Supplemental Call for Film Scores

Submission Deadline: 12 noon Mountain Time / 2 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The College Music Society (CMS) is pleased to announce its 67th National Conference in Washington, D.C., November 7–9, 2024, in conjunction with the 2024 National Conference of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI), and Pi Kappa Lambda (PKL).

CMS’s 2024 Conference Theme is “Advancing Democracy: Empowering Action Through Music.” Continuing to uphold and advance The College Music Society’s commitment to leading change, the 2024 Conference aims to explore musical leadership through the broad lens of democracy in action through our teaching, research, performance, and lives, now and into the future.

The CMS 2024 Program Committee welcomes submissions of original film scores to be scored using pre-approved film clips (information found below) and featured during one or more performances during the National Conference and/or through presentation in the CMS 2024 National Conference Laptop Exhibition (see below for more details). 

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, community college faculty, students, and retired faculty), (b) in the music industry, and (c) active as independent musicians and scholars. Proposals from students are especially encouraged. The Program Committee particularly welcomes, and will give priority to, proposals that: 

1. Provide examples of and showcase a wide perspective of musical democracy in action, including community projects, new pedagogical approaches, surveys, research, and performances; 
   
   
2. Promote ethical scholarship, performance, and teaching of musical cultures of marginalized populations, particularly Indigenous, Black, and LGBTQIA individuals;
   
   
3. Welcome 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); 
   
   
4. Propose methods of sustaining curricular diversification and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, during a time when the viability of those initiatives is in question;
   
   
5. Provide ways for musicians, whether engaging with music as a seasoned professional or impassioned amateur, to meaningfully engage with unique learning, critical thinking, and professional development opportunities; and 
   
   
6. Elevate presentations and conference delivery formats by rethinking how we can engage audiences through participation, playfulness, and music-making.

FILM SCORING SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Composers must score one or two of the clips provided here. When submitting your music, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Sample rate should be 44k/16 bit WAV file
   
   
2. Send ONLY music. Do not send back any audio from video. 
   
   
3. Do not use any uncleared samples.
   
   
4. Music should be at a consistent full volume. No volume automation to match picture cuts. We will handle music levels against picture, after submission. 
   
   
5. Left bounce/export must match first frame of video. Right bounce/export marker must match last frame of video.

CONSIDERATIONS

• Accepted film score proposals will be presented through one of two formats during the 2024 CMS National Conference:
  
  
  • Programmed and displayed during the Composers Showcase Concert: The CMS Composers Concert will take place during the 2024 CMS National Conference in Washington, DC, and will feature works of CMS Composer Presenters. Composers who submit film scores for presentation during this event will have their prerecorded audio played alongside the video clip (provided above) during the live performance.
    
    The specific date and time of this concert are TBD. Presenters will be notified of the date and time of the concert no later than two months before the start of the conference. 
    
    
  • Presentation in the Laptop Exhibition: The Laptop Exhibition is an interactive group presentation event that allows CMS Composer Presenters to share their accepted works with CMS 2024 National Conference attendees. Composers will need to provide their own laptop or tablet and a set of headphones where attendees can listen to the composer's work as they walk around the exhibit hall. Composers must stand by their designated laptop area in case attendees have questions about the work. Composers must also display an electronic score or DAW session on their laptop so attendees can follow along with the composer's work while also listening to it. 

Proposers will be prompted to confirm their preferred presentation format by the Submittable application form. If you do not have a preferred format, you will have the option to select “no preference.”

• 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.
  
  
• 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 Director of Operations Hannah Pearson for information surrounding conference sponsorships and exhibiting opportunities for industry partners. 

ELIGIBILITY

• Composers must be current members of The College Music Society at the time of submission. 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/or renewals is 1–2 business days. 
  
  
• 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 five Supplemental Calls for inclusion in the 2024 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).  
  
  
• 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, NACWPI, and/or PKL. 
  
  
• Members may give a maximum number of two presentations, in total, at the 2024 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 NACWPI, or two presentations on behalf of ATMI, etc.). Questions surrounding this policy should be directed to CMS Director of Operations Hannah Pearson.
  
  
• Submitters may not send the same or very similar proposals to both CMS and 2024 National Conference partner organizations (ATMI, NACWPI, and PKL).

PREPARATION OF MATERIALS

• To support the anonymous review process, the name(s) or affiliation(s) of anyone involved in the presentation should not appear on the score or parts, in program notes, or in the file names of submitted audio samples. Proposals identifying the composer or collaborators will be disqualified. Names and affiliations may, however, appear in the “Personnel” section of the proposal and in submitted biographies, as the review committee will not have access to this part of the application. 
  
  
• 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 composition’s title and instrumentation.
   
   
2. A representation of the composition in one of the following formats:
   1. A PDF copy of the full score and individual parts (anonymous; dedications and/or commissions should be redacted on the score for anonymous peer review). Multi-movement scores should be merged into a single PDF file, as should all parts.
   2. For those works that are not represented in the score format as noted above, please provide a description of the conceptual framework used in the realization of the composition. 

3. An anonymous digital recording of the work (please erase the metadata that is automatically saved with the file). MIDI file/software-synthesis realizations are acceptable. Most audio file formats are supported within Submittable.
   
   
4. Program notes (not to exceed 250 words).
   
   
5. A brief biography of the composer (not to exceed 250 words).
   
   
6. Name of the performing ensemble, if applicable.
   
   
7. Performer biographies:
   1. If the recorded work will be presented by a named ensemble, a biography of the ensemble must be included (not to exceed 250 words). Ensemble biographies may briefly address the achievements of each ensemble member; however, separate biographies of each individual performer are not requested in this case.
   2. If the work will not be presented by a named ensemble, biographies of individual performers should be included (not to exceed 250 words per person).

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

TIMELINE

Proposals must be submitted by 12 noon Mountain Time on Tuesday, April 30th, 2024.

Proposers will be notified of their status by Thursday, May 23rd, 2024.

QUESTIONS?

Questions regarding this Call should be directed to: 

Rachel Roberts, 2024 Program Chair and/or Jessica Muñiz-Collado, 2024 Composition Chair

Questions concerning conference operations should be directed to:

Charlie Chadwell, CMS Conference Planner