Welcome to IAML 2026!
The music library community in Greece, welcomes you to the IAML Congress in Thessaloniki.
It is our great pleasure to host the annual Congress of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) in Thessaloniki, a city of 1,000,000 people on the northern border of Greece.
A city that has a unique history of more than 2.300 years and attracts millions of tourists from around the world every year. Since the first settlement in 315 BC, it has served as a center throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman eras, contributing to its rich multicultural gastronomic identity. Once a Byzantine metropolis has preserved a large number of monuments, Thessaloniki is home to 15 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and its city center resembles an open-air museum of art and culture. It is a longtime melting pot of cultures, a feature that is reflected in the spicy flavors (or gastronomy?) with eastern influences, as well as flavors from Europe and the Balkans.
In 2026 we will also be celebrating IAML’s 75th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the Greek Branch of IAML with additional festivities during the congress.
The members of the Congress Committees are very proud to host the IAML Congress in Greece for the first time and to welcome colleagues from all over the world. We invite you to take part in a rich programme of professional sessions, workshops, and various accompanying events such as, concerts of Byzantine, ancient Greek, and contemporary Greek music and an exhibition of byzantine music manuscripts spanning circa 1,000 years. Tours of surrounding archaeological sites will be offered such as Vergina, where the tombs of members of the Macedonian royal dynasty were discovered and Dion, an archaeological site at the foot of Mount Olympus, where fragments of the oldest keyboard instrument (hydraulis) are exhibited. A visit to the School of Aristotle, where he educated the young Alexander the Great combined with a wine tasting experience in the city of Naoussa, famous for its red wines, fine gastronomy and lovely countryside.
We look forward to welcoming you to Thessaloniki and hope that the Congress will be a great opportunity to introduce you to Greek musical and cultural traditions.
ORGANISERS
DESTINATION
Thessaloniki is the second-largest city in Greece, the capital of the Macedonia region. Founded on the 3rd century BC and named after the stepsister of Alexander the Great, Thessaloniki is now a vibrant, modern city with a population of 1 million people and an important educational hub with 4 universities, among which Greece's largest university, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
