2026 Program

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Friday, 20 March

8:00 a.m.	Registration & breakfast
8:45 a.m.	Opening remarks Clare Eng
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.	20th Century Composers William Alwyn’s (Semi)tonal Semitones: Qualia Emergence in the Symphony No. 1 (1949) Ryan Krell, University of Cincinnati From Beyond the Grave of Tonality: A Music Cognition Oriented Analysis of Alfred Schnittke’s “Requiem” (1975) Lilly Korkontzelos, Michigan State University Fusion and Articulation as Timbral Tools: Insights from Boulez’s Notations Reed Mullican, Indiana University	Theories of Consonance, Transformation, and Motivation A Quantum-Informed Theory of Musical Consonance Robert Sivy, University of Tennessee Keyboard Distance: An Analytical Tool for Bridging Transformational Theory and Embodied Performance in Piano Music Zekai Liu, Eastman School of Music Self Determination and Student Motivation in Music Theory and Aural Skills Angela Ripley, Texas A&M University
10:30 – 10:45 a.m.	Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.	Periods, Waltzes, and the Andalusian Cadence Bach’s 8-Measure Parallel Periods and Their Structural Consequences Christopher Brody, University of Louisville Beyond the Classical Period: Thematic Organization in Nineteenth-Century Waltzes Tanja Knezevic, University of North Texas Rosalia’s Strategic and Expressive Use of the Andalusian Cadence Schema David Heinsen, Miami University	Noise, Anti-Muzak, and the Beat Well-Worn Grooves: Selective Attention, Boredom, and the Musical Rewards of Excessive Familiarity Ryan Galik, Eastman School of Music The Virtual Plaza Welcomes You: Mallsoft as Post-Fordist Anti-Muzak Tyler Osborne, University of Louisville A Corpus-Assisted Study on the Harmonic Transitions and Formal Functions of Beat-Switches in Rap, 1994-2025 Aaron D. Zorilla, Independent Scholar
12:15 – 2 p.m.	Lunch break
2:00 – 3:00 p.m.	Ludomusicology: Rhythms and Hauntings Listening to Rhythm Game Charts Marcos Acevedo-Arús, University of Texas *“Hey, Listen!” Is That A Ghost?: Musical Spectres and Haunting in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* (2017) and Tears of the Kingdom (2023)** Luis Matos-Tovar, Florida State University	Forming Haydn Form as Topic? Reframing Formal Deformation in Haydn’s Piano Trio in Eb Major, Hob. XV:30 Joseph Grunkenmeyer, Indiana University Micro-Syntactic Uniformity in Haydn’s Keyboard Minuets: Form, Schemata, and Cadential Design Armin Akhavian, Florida State University
3:00 – 3:15 p.m.	Break
3:15 – 4:00 p.m.	Transformations and Pedagogic Alternatives Piano Keyboard (Mod-14) Voice-Leading Spaces Alexander Shannon, Indiana University Geometric Representation of Rhythmic Transformations in A Dance of Fire and Ice Drake Eshleman, Indiana University The Case Against Universal Graduate Theory Review: Alternatives to Remediation and Theory Placement Exams Jeremy Orosz, University of Memphis	Auralia workshop/presentation Julia Alford
4:00 – 6:00 p.m.	Workshop: How We Get Into Intercultural Analysis and How to Get Out From Under Nancy Yunhwa Rao
Saturday, 21 March
8:00 a.m.	Rising Software breakfast
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.	Compositional Concerns Hearing Compositional Effort in Jean Mouton’s Nesciens Mater Robert Hamilton, Eastman School of Music Examining Visual Art as an Aid to the Compositional Process: An Intermodal Approach Keaton Marek, University of Georgia “From Pentatonic Heptachords to Church Modes: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Sun Huo’s Raised Pearl Curtain Yi Dong, University of Cincinnati	Bluegrass, Dollywood, and a Crooked Country Chorus “If it don’t hurt, it ain’t bluegrass”: Efficiency versus Strain in Bluegrass Culture and Technique Elizabeth Ross, University of Cincinnati Dollywood Harmony: Tonal Thrill Rides in Dolly Parton’s Heartsong Film Ryan Lindveit, University of Tennessee Tight-Verse/Loose-Chorus: Country’s Crooked Chorus> Samantha Carlock, Indiana University
10:30 – 10:45 a.m.	Break
10:45 – 11:15 a.m.	Business meeting Clare Eng
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.	Keynote Lecture Nancy Yunhwa Rao