Conference Information
Thirty-Fifth Annual Conference
Ball State University, Muncie, IN, May 10–11, 2024
General Information
Ball State University will host the Thirty-Fifth Annual Conference of Music Theory Midwest in Muncie, Indiana on May 10–11, 2024.
To register, visit our Registration Portal.
Click here for the Program and Welcome Guide.
Use bsuguest for Wi-Fi access.
Keynote Abstract
The conference will feature a keynote address by Noriko Manabe (Indiana University) titled "Intertextuality in Protest Music."
Music in protests regularly recalls pre-existing music, text, and symbols; such references capture attention, resonate with historical memory, enhance participation, and allow for allusive expression in oppressive circumstances. This talk considers the ways in which intertextuality in protest music manifests itself and serves social movements. Extending classifications from Genette and Lacasse, it posits a typology of intertextuality used in protest music—including covers, contrafacta, hip-hop remakes, remixes, allegories, metaphors, genre adaptation, paratext, and metatext—and considers how these techniques convey political messages, often by combining them with contemporary indexes or exploiting intertextual gaps (cf. Bauman and Briggs). The type of intertextuality that artists choose and the way it is received can vary depending on the method of censorship, copyright regimes, stage of the protest cycle, venue of the performance, and status of the artist. Drawing examples from the essays in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Protest Music (co-edited with Eric Drott) and the speaker’s own research in Japan and elsewhere, the talk shows the ubiquity of intertextuality in protest music, how it differs in various countries, and how it can communicate political points or misfire.
Location
Ball State University is located in Muncie, Indiana. This area was first settled in 1790 by the Lenape people.
The School of Music has about 500 undergraduate majors and about 100 graduate students in master’s, doctoral, and artist’s diploma programs. It offers degrees in Music, Music Education, Music Performance, Jazz Studies, and Music Media Production. The MTMW conference will take place in the school’s Music Instruction Building (1707 W. Riverside Ave.), which includes the 600-seat Sursa Performance Hall and state-of-the-art music technology and recording studios. The Music Instruction Building is a short walk from the University (Student Center) Hotel.
Click on the following link for a campus map: https://www.bsu.edu/map
Conference Events
Banquet
The conference banquet will be held on the evening of Saturday, May 11, in Cardinal Hall A, located in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. Banquet tickets may be purchased online during the conference registration process: $35 (regular) or $20 (student). The banquet registration deadline is Monday, May 6.
Please contact the Treasurer (treasurer@mtmw.org) if you would like to attend the banquet but didn’t sign up at the time of your initial conference registration.
Travel
Muncie is in east central Indiana, approximately halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. The closest airports are Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Dayton (OH), all about 90 minutes’ drive away. Representative driving times from other Midwestern cities: Bloomington, IN, 2 hrs.; Chicago, 4 hrs.; Cincinnati, 2.5 hrs.; Cleveland, 4.5 hrs.; Columbus, 2.5 hrs.; Detroit, 5 hrs.; Louisville, 3 hrs.; St. Louis, 5 hrs.
Public Transportation
For public transportation to the Music Instruction Building from the Hampton Inn, walk to the Marleon Dr. bus stop at Bethel and take bus #16. Exit at University at McKinley. The route takes roughly 20 minutes and runs every 30 minutes to an hour. Click here for the bus schedule: https://www.mitsbus.org/mits-bus/routes-schedules/?route=11999#route
Parking
The nearest parking garage to the conference location is the McKinley Garage (R7), located just south of the Music Instruction Building. On Thursday and Friday, metered parking is available on the first floor (and first ramp). Parking is free on Saturday. Overnight parking is not permitted.
Metered parking rates:
Hours 1-3: $1 per hour
Hours 4-6: $.50 per hour
Hours 7-8: $.25 per hour
Accommodations
There are blocks of rooms booked in two different hotels for the conference.
Student Center Hotel
Nineteen rooms (including twin, queen, and king beds) are at the Student Center Hotel on campus: call 765-285-1555 to reserve, block code 2405THE (rates listed below). Rooms at the Student Center Hotel must be booked by April 24, 2024.
Rates for the Student Center hotel:
Twin rooms are $72.25/night for 1 guest and $79.90/night for 2 guests.
Queen rooms are $76.50/night for 1 guest and $84.15/night for 2 guests.
King rooms are $84.15/night for 1 guest and $89.25/night for 2 guests.
