CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
SOUTH CENTRAL SOCIETY FOR MUSIC THEORY 2026
Louisville, KY
March 20–21, 2026
The program committee for the 2026 meeting of the South Central Society for Music Theory (SCSMT) invites proposals on any topic related to music theory, analysis, or music theory pedagogy. The conference will be held at University of Louisville, in Louisville, KY on March 20–21, 2026.
Workshop: The conference will feature one workshop open to a limited number of registered participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that workshop registration is separate from conference registration. After a workshop is filled, applicants will be placed on a waiting list in the order in which their applications were received. Workshop applications are available here. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2026.
Workshop information:
Dr. Nancy Rao (Rutgers University)
“How We Get Into Intercultural Analysis and How to Get Out From Under”
Recent music theory scholarship has increasingly explored diverse modes of musical analysis, largely in response to the expanding repertoire that includes music from a variety of cultural traditions. This workshop introduces a range of music from different cultures, including contemporary compositions, and considers multiple analytical approaches for engaging with them. Participants will take part in working out these analyses, as well as in discussions on the benefits of incorporating analytical perspectives from different cultural contexts, and the limitations of intercultural approaches. Ultimately, the workshop will consider what insights and understandings can be gained through the analytical process.
Presentation Formats: Proposals may be submitted for 20-minute papers or 10-minute lightning talks. Authors may request their proposal be considered for either or both of the available formats. The program committee reserves the right to request a proposal in an alternate format, as necessary.
Proposal Guidelines: Please submit a single document in .pdf format via this Google form.
- Proposals must be no more than 500 words, including footnotes or endnotes. (Each mathematical equation may be counted as one word.)
- Proposals should articulate the paper’s premise and its relation to existing music-theoretical research and provide some illustration of applications.
- In addition to the 500-word proposal, submissions may include up to four pages of supplementary materials (e.g., figures, tables, examples, or bibliography). Supplemental materials may include text annotations, but these annotations should not appreciably add to the word count of the proposal.
- Since proposals will be evaluated anonymously, author tags must be removed from .pdf files and references to the author’s own work must be in the third person.
- An abstract is not needed for proposal submission, but authors of accepted proposals will be asked later to provide a 250-word abstract.
Questions can be directed to the Program Committee Chair John Latartara at jlatarta@olemiss.edu.
Restrictions: Only a single submission from an author will be considered. Previously published papers or papers given at national or international conferences will not be considered.
Timeline: To be considered, submissions should be received before 11:59 p.m. CST on December 1, 2025, through the Google Forms portal. Authors will be notified electronically of the Program Committee’s decision in January 2026.
Student Paper Award: Graduate students who wish to be considered for the SCSMT Student Paper Award will be asked to indicate interest in the submission Google Form. Candidates must email a copy of their complete paper as a document in .pdf format to the Program Chair (jlatarta@olemiss.edu) by 11:59 p.m. CST on Friday, February 20, 2026. Winners from previous years are ineligible.
WORKSHOP APPLICATION DEADLINE: 11:59 P.M. CST January 31, 2026
WORKSHOP APPLICATION LINK
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 11:59 P.M. CST December 1, 2025
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION LINK
2026 Program Committee:
John Latartara, Chair (University of Mississippi)
Zachary Lookenbill (University of Arkansas)
Jacob Gran (Louisiana Tech University)
Anne Delfin (University of Alabama)
Ruixue Hu (Eastman School of Music)
2026 Local Arrangements:
Rebecca Long, Chair