Timbre and orchestration are essential aspects of musical experience in any culture or style. They enable us to effortlessly identify different genres of music and are particularly important in popular musics. This centrality is reflected in Timbre and Orchestration in Popular Song (TOPS), a three-day conference hosted by McGill University's Schulich School of Music and the ACTOR (Analysis, Creation and Teaching of Orchestration) Partnership. The conference convenes scholars, producers, performers, and audiences of popular music for keynote lectures, workshops, posters, and papers, united under the theme of how timbre and orchestration give rise to critical and analytical accounts of genre, identity, performance, production, and perception.
TOPS is soliciting proposals for paper (20 minutes) and poster presentations. We welcome submissions that approach timbre and orchestration in popular music (broadly defined) from any perspective or academic discipline, especially music theory, musicology, ethnomusicology, sound recording, performance, production, and cognition.
The conference features keynote presentations by Nina Sun Eidsheim (UCLA) and Kevin Holt (Stony Brook University), and workshops by Lindsey Reymore (Arizona State University), Nicole Biamonte (McGill University), Claire McLeish (Third Side Music), and Megan Lavengood (George Mason University). The TOPS schedule overlaps with the ACTOR's third annual Timbre and Orchestration Summer School (June 3–7), which is designed for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and early-career researchers.
Proposals should be submitted by email to topsconference2025@gmail.com by 11:59 PM (anywhere in the world), February 1, 2025.
In the subject line, please include your name and “TOPS Proposal”
In the body of your email, please include the following:
Indication of whether the submission is for a paper or poster
The primary author’s name, email address and institutional affiliation (if relevant)
The names of any co-authors (if applicable)
Any technical requirements beyond audiovisual projection (i.e., a piano, whiteboard, etc.)
As a DOC or PDF attachment, please include:
An anonymized abstract of no more than 250 words
Results will be communicated to all corresponding authors by March 1, 2025. Should your paper be accepted, we will ask you to confirm your attendance via email by April 1, and let us know of any accessibility, dietary, and/or childcare needs.
For any questions, please email the organizing committee at topsconference2025@gmail.com
Program Committee:
Ben Duinker (McGill University, chair, non-voting)
Nicole Biamonte (McGill University)
Leigh VanHandel (University of British Columbia)
Zachary Wallmark (University of Oregon)
Jeremy Tatar (Carleton College)
Annie Liu (Princeton University)