Hampton Inn & Suites Muncie
Twenty-five rooms are available at the Hampton Inn & Suites Muncie: call 765-288-8500, block code MTM (rate $129/night), or click on this reservation link. Rooms at the Hampton Inn must be booked by April 12, 2024.
Dining
On-campus restaurants in “The Village”:
1. Chava’s Mexican Grill (1801 W. University Ave.): Chipotle-style restaurant
2. Jack’s Donuts (1706 W University Ave)
3. HotBox Pizza (511 N. Martin Street)
4. Pita Pit (509 N. Martin Street)
5. Roots Burger Bar (1700 W University Ave)
6. Jimmy John’s (506 N. Martin Street)
7. Insomnia Cookies (1622 W University Ave)
8. Yats (1625 W University Ave): Cajun chain started in Indianapolis
9. Everbowl (1615 W University Ave)
10. The Cup (1606 W University Ave): local coffee shop
11. Greek’s Pizza (1600 W University Ave)
Downtown restaurants:
1. 1925 Pubhouse (625 S High Street): located in the Courtyard by Marriott
2. Twin Archer Brewpub (117 W Charles Street)
3. Savage’s Ale House (127 N High St)
4. Tuppee Tong Thai Restaurant (310 W Main St)
5. Trust Your Butcher Steakhouse (231 S Walnut St)
6. Heorot Pub and Draught House (219 S Walnut St)
7. Vera Mae’s Bistro (209 S Walnut St)
8. Casa Mexican Grill (206 S Walnut St)
9. The Clubhouse @ Accutech (115 S Walnut St): food and games
10. Elm Street Brewing Co. (519 N Elm St): popular local brewpub
11. The Guardian Brewing Company (514 E Jackson St)
Other restaurants within Muncie:
1. Amazing Joe’s Grill (909 Wheeling Ave)
2. Dumpling House (2900 W White River Blvd)
3. Acapulco Mexican (3201 W Bethel Ave)
4. Timbers Lounge (2770 W Kilgore Ave)
5. Thai Smile 2 (2401 N Tillotson Ave)
6. Puerto Vallarta (Mexican) (508 S Tillotson Ave)
7. Sitara Indian Restaurant (1606 W McGalliard Rd)
8. Cammack Station (9200 W Jackson St): retro restaurant in Yorktown
Local Information
Local Arrangements Chair: Brett Clement (Ball State University)
The School of Music at Ball State University is pleased to host the 2024 annual conference of Music Theory Midwest. Ball State previously hosted MTMW in 2006 and we are happy to welcome scholars from the United States and Canada.
Please direct any further questions about the conference or the Muncie area to bgclement@bsu.edu. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Muncie on May 10!
Sincerely,
Brett Clement
Program Committee
René Rusch (University of Michigan), Chair
M. Jerome Bell (Eastman School of Music, 2023 Komar co-winner); Nora Engebretsen (Bowling Green State University); Sumanth Gopinath (University of Minnesota); Vivian Luong (University of Oklahoma); Juan Patricio Saenz (McGill University, 2023 Komar co-winner); Frank Samarotto (Indiana University); and Christopher Segall (University of Cincinnati), ex officio.
Pre-Conference Workshop
The pre-conference workshop, “Analyzing Improvisation,” will be led by Paul Steinbeck (Washington University in St. Louis). The workshop will take place on Thursday, May 9, 6:00–9:00 pm in the Hargreaves Music Building, Room 301. Hargreaves is located just north of the Music Instruction Building, across W. Riverside Avenue.
The workshop is a closed session for participants only. The application deadline has already passed.
Abstract
In the book Improvisation, first published in 1980, Derek Bailey claimed that “improvisation is always changing and adjusting, never fixed, too elusive for analysis and precise description, essentially nonacademic.” However, in the decades since these words were written, many musicians inside and outside the academy have dared to analyze musical improvisations, doing what Bailey said could not be done. Our workshop will examine the practice of analyzing music that is partially or wholly improvised, with an emphasis on methodology; first and foremost listening, but also transcribing recordings, studying scores and sketches, etc. We will also consider what analyzing improvisation can teach us about the discipline of music theory.
Komar Award Committee
Daniel Shanahan (Northwestern University), Chair
Leah Frederick (University of Michigan); Matthew Poon (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire); Eleanor Trawick (Ball State University)
Online Program
The online program can be found here once it is available.