” practices. read more

Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI) November 2026 read more

Grant Programs

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grant, Deadline: September 1, 2025

Past Programs

Since 1979, the Westfield Center has sponsored many conferences, led international study tours, issued publications and its own journal and quarterly newsletter, and produced or collaborated on countless workshops and concerts.

2025

• Forte|Piano 2025: Crafting Soundscapes: Festival Celebrating Pianos in History and History in Pianos, August 6-10, 2025 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Watch a video Summary of Forte|Piano 2025

2024

• Forte/Piano Summer Academy with Chamber Music Collective and Piano Tech, July 28-August 3, 2024 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

2023

• Sustaining Keyboards Symposium, September 15-16, 2023 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Chopin Mini-Academy, May 12-14, 2023 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Between Old Worlds and New: Keyboard Encounters, c. 1700–1900, March 9–11, 2023 at the Sigal Music Museum, Greenville, SC.

2022

• Forte/Piano Summer Academy, July 31–August 7, 2022 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
• Well-Tempered Clavier Jamboree, June 8, 2022 at the Berkeley Festival & Exhibition.
• Diversity and Belonging: Unsung Keyboard Stories, January 26-30, 2022 at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

2021

• The Orpheus of Amsterdam: The Musical Worlds of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, October 20-23, 2021 at Cornell University.

2019

• Blending Past and Present, Westfield 40th Anniversary Conference on October 23–26, 2019 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
• Syracuse Legacies Organ Conference, March 29-31, 2019 at Syracuse University.

2018

• The Organ in the Global Baroque, September 6-8, 2018 at Cornell University.
• Debussy as 'Early Music', June 8, 2018 at the Berkeley Early Music Festival.

2017

• David Catalunya: Instruments of Music Theory, November 6-9, 2017 at Cornell University and the Eastman School of Music.
• Jeffrey Brillhart and Christophe Mantoux, workshops and concert on September 23, 2017 at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Ithaca NY.
• Reformations and the Organ, September 10-13, 2017, University of Notre Dame.
• Ghosts in the Machine, May 4-6, 2017, Cornell University.
• Four-Hand Keyboarding in the Long 19th-Century, February 3, 2017, Cornell University.

2016

• Improvising Polyphony, Fall 2016 at Cornell University, Eastman School of Music, and Syracuse University.
• Cavaillé-Coll in Ithaca, September 16-18, 2016, Ithaca, New York.
• Cembalophilia, June 6-8, 2016, Berkeley, California.
• Keyboard Networks, Conference, March 4–5, 2016, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

2015

• (Re)Hearing Scriabin in the 21st Century, October 22–25, 2015, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
• Forte / Piano: A Festival Celebrating Pianos in History, August 5–9, 2015, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
• Environs Messiaen: Nature Rendered at the Keyboard, Conference and Festival, March 5–8, 2015, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

2014

• Sensation and Sensibility at the Keyboard in the Late Eighteenth Century: Celebrating the Tercentenary of C. P. E. Bach, Conference and Festival, October 2–5, 2014, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

2013

• Westfield International Organ Competition and Academy, September 22–30, Ithaca and Rochester, New York.
• Spectrum of Sound: Aspects of Organ Music Since 1940, September 26–29, 2013 EROI Festival, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.
• Fortepiano Workshop, July 21–27, featuring Malcolm Bilson, Andrew Willis and David Breitman, University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
• Historical Keyboard Salon, May 16, a concert featuring Ignacio Prego, Mike Lee, Wayne Lee, Malcolm Bilson and Roger Moseley, Ithaca, New York.
• Continuo: The Art of Creative Collaboration, April 4–6, Tacoma, Washington.

2012

• Bach and the Organ, September 27–30, 2012 EROI Festival, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.
• Westfield International Harpsichord Competition and Academy, August 5–18, 2012, Washington D.C.
• Historical Eclecticism: Organ Building and Playing in the 21st Century, April 12–14, Houston, Texas.

2011

• Improvisation and Organ Pedagogy, November 10–13, 2011 EROI Festival, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.
• Westfield International Fortepiano Competition and Academy, July 31–August 13, Ithaca, New York.
• Keyboard Culture in Eighteenth-Century Berlin and the German Sense of History, March 10-13, Ithaca, New York.

