The Annual Meeting at the University of Memphis was a resounding success with 60 attendees, including 15 undergraduates, 24 graduate students, and 21 professors, instructors, and adjuncts. Dr. Jeffrey Perry from LSU ably led a well-attended graduate student workshop on music of Franz Schubert, with 11 students from across the region in attendance. We had our first concurrent sessions with sessions on early twentieth-century music and music after 1972. Robert Komaniecki, from Indiana University, was the winner of the Student Best Paper Award, with “Coercing the Verse: An Analysis of Relationships Between Lead and Guest Rappers.”
In the Business Meeting, we approved two changes to our Bylaws: asking the Program Chair to collect demographic data on presenters; and expanding the President’s duties to include the recruitment of members to annual meetings and outreach to underrepresented populations of music theorists. We also discussed potential sites for upcoming conferences, and agreed upon Hattiesburg, MS in 2018 (University of Southern Mississippi). Our thanks to Drs. Doug Rust and Joe Brumbeloe for their help with this location.
We are appreciative of Dr. Douglas Rust’s service as Secretary and Program Chair, of Joe Brumbeloe, who is continuing as Treasurer, and of our other Program Committee members from 2016–2017: Adam Hudlow, Adam Rosado, and Trevor de Clercq. Starting 2017, we also welcome Dr. Jeffrey Yunek (Kennesaw State) as Program Chair, Adam Hudlow as Secretary (Northwestern State University of Louisiana), and Courtenay Harter (Rhodes College), Clare Sher Ling Eng (Belmont University), and Robert Komaniecki (Indiana University) onto our Program Committee. Our thanks also to Trevor de Clercq (Middle Tennessee State University), who has volunteered to serve as Webmaster, a post previously unfilled. The high demand for presentation venues and for service opportunities throughout the United States underscores the need for a vibrant SCSMT, and we look forward to the contributions of our members in the future.
Sincerely, Ben Wadsworth (President)