Supplemental Call for Table Talks

Submission Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain Time Friday, May 29, 2026

The College Music Society (CMS) is pleased to announce its 69th CMS National Conference in Grand Rapids, MI, from November 12–14, 2026, in conjunction with the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), National Association for Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI), and Pi Kappa Lambda (PKL).

CMS’s 2026 Conference Theme is “Adaptive Advocacy: Collegiate Music Training at a Crossroads.” This conference aims to explore what the future of music education, creation, performance, and scholarship might look like, in conversation with community-based action, coalition-building, advocacy, and innovative practice across all those realms.

The 2026 Program Committee welcomes proposals for Table Talks relating to music creation, performance, scholarship, teaching, learning, career considerations, and other areas of interest to the music professional. Proposals may relate to the general interests of music in higher education or to specific disciplines and areas of interest—administration, career issues, composition, cultural inclusion, ethnomusicology, music therapy, music business/industry, music education/teacher training, music in general studies, music theory, musicology, community engagement and outreach, performance, musical theatre, and pedagogy. 

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. We welcome contributions embodying a wide variety of perspectives from persons and teams of diverse backgrounds. No proposal will be rejected on the basis of the correctness of its English or its adherence to a style manual, or on the basis of its author’s or authors’ academic credentials.

Table Talks feature 4-5 presenters sharing their research papers on related topics. Following brief presentations of their work, presenters will engage in focused discussions with attendees, fostering a collaborative environment that encourages the exchange of ideas, feedback, and networking. This format promotes interactive dialogue and exploration of diverse perspectives within a shared thematic focus.

In the spirit of the 2026 conference theme, as well as the 2026-2027 Common Topic—Collaborate!–we invite submissions that highlight current practices, innovations, and contributions in the following key areas:

• Performances and lecture recitals that imagine new ways of understanding the music of the past and the present, with forward-thinking considerations on music-making in the coming decade
• Professional activities that illustrate the capacity for artistic expression to intersect with social action through collaboration and coalition-building
• Creative research projects that explore innovations in the field of music education, performance, scholarship, and composition, through the lens of advocacy and social justice 
• Explorations of emergent technologies that pose both opportunities and potential challenges to music-makers and educators
  

CONSIDERATIONS 

• If the program must be moved from an in-person to an online venue for any reason, the Program Committee reserves the right to request that presenters alter the duration and structure of their presentations to better accommodate the virtual format. 
• Prior to submission, proposers must communicate with all co-presenters regarding their interest and availability. Proposals not listing all participants will be deemed incomplete and will not be considered. 
• 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 2026. 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.
• The College Music Society does not fund travel expenses of accepted presenters. 
• Proposers must submit their own work and may not submit proposals on behalf of their students or others.
• Proposals of a commercial nature that promote products and services will not be considered.

ELIGIBILITY

• The Primary proposer must be a current member of The College Music Society. First-time CMS members can sign up for a six-month trial membership at a discounted rate of $20. Persons interested in submitting a proposal should check their membership status well in advance of the submission deadline. Please note the processing time for membership applications and renewals is 1–2 business days.
• It is not necessary for the co-facilitator(s) to be a current member of CMS at the time of submission; however, if invited to the program, they must join the organization.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION & PARTICIPATION POLICY

• The CMS Program Committee has issued nine Supplemental Calls for inclusion in the 2026 National Conference. Members are permitted to submit one response per call (for example, one proposal for film scores, one proposal for special initiatives, and one proposal for commercial music performance).
• Each member may submit only ONE proposal in response to this Call. 
• Each member is limited to TWO submissions to all Calls for this conference (e.g., one paper + one performance). 
• 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. Each member may be added by others as a co-presenter (e.g., panelist or accompanist) to a maximum of TWO proposals. 
• The maximum number of presentations in which a member may be involved on the conference program is TWO. If more than two proposals involving the same member are accepted – regardless of whether the member submitted the proposal or was added to another member’s proposal – the individual in question must choose in which two presentations they will participate.

PREPARATION OF MATERIALS

Electronic submissions are required. Proposals sent by mail will not be considered. 

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 College Music Society’s 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 establish one. (Click here for help using Submittable and to view a list of Frequently Asked Questions.) 

A complete proposal includes:

1. The proposal’s title.
2. An abstract of 250 words or less. The Program Committee chooses presentations based primarily on the abstract as submitted, so it is important to write an abstract that the Committee will understand and can evaluate fairly. The purpose of the abstract is to convey to the reader what will be said in the presentation. Do not merely describe the subject or list the topics to be covered. Rather, state the main point of the presentation, outline the subsidiary points, and summarize the evidence offered, so that someone who has not heard the presentation can know in brief what it will say and can evaluate its contribution to our knowledge and understanding of music. The abstract, like the presentation itself, should be clear to an audience of musicians and music educators of all kinds, not just to those with a narrow specialty. While it may be necessary to set the context or lay out the problem to be addressed, this should be kept to a minimum. 
3. You may add up to 3 supporting materials to your proposal (optional). These might include printed music examples, photos, statistics, or relevant data. Do not include lengthy documents, dissertations, CVs, resumes, or PowerPoint presentations. Neither file names nor uploaded materials should identify the proposer or any collaborators.
4. A biography of the proposer and each co-facilitator, if applicable (250-word maximum per person).
5. Contact details for all personnel involved in the presentation, including an email address, mailing address, and phone number for each person, as well as an institutional affiliation, if applicable. 

When referencing one’s own previously published research, the proposer should refer to such research in the third person to avoid identifying themselves. For example, hypothetical proposal submitter D. Graham should write, “D. Graham’s article, ‘XYZ,’ summarizes pertinent issues,” instead of writing, “My article, ‘XYZ,’ summarizes pertinent issues.” The wording in the first example protects the anonymity of the author, while the second compromises the author’s anonymity by linking the author of the proposal to previously published work by a named author. 

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

TIMELINE

Proposals must be submitted by 11:59pm Mountain Time Friday, May 29, 2026

Proposers will be notified of their status by Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026.

QUESTIONS?

Questions regarding this Call should be directed to: 
[email protected], 2026 National Conference Program Chair

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