2010

• Playing Chopin His Way: Romantic Pianos and Performance Practice, September 24-26, New Haven, Connecticut.
• The Eugene Conference: The Netherlandish School of Organ Building and its North American Legacy, April 8-11, Eugene, Oregon.
  • Poster
  • Conference Program
  • Concert Program

2009

• Mendelssohn and the Contrapuntal Tradition, co-sponsored with the 8th Annual Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI) festival, October 29–November 1, 2009.

2008

• Johann Sebastian Bach and the Organ, a symposium in conjunction with the EROI festival, 16-20 October.
• Publication of the first issue of Keyboard Perspectives, the Yearbook of the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboard Studies.

2007–2010

• Concert Scholar, a concert tour for young artists.

2006

• J. S. Bach and Central/South European Influences, a conference honoring Harald Vogel and celebrating the new Hellmuth Wolff organ of Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, BC.
• “Westfield Center Conference” by Herbert L. Huestis in The Diapason 97/12 (December 2006).

2005

• The Organ as Mirror of Religion & Culture, Temperament, Sound, and Symbolism, a symposium at the new dual-temperament Pasi organ in Omaha. Co-sponsored with Saint Cecilia Cathedral and The University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
• The Italian Baroque Organ: Context, Instruments, Repertory, Performance, co-sponsored by the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.

2004

• The Organ and The Pedal Clavichord, A Case-study in Performance and Pedagogy, co-sponsored by the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York.

2002

• Cavaillé-Coll in Oberlin; A Celebration of the C. B. Fisk Organ, co-sponsored with Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
• Beyond Notation: a conference on improvisation in Mozart's time: a conference for fortepianists, co-sponsored by the University of Michigan.

2000

• Bach Organs of the North Tour, a study tour.

1999

• Organ in the New Millenium, a symposium in Tacoma, Washington in collaboration with Pacific Lutheran University.
• Baroque and Romantic Organs of Spain, a study tour.
• Bach Organs Tour, a study tour.

1998

• Tientos, Tamales & Pajaritos,a Spanish organ workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico.
• Organ Tour in Celebration of the 350th Anniversary of the Birth of Arp Schnitger,a study tour to historic organs in Germany and Holland.

1997

• Historical Organs of Mexico, a study-tour.

1995–2000

• Festival Organ, an interactive exhibition about the pipe organ and its history, designed for the general public with a schedule of recitals, discussions, and lectures involving local instruments and artists; presented in eight locations nationwide.
• Curious Facts from the Organ's History.

1995

• Spanish and Mexican Organ Culture, workshops held in Fremont and Berkeley, California, on organs built by Manuel Rosales (Mission San Jose) and Greg Harrold (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary).
• Schubert’s Piano Music, symposia with public concerts in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.
• Historical Organs of Mexico, a study-tour.

1993

• Historical Organs of Mexico, a study-tour.
• Historical Organs of England, a study-tour.

1992

• The Historical Organ in America, a symposium in Tempe, Arizona, in collaboration with Arizona State University and the American Organ Academy.
• Publication of The Historical Organ in America: A Documentary of Recent Organs Based on European & American Models.

1991

• Organ Music in Spain’s Golden Age, a workshop at Wellesley College.
• Mozart’s Nature, Mozart’s World, bicentenary humanities symposia presented in Boston and five additional sites nationwide, in collaboration with museums, colleges, and other arts and humanities organizations.

1990

• Haydn’s Piano Sonatas, conference and recitals at Smith College.

1989

• Organs of Bach's Era in Thuringia and Saxony, a study-tour.

1988

• Ornamentation in Bach, a workshop for harpsichordists.
• Consideration of Style and Technique in Performing Works of Mozart, a workshop for pianists.

1987

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Piano Music of the Middle Period, a workshop for pianists.
• From Scheidt to Buxtehude: German Music in the 17th Century, a scholarly conference with public concerts, in collaboration with Wellesley College. Papers from the conference were published as Church, Stage, and Studio: Music and Its Contexts in 17th-Century Germany, edited by Paul Walker, 1990.
• Publication of Charles Brenton Fisk: Organ Builder, two volumes.

1984

• Publication of Westfield (formerly Early Keyboard Studies Newsletter), the quarterly newsletter of the Westfield Center.

1982–87

• Eight Summer workshops at Wellesley College beginning with Meantone Temperament: A New Horizon.