The forty-eighth Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) will be held jointly with the American Musicological Society (AMS) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Thursday, November 6, to Sunday, November 9, 2025.
The Program Committee invites proposals on any topic related to music theory, as long as the work has not been published in peer-reviewed publications (print or electronic) 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 (including proposals for joint sessions) must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2025 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 Document 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 Restrictions.
- 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 2025 joint 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 an easel, or present their poster digitally by connecting their laptop or tablet computer to an LED screen.
- 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: The poster (including notes) should be no more than 500 words. Each mathematical equation may be counted as one word.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, for the 2025 joint 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 January 1, 2025.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, for the 2025 joint 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.
Joint AMS/SMT sessions
For this special meeting, the Program Committees of the AMS and SMT enthusiastically invite proposals for joint sessions, bringing together participants from both societies. Joint session proposals may be for multi-paper sessions, workshops, or roundtables.
Joint session proposals will be considered as a unit by the program committees of the AMS and SMT, and will be programmed as a joint session only if accepted by both program committees. However, a proposal for a joint session may be programmed as a solo AMS or SMT session if one of the program committees so chooses.
Joint paper session proposals
- Length: Joint session proposals may be comprised of either three papers (90 minutes) or six papers (180 minutes).
- Membership: Proposals must identify the number of participants from each society. There should be a balance of participants from both societies. Organizers must also indicate a session chair and may include a respondent if appropriate.
- Summary and abstracts: Session proposals should include a summary and individual abstracts. All joint proposal abstracts must be 350 words or less.
- Anonymity: Proposals will be evaluated anonymously and should contain no direct or indirect signal of authorship.
Joint workshop or roundtable proposals
- Length: Joint session proposals may be either 90 minutes or 180 minutes; indicate your session length.
- Membership: Workshop proposals should identify the participants (that is, they are not anonymous). There should be a balance of participants from both societies. Organizers must also indicate a session chair and may include a respondent if appropriate.
- Summary: Proposals should outline the session format.
Participation restrictions
Only one proposal per person per society (AMS and/or SMT) is allowed. 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.
Involvement in AMS and SMT
- Proposals of the same or similar content cannot be submitted by the same person to both AMS and SMT.
- An individual can submit different proposals to AMS and SMT but must indicate this double submission on the online submission page and select (in the case of multiple acceptance) which proposal would take priority.
- Authors who present on an AMS session may not also present on an SMT session or a joint AMS/SMT session.
- In the case of multiple acceptances, the program committees will give preference to any paper that is part of a proposed session.
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 the Status of Women, 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 17, 2025.
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 Mariusz Kozak, chair of the Program Committee.
SMT 2025 Program Committee
Mariusz Kozak, Chair (pcchair@societymusictheory.org), Vincent Benitez, Chelsea Burns, Deborah Burton, Karen Cook, Orit Hilewicz, Caitlin Martinkus, Jan Miyake (ex-officio), Paul Sherrill
For clarification or further information, please contact SMT Executive Director Jennifer Diaz at SMT@societymusictheory.org.