The forty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from Thursday, November 5, to Sunday, November 8, 2026.
The Program Committee invites proposals on any topic related to music theory, as long as the work has not been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed publications (print or electronic) at the time of submission and has not been presented at an annual conference of the SMT, AMS, CMS, SEM, or SAM. Proposals for posters and for presentations in innovative formats are encouraged.
The Committee strongly encourages all authors to visit the website of the SMT’s Professional Development Committee for advice and successful proposal samples from prior years.
Submission Procedure and Deadline
- Proposals are to be submitted electronically via the submission portal.
- Proposals must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 16, 2026 EST. Please note that proposal submission ceases precisely at the deadline.
- To avoid technical problems with submission please submit at least twenty-four hours before the deadline.
- Proposals received after the deadline cannot be considered.
- Notifications of the Program Committee's decisions will be sent in early June. Rejected proposals will remain anonymous; only the SMT Executive Director, in mailing out acceptance and rejection letters, will know the identities of the authors of these proposals.
Guidelines and Rules for All Proposals
- All proposals will be evaluated anonymously and should exclude the author's name and any other direct or indirect signal of authorship.
- References to the author's own work must occur in the third person.
- Author tags must be removed from electronic files. (In Adobe Acrobat, go to the File menu, select Properties and delete the name from the Author box.)
- Any online materials, including but not limited to YouTube channels and websites, must also be anonymized.
- When submitting the proposal online, authors will be prompted for identification and contact information.
- Proposals will not be considered if they exceed word limits or if an individual violates the rules on multiple submissions described below, under Participation.
- The online submission form will request that authors provide five relevant keywords.
- A sound system and LCD projector will be available for all presenters. Please indicate whether or not a piano is required. The Society cannot guarantee internet access for presentations.
- Those who present at the conference must be members in good standing of the Society.
Papers
Presenting a Paper
- Accepted papers will generally be allocated a 30-minute slot: 20 minutes for the paper and 10 for discussion.
- The Committee may accept a proposed paper under the condition that it be transformed into a poster.
Submitting Your Proposal
A submission for a single-author or joint-author paper must include the title and proposal for a presentation of 20 minutes' duration.
- Anonymity: The proposal and supplementary materials should preserve the anonymity of the author(s) as described above.
- Proposal: The proposal (including notes) should be no more than 500 words. Each mathematical equation may be counted as one word.
- Keywords: The online submission form will request that authors provide five relevant and specific keywords; recommended are names of composers, theorists, methodologies employed, repertoires discussed, or anything distinctive to the proposal.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, for the 2026 conference we ask that SMT proposers also include a 350-word abstract suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
- Supplementary materials: Successful proposals typically include appended supplementary materials (such as musical examples, diagrams, hyperlinks, and selected bibliography) as necessary to substantiate an argument, demonstrate results, or clarify the proposal's relationship to prior scholarship.
- The examples may include text annotations.
- Texts that are themselves analytical objects, such as quotations from treatises, archival documents, or translations, are also acceptable.
- Any text in the supplementary examples and captions should serve only to illuminate arguments already present in the 500-word proposal and should not introduce new examples, explanations, or evidence.
- Supplementary materials must not exceed four pages.
Posters
The Program Committee strongly encourages proposals for a prominently featured Poster Session. Posters are an integral part of the conference and will be evaluated according to the same rigorous criteria as papers.
Presenting a Poster
- Poster presenters will either bring a printed poster suitable for mounting on a display board, or present their poster digitally by connecting their laptop or tablet computer to an LED screen. The Society encourages presenters to choose a printed poster as LED rentals pose a significant cost.
- Presenters will stay with their posters and interact with interested individuals, summarizing primary findings and answering questions about the research.
- Presenters may optionally augment the poster presentation with sound files (headphones required) and/or handouts.
- The Committee may accept a proposed poster under the condition that it be transformed into a paper.
- For tips on presenting a poster, please see these guidelines from the SMT Professional Development Committee.
Submitting Your Proposal
A submission for a single-author or joint-author poster must include the title and proposal for a poster.
- Poster format: Your submission should indicate your preference for the poster format. Indicate whether you plan to present a traditional poster, a digital poster, or either.
- Anonymity: The proposal and supplementary materials should preserve the anonymity of the author(s) as described above.
