SCSMT Meeting Wrap-Up, Spring 2019

The Annual Meeting of the South-Central Society for Music Theory, held on the iconic, scenic campus of Louisiana State University, was a great success with 50 professors, graduate students, independent scholars, and undergraduates present. Presenters and attendees arrived from many regions of the United States and Canada. This year we had 51 proposals submitted, with 22 being accepted, for an acceptance rate of 43%. The Friday (March 15) led with 21 presentations on a variety of topics including meter, semiosis, and form. The conference for the first time added lightning talks at the end of the Friday (10-minute length). On Saturday (March 16), Trevor de Clercq (Middle Tennessee State University) led a workshop on tonal and metrical ambiguity in rock music; Daniel Shanahan (Ohio State University) led a workshop on corpus studies. Each workshop, which had eight participants, was open to public observers. The workshops were followed by plenary addresses by the leaders, and then by an engaging overall discussion. John Y. Lawrence, a graduate student at the University of Chicago, won the Best Student Paper Award with “Three Forms of ‘Tristesse’.” In keeping with the society’s traditions of fine local dining, the well-known restaurant The Chimes was the destination on the Friday night.

In the Business Meeting, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tennessee) was selected as the venue for 2020, from February 28 to March 1. The focus of the conference will be improvisation, and this will be our first joint conference with CMS South. A raise in registration fees for faculty was proposed; thanks to the efforts of Rebecca Long (independent scholar), Coordinator of Social Media, changes in bylaws to add social media guidelines were passed by acclamation; and a shift to online payments (and possibly registration) was announced. Nathan Fleshner (University of Tennessee Knoxville) was elected Secretary (2019–2021). Madison Coffey (Kennesaw State) was appointed Co-Coordinator of Social Media to join Rebecca Long. Jeremy Orosz (Chair, University of Memphis), Karen Bottge (University of Kentucky), Adam Hudlow (Northwestern State University of Louisiana), Wesley Bradford (University of Louisiana at Lafayette), and John Y. Lawrence (University of Chicago) were appointed to the Program Committee for 2019-2020.

SCSMT continues to be benefited by a strong roster of talent. We are appreciative of Adam Hudlow’s service as Secretary (2017–2019), of our Local Arrangements Co-Chairs (Jeffrey Perry and Inessa Bazayev, both of Louisiana State University), of our Treasurer (Joseph Brumbeloe, University of Southern Mississippi), of our Webmaster (Trevor de Clercq), and of all Program Committee members (2018–2019): Clare Eng (Chair, Belmont University), Angela Ripley (The College of Wooster), Jeremy Orosz (University of Memphis), and Andrew Selle (Florida State University). All of their efforts have strengthened the Society, thereby increasing opportunities for scholars to present their research. For questions about the society, please contact Ben Wadsworth (Kennesaw State University): bwadswo2@kennesaw.edu.