Supplemental Call for Audiovisual Compositions

Submission Deadline: 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Thursday, May 29, 2025

The College Music Society (CMS) is pleased to announce its 68th National Conference in Spokane, WA, October 30–November 1, 2025, in conjunction with the 2025 National Conference of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI).

The  2025 CMS National Conference Theme is “Creative Ecosystems: Music, Research, Practice, and Impact.” Aiming to explore the interplay between music, research, practice, and their collective impact of the 21st century through the lens of the CMS 2024-2025 Common Topic, the 2025 CMS Program Committee welcomes proposals for works for film (audiovisual compositions) to be screened during one or more special concerts during the conference that highlight current practices, innovations, and creative work. 

The Committee solicits the broadest representation of our profession and its interests and welcomes submissions from all, including those (a) in academia (full-time and adjunct faculty, students, and retired faculty), (b) in the music industry, and (c) active as independent musicians and scholars. The Composition Subcommittee welcomes all musical voices into CMS conversations, including those from the fields of Jazz, Contemporary and Commercial Music, Music of the Americas, African American Music, Electronic Music, Film Music, Musical Theater, and Wellness (including music therapy, music as care, and music within disability studies). 

CONSIDERATIONS

• Composers may score any clip for which they can secure the appropriate permissions to share in an academic conference setting, or choose something freely available. Film clips may not be longer than 10 minutes, and your score should complement at least 75% of the film. Clips that are shorter than 10 minutes (trailer length, for instance) are highly encouraged. No extra value will be assigned to longer–or shorter–clips.
• Two-channel amplification will be provided. If accepted, you will be asked to share your video file with the CMS conference organizers. Your film will screen in a concert run through a CMS-provided computer during the conference.
• All persons whose work is selected for inclusion on the program are expected to register for and attend the full conference. If the proposal is accepted, proposers will be asked to communicate with all participants in the presentation to ensure their registration by early summer 2025. At its discretion, the Program Committee may exempt from the registration and membership requirements specific individuals, such as non-music professionals. It is the responsibility of the individual who submits the proposal to, upon acceptance, make conference planners aware of any non-music professionals involved in their presentation and to request such an exemption.
• CMS does not fund travel expenses for accepted presenters. 
• Proposers must submit their own work and may not submit proposals on behalf of their students or others. 
• Composers must be willing to have their works performed on any day of the conference should their proposal be accepted. 
• Proposals of a commercial nature that promote products and services will not be considered. Companies, organizations, or individuals interested in presenting a session of this nature should contact CMS Managing Director [email protected] for information surrounding conference sponsorships and exhibiting opportunities for industry partners. 

ELIGIBILITY

• The Primary proposer must be a current member of CMS. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please check your membership status well in advance of the submission deadline. Please note the processing time for membership applications and/or renewals is 1–2 business days.
• Co-facilitator(s) do not need to hold CMS membership status at the time of submission; however, if invited to the program, they will need to join the organization. 
• Not a CMS Member yet? You can register for a CMS Trial Membership for just $20. 

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION & PARTICIPATION POLICY

• The CMS Program Committee has issued seven Supplemental Calls for inclusion in the 2025 National Conference. Members are permitted to submit one response per call (for example, one proposal for audiovisual scores, one proposal for Roundtable Think-Tank participation, and one proposal for Table Talks).   
• If a member submits more than one proposal to the conference, each submission should be unique and content may not be duplicated, either in response to this Call or any other Calls for this conference, including proposals submitted to ATMI.
• Members may give a maximum number of two presentations, in total, at the 2025 National Conference, regardless of the organization on behalf of which they are presenting (for example, two presentations associated with CMS, or one presentation on behalf of CMS and one presentation on behalf of ATMI, or two presentations on behalf of ATMI, etc.). Questions surrounding this policy should be directed to CMS Managing Director [email protected].
• Submitters may not send the same or very similar proposals to both CMS and ATMI.

PREPARATION OF MATERIALS

• To support the anonymous review process, the name(s) or affiliation(s) of anyone involved in the presentation should not appear in the title or abstract, nor in the file names or body of submitted supplementary materials, as submissions are evaluated anonymously. Proposals identifying the proposer or co-presenters will be disqualified. Names and affiliations may appear in the “Co-Facilitator” section of the proposal and in submitted biographies, however, as the review committee will not have access to this information. 
• The CMS conference submission process is powered by Submittable. To submit a proposal, please (1) log in to the CMS members-only website using your username and password and then (2) click the “Submit” button at the bottom of this call. You will be directed to Submittable to complete your proposal. If you don’t already have a Submittable account, you will be prompted to create one (click here for help using Submittable and to view a list of Frequently Asked Questions).

When submitting your music, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Include the origin of your clip (title, year, author) at the beginning of your film. 
2. Include a still frame acknowledging any creative authorship for the film itself, where available, at the end of your film.
3. Your submission should be a single file with high-quality video and audio (1920x1080), 16:9 aspect ratio.
4. You will need to host your video on an external site (YouTube, Vimeo, personal website, etc) and share a link in the application. 
5. Do not use any uncleared samples. Follow copyright guidelines according to fair use for educational purposes.
6. Music should be at a consistent full volume. Composers may not adjust the volume live during their performance (but will have the opportunity to confirm playback volumes at soundcheck).

A complete proposal includes:

1. The score’s title and duration, rounded up to the nearest half minute.
2. An anonymous digital file with high-quality audio and video, hosted on an external site.
3. Program notes (250 words or less). 
4. A brief biography of the composer (250 words or less).

Submissions that do not conform to the above guidelines will not be considered.

TIMELINE

Proposals must be submitted by 11:59 pm Mountain Time on Thursday, May 29, 2025. 

Proposers will be notified of their status by Tuesday, June 17, 2025.

QUESTIONS?

Questions regarding this call should be directed to: [email protected], 2025 Program Chair

Questions concerning conference operations should be directed to: [email protected], CMS Conference Planner