Conference Information
Thirty-Sixth Annual Conference
Online, May 16–17, 2025
General Information
The Thirty-Sixth Annual Conference of Music Theory Midwest will be held online in partnership with the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic and the South Central Society for Music Theory on May 16–17, 2025.
Click here to register for the conference, and click here for the conference program.
Keynote Abstract
The conference will feature a keynote address by Jonathan De Souza (Western University) titled "Humanizing Networks in Music Theory."
We live in an age of networks. So, it seems unsurprising that, in the twenty-first century, networks are used to model various complex systems. Across technological, social, biological, and other domains, networks are fundamentally relational. They represent patterns of connection among elements, which may change over time. Of course, music theorists have long used networks, from eighteenth-century musical circles to nineteenth-century Tonnetze to Lewinian transformation graphs. Interdisciplinary network theory can help us critically examine such examples (and the objects and relations that they prioritize), and it suggests possibilities for new research. In this keynote, I consider two ways in which networks might represent human relations that are significant for music theory. First, I show how dynamic social networks can model interaction among musicians in an ensemble. Social networks, then, can support performance-oriented analysis and theories of texture. Second, I ask how sociological perspectives on networks might inform our understanding of music theory as a field. What kinds of relational structures characterize societies such as Music Theory Midwest? What kinds of scholarly networks would we like to build together? Here, network thinking might contribute to self-reflection as we seek a welcoming and collaborative future for music theory.
Location
Connection information will be posted here when it is available.
Conference Events
Anabel Maler (University of British Columbia) will be presenting a workshop entitled "Analyzing Sign Language Music: A Music Theorist's Primer." Schedule information for this workshop will be available soon in the conference program.
In addition to papers and sessions presented via Zoom, the conference will feature opportunities for social engagement; more details will be posted here soon.
Local Information
Local Arrangements Chair: Toby Rush (University of Dayton)
Technological resources for hosting the MTMW 2025 Conference are being provided by the University of Dayton, which occupies land traditionally stewarded by the Shawnee, Hopewell, Miami, Osage, Kaskaskia, and Adena peoples, ceded through the 1795 Treaty of Greeneville and subsequent forced removals under the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Call for Papers
Music Theory Midwest invites scholars from all geographic regions to submit proposals on any area of music theory and analysis for our annual conference.
Individual Presentations
Papers should be planned for 20-minute presentations. Papers should not previously have been presented at national or international conferences, nor should they have been previously published. Only one proposal per submitter will be considered.
Proposals should be submitted electronically via the MTMW website. Submissions are due by February 17, 2025. Submit the proposal and supplemental materials as a single document in PDF format. The proposal should not exceed 500 words, including any footnotes or endnotes but not including the title. A maximum of four pages of supplementary materials (such as musical examples, diagrams, and bibliography) may be appended, and are excluded from the word count, but these materials should not add appreciably to the proposal’s content. The proposal must include the title of the paper but exclude the author’s name and any other identifying information. Such information must also be removed from the metadata of the file.
Special Sessions
Proposals for special sessions have no specific page limit. The names of the organizer and all participants should be indicated on the online submission form. Special sessions should be organized in such a way that the program committee could not create them from separately submitted individual proposals. Anyone wishing to propose a special session should contact the Program Committee chair, Frank Samarotto (pcc@mtmw.org), well in advance of the proposal deadline.
Arthur J. Komar Award
Student presenters who wish to be considered for this award must indicate their eligibility in the online submission form. For the purposes of this award, “student” status terminates with the receipt of a terminal degree or employment in a full-time position. Additional information and a list of past recipients can be found at the MTMW website.
Submissions
To submit a proposal, visit the Call for Papers page on the MTMW website: https://mtmw.org/index.php/conferences/call-for-papers.
Deadline
Submissions must be received by February 17, 2025.
Program Committee
Frank Samarotto (Indiana University), Chair
Jacy Pedersen (Wichita State University); Audrey Slote (University of Chicago); Cara Stroud (Michigan State University); Michael Weinstein-Reiman (University of Wisconsin–Madison); and Christopher Segall (University of Cincinnati), ex officio.
Online Program
The online program can be found here once it is available.