- Proposal: Poster presenters may choose to submit a PDF of their poster in lieu of a proposal. If submitting a written proposal, the total length (including notes) should be no more than 500 words. Each mathematical equation may be counted as one word.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your poster or proposal, and any supplementary materials, for the 2026 conference we ask that SMT proposers also include a 350-word abstract suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
- Supplementary materials: Successful proposals typically include appended supplementary materials (such as musical examples, diagrams, hyperlinks, and selected bibliography) as necessary to substantiate an argument, demonstrate results, or clarify the proposal's relationship to prior scholarship.
- The examples may include text annotations.
- Texts that are themselves analytical objects, such as quotations from treatises, archival documents, or translations, are also acceptable.
- Any text in the supplementary examples and captions should serve only to illuminate arguments already present in the 500-word proposal and should not introduce new examples, explanations, or evidence.
- Supplementary materials must not exceed four pages.
SMT Special Sessions
An SMT special session is proposed as a whole, rather than as a set of individual submissions. Two formats are available: the integrated special session and the alternative format special session.
Presenting an Integrated Special Session
- An integrated special session comprises a set of papers that are closely related in content, thoughtfully integrated, and framed by a session rationale.
- Each paper occupies a regular 30-minute time-slot (20-minute presentation plus 10-minute question period).
- The Committee reserves the right to consider each paper separately and to program a paper with or without the others from that proposed session.
Presenting an Alternative Format Special Session
- Alternative format special sessions are organized in a non-standard way, such as:
- Panel discussion
- Workshop
- Flipped session
- Lightning talk session
- A set of 30-minute papers in 45-minute time-slots (the old SMT format)
- Because individual contributions typically do not fall within a standard 30-minute time-slot, an alternative format session is accepted or rejected in its entirety.
Submitting Your Proposal
- Session length: Special sessions of either type may be either 90 or 180 minutes in duration; indicate your session length.
- Session rationale: Proposals for special sessions must include a session rationale of no more than 500 words.
- Paper proposals: Additionally, all special session proposals must have individual proposals for all segments of the session (except for respondents).
- These should follow, where possible, the guidelines for paper proposals.
- With prior approval of the Program Committee chair, special session proposals may be exempted from certain of the guidelines listed above, including, in some cases, the rule of anonymity for participants. To discuss the possibility of exemptions, those wishing to propose such sessions must contact the Program Committee Chair no later than February 1, 2026.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, for the 2026 conference we ask that SMT proposers also include a 350-word abstract suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
- The session rationale and the individual paper proposals should be submitted by the session organizer through the SMT website as a single package.
Participation Restrictions
No one may appear on the program more than twice. Under no circumstances should an individual be involved in more than two proposals viewed by the SMT Program Committee.
Restrictions On Paper/Poster Presentations At SMT
In regards to proposals viewed solely by the SMT Program Committee, an individual may propose to participate in one of the following ways:
- Author or joint author of a 20–30 minute paper or a poster (whether in a regular session or special session)
- Organizer of an integrated special session (the organizer may also propose a 20-minute paper for that same session)
- Organizer of an alternative-format special session (the organizer may also deliver a paper of no more than 30 minutes in the same session)
- Author or joint author of a scholarly paper or a presentation of more than 10 minutes as part of a session presented by a standing committee (Committee on Feminist Issues and Gender Equity, Committee on Race and Ethnicity, Professional Development Committee, Committee on Disability and Accessibility, and Committee on LGBTQ+ Issues). The Program Committee will not evaluate papers or presentations by the individual standing committees, but the chairs will submit complete descriptions of their sessions through the online portal by February 16, 2026.
Additional Forms Of Participation At SMT
An individual may participate in any of the presentation formats listed above and appear one other time on the program, in one of the following capacities:
- as a chair/respondent for a session
- as a performer
- as presenter of a non-scholarly presentation in an alternative-formal special session or standing committee session
- as a presenter of a scholarly presentation of no more than 10 minutes in an alternative-format special session or standing committee session
Interest Group Meeting Participation
Participation in SMT Interest Group meetings is outside the purview of the Program Committee and is not relevant to the rules of participation given above. Names of presenters in Interest Group meetings will not appear in the program.
Further Questions
If you have a question about your participation that does not seem to be covered by the guidelines above, please contact Chelsea Burns, chair of the Program Committee.
SMT 2026 Program Committee
- Chelsea Burns (chair; pcchair@societymusictheory.org)
- Will Ayers
- Alyssa Barna
- Inessa Bazayev
- Lindsey Reymore
- August Sheehy
- Naomi Waltham-Smith
- Jon Wild
- Judith Lochhead (ex officio)
For clarification or further information, please contact SMT Executive Director Jennifer Diaz at SMT@societymusictheory.org.