Conference Information
Ninth Annual Conference
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 15-16 May 1998, 1998
General Information
The University of Louisville School of Music is pleased to host the 1998 meeting of Music Theory Midwest on Friday and Saturday, 15-16 May. The conference sessions will be held at the School of Music on the Belknap campus. Besides the paper readings which are the mainstay of the meeting, special events include a reception following the keynote address Friday evening, a Saturday luncheon, and a dessert party for those staying in Louisville on Saturday night.
Keynote Abstract
Thomas Christensen received the PhD in Theory from Yale University in 1985. He has taught at Vassar College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, and (since 1992) at the University of Iowa. He is the recipient of grants and awards from several organizations, including the DAAD, the Fulbright Committee, and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).
Professor Christensen is active in the field of historical music theory, and has published some twenty articles and reviews in the Journal of Music Theory, Spectrum, Acta Musicologica, Indiana Theory Review, Eighteenth-Century Studies, and the Bach Jahrbuch, among others. His book Rameau and Musical Thought in the Enlightenment (Cambridge, 1993) won the 1994 SMT Wallace Berry Award. Working with Nancy Baker, he co-authored the volume Aesthetics and the Art of Musical Composition in the German Enlightenment, published by Cambridge in 1995.
This year Dr. Christensen has won a Faculty Scholarship at the University of Iowa granting him a three-semester leave to conceptualize, organize, and then edit The Cambridge History of Western Music Theory. Scheduled for publication in the year 2000, this project will assemble the work of 32 authors writing chapters on all aspects of Western music theory. It will be the first comprehensive history of music theory to appear in the English language.
Thomas Christensen presently serves as Reviews Editor for Spectrum. He was recently elected Vice President of the Society for Music Theory.
Travel
The University of Louisville Belknap campus is on the southern edge of Old Louisville, an historic neighborhood featuring Victorian-era homes, located between the airport (approximately three miles to the south) and downtown Louisville (two miles north by the river). Louisville's Standiford International Airport has many direct flights across the country. For those travelling by car, Louisville is reached by I-65 from the north and south, I-71 from the north, and I-64 from east and west.
The University of Louisville is situated immediately west of I-65; those coming from the north should take the Arthur Street Exit (#134), and those approaching from the south should use the second/westbound Eastern Parkway Exit (#133-B). The School of Music is located at the corner of 2nd Street and Cardinal Boulevard. If you approach from the north, take the Arthur Street exit. Stay on the access road until you reach a stop sign. Turn right at the stop sign onto Cardinal Boulevard. Go through two traffic lights, and turn left into the North Entrance of the campus. The Music Building is on your right as you drive onto campus. If you approach from the south, take the second Eastern Parkway Exit (Westbound). You will make right corners around a large block until you are westbound on Eastern Parkway. Go over the bridge and past the Speed Scientific School on your left; turn right onto 3rd St. This street divides and your direction becomes 2nd St. after the Confederate statue. Turn right on Cardinal Boulevard, and then turn right into the North Entrance of the campus. The Music Building is on your right as you drive onto campus.
Parking for the Friday afternoon session is available with a parking permit in the Green Lot on 4th St. (bound on the north side by Cardinal Boulevard). Please come to the MTMW Registration desk at the School of Music to pick up your parking permit (open by noon on Friday). Parking for Friday evening and Saturday is permitted in any university lot except for the yellow spaces. The lots directly west of the Music Building or across the street from the front entrance to the building are closest. There are also parking meters along Cardinal Boulevard.
Accommodations
You may choose from a variety of housing options, including inexpensive on-campus accommodations, moderately-priced rooms in the Holiday Inn downtown, well-appointed Executive Suites (for those who need fax connections and whirlpools in their rooms), and charming bed-and-breakfast inns in Old Louisville. All housing arrangements are to be made directly with the housing provider. All these choices are within a 10 minute drive of the campus. Ask the housing provider for specific directions.
On-campus
Several dorm rooms have been reserved for MTMW attendees. (The semester will be long over by this time so it should not be noisy.) These rooms include linen service but no toiletries. Check-in begins at noon on the 15th, check-out time is no later than 11 a.m. (Be sure to check out in person so you get your copy of the receipt acknowledging you have returned the key--the lost key charge is $35!) You must pay a non-refundable deposit of one night's stay with your reservation form; make your check or money order out to the University of Louisville. Mail the enclosed form to Eddie Howard at the address on the form, and mark your envelope: RE: MTMW. He will send you a confirmation of your reservation around 4 May.
Rates: $19 single, $14 double.
Call: (502) 636-5673 Mention: UofLPostmark deadline for reservations: 25 April
Days Inn (I-65 at Exit 134)
This motel is adjacent to I-65 a few blocks from the UofL campus (through a light industrial neighborhood--not recommended for nocturnal walks). The location does not demonstrate Louisville's charm, but would be an acceptable place to spend the night. They offer no smoking rooms and a continental breakfast. No shuttle service is available. They will hold rooms at this rate until 28 April.
Rate: $45 for single or double
Call: (502) 636-3781 Mention: MTMW:
Holiday Inn (120 W. Broadway)
This comfortable downtown hotel offers airport transportation and a fitness center. The conference site is a short drive or busride away. The hotel has a restaurant and there is a McDonald's across the street. Call this 800 number for the group discount rate; the chain's 800 number cannot give you this price. Rooms will be held until 1 May.
Rate: $55/single 65/double
Call: (800) 626-1558 Mention: MTMW
Executive Suites (I-65 at Exit 134)
This hotel is located across the street from the Days Inn and next to a public storage facility. The hotel offers shuttle , a continental breakfast, an exercise room, and fax/modem connections in every room. Ask for a room with a jacuzzi. Reserve by 16 April.
Rate: $69.95/single or double
Call: (502) 638-6100 Mention: MTMW
Bed-and-Breakfasts
Old Louisville is home for many B&Bs, and several of these are offering special rates for MTMW attendees. These inns are located in restored turn-of-the-century homes and will give you a chance to see a neighborhood in the revitalization process (besides providing you with a first-class breakfast!). These rooms are not being reserved for MTMW, so make your reservations soon to ensure their availability. Ask the innkeeper for the Music Theory Midwest/UofL conference rate. Transportation is not provided, but a cab ride to/from the airport should be in the $8 range.
The Aleksander House (1213 S. First St)
Rate: $60
Call: (502) 637-4985 Mention: MTMW
The Columbine (1707 S. Third St.)
Rate: $70
Call: (502) 635-5000 Mention: UofL
The Inn at the Park (1332 S. Fourth St)
Rates: $79-149 (regular rates)
Call (502) 637-6930
Old Louisville Inn (1359 S. Third St)
The innkeeper said that some of these rooms may become available after 15 April, so this is an exception to the "book early" advice.)
Rates: $83/single 95/double
Call (502) 635-1574 Mention: UofL
The Towne House B&B 1460 St. James Court
Rate: $85
Local Information
Local Arrangements Chair: Rebecca Jemian (University of Louisville)
The local arrangements coordinator is Rebecca Jemian. Please contact her for any further information you need for planning your trip, including child care information.
Louisville lies on the Ohio River approximately 100 miles southwest of Cincinnati and 120 south of Indianapolis. Its charter was signed by Thomas Jefferson in 1787, and, since that time, the city has been a hub for transportation by rail and water. Two of the leading industries today are UPS and Humana. Louisville is also known for Churchill Downs (home of the "most famous 2 minutes in sports"), Actors Theater of Louisville, and a park system designed by Frederick Olmsted (designer of NYC's Central Park). Louisville has many fine restaurants featuring a variety of cuisines.
The University of Louisville is celebrating its bicentennial this year. The university is distributed among three campuses; the Belknap campus (where we will have our meeting) boasts having the first cast of Rodin's The Thinker and the Brandeis School of Law (named for Louis Brandeis, the Supreme Court Justice who was from Louisville).
The School of Music is home to the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an annual prize given for a piece premiered within the last five years. The Dwight Anderson Music Library houses the Grawemeyer Collection. The Ricasoli Collection is another special collection in the library; this consists of 18th- and early 19th-century Italian manuscripts, mostly from Florence.
Other Information
The University of Louisville School of Music, University Club, and Louisville Hall (dormitory accommodation) are accessible for disabled individuals. The Holiday Inn-Downtown, which has a block of rooms set aside for MTMW conference participants, has a small number of barrier-free rooms, as does the Days Inn; participants needing such accommodation should request these rooms when making reservations. The Old Louisville B & Bs feature charming but largely inaccessible Victorian architecture; some may have carried out sufficient renovations to offer a barrier-free room, but this should not be assumed--check with the proprietor. We will find a way for all conference participants who wish to do so to attend the dessert party at Anne Marie de Zeeuw's house!
Online Program
The online program can be found here once it is available.