Call for Lecture-Recitals & Performances

Submission Deadline: 12 Noon Mountain Time on Wednesday, May 15, 2024

The College Music Society (CMS) is pleased to announce its 2025 International Conference in Colombia. The conference will take place from June 15–23, with activities in Bogotá and Medellín. 

The program will include scholarly discourse and the presentation of new music by CMS members, interaction with Colombian scholars and performers, and guided sightseeing and cultural opportunities. 

The Program Committee of The College Music Society welcomes proposals for lecture-recitals and performances. The Committee invites the broadest representation from the music profession and its interests and welcomes proposals from students, faculty, retirees, and independent musicians from all educational and professional settings.

The Program Committee particularly encourages, and will give priority to, proposals that: 

(a) connect to the conference theme, “Innovation, Transformation, & Reconciliation: Inspiring Social Change through Music”

(b) illuminate the peoples, musical activities, and traditions of Colombia

(c) feature composers for whom 2025 is of special interest

Please note: This is not the appropriate path for submitting original compositions. Works of new music by CMS composers must be submitted in response to the separate Call for Scores.

CONSIDERATIONS

• CMS International Conferences include cultural experiences and sightseeing opportunities which are meant to deepen participants’ understanding of the conference locale. These activities are included in the registration fee. With this in mind, attendees are asked to give careful consideration to the financial commitment associated with participation prior to proposal submission. Registration fees for recent international conferences have been between $1,000 and $1,200. Registration fees for the 2025 program have not yet been finalized, but they should be comparable. This fee will not include airfare or lodging.
• The College Music Society does not fund travel expenses of accepted presenters.
• Lecture-recitals are limited to 25 minutes each, inclusive of delivery, discussion, and/or questions as appropriate. Lecture-recitals present scholarship in combination with a live performance component. Lecture-recitals differ from performances in that a minimum of 50% of the presentation time must be dedicated to speaking.
• Performances are intended to present live music and speaking is generally limited to brief, introductory comments. While these can feature new music, this is not the appropriate submission venue for works by CMS composers. Performances consisting of a 25-minute program from a single performer or ensemble may be proposed that features music by one or more composers. The time limit is inclusive of set-up and tear-down.
• The same topic may not be submitted as both a lecture-recital and performance.
• Performers must provide their own instruments (with the exception of piano, which CMS will provide).
• Presentations requiring two pianos will not be considered; however, single piano works for 4-hands are welcome. 
• Pianos may not be prepared or altered in any way, including the insertion of objects into or onto the strings. 
• Prior to submission, proposers must communicate with all collaborators regarding their interest and availability. This includes collaborative pianists. Proposals not listing all participants will be deemed incomplete and will not be considered. 
• All persons whose works are selected for inclusion on the program must register for, and attend, the entire conference. 
• Proposers agree to present on any day of the conference should their proposal be accepted. 
• Proposers must submit their own work and may not submit proposals on behalf of their students or others. 

ELIGIBILITY

• The primary proposer must be a current member of The College Music Society. 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.
• It is not necessary for collaborators to be current members at the time of submission; however, if invited to the program, every person involved in the presentation must join CMS and register for the conference.
• CMS currently offers a trial membership option for those who may want to submit a presentation without committing to a full year of membership. Trial memberships are $20 and provide full access to membership benefits for a period of six months. You can sign up for a trial membership here.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION & PARTICIPATION POLICY

• Each member may propose a maximum of two submissions to this conference. 
• Each member may submit one proposal of each format type (e.g., one lecture-recital, one paper).
• In addition to the allowed two submissions, each member may be added by another person as a co-presenter (e.g., panelist or accompanist) to one proposal. 
• Each submission must be unique and should not duplicate the subject matter of other work submitted by the proposer in response to any other Calls for this conference. 
• 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

• 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 user name 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 and format.
2. Abstracts and Program Notes:

2.1 Lecture-recital proposals require an abstract of 250 words or less. 

Preparing an Abstract - 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. 

2.2 Performance proposals require program notes of 250 words or less; a list of all titles, movements, and composers being proposed; and an indication of the instrumentation and duration of each work. If a proposal includes pieces which will not be played in their entirely, please clarify within the program notes which sections will be performed. Texts for vocal repertoire are not requested at this time. 

3. A list of all required equipment and internet needs. 
4. Two audio samples to demonstrate the proficiency of the soloist/ensemble. The duration of each recording should be a minimum of 3 minutes and no longer than 8 minutes. Preference will be given to submissions that include a recording of the proposer performing the actual work being proposed. Where this is not possible, the submitted example should be of a comparable style, genre, or historical period. Most audio file formats are supported by Submittable. 
5. PDF reference scores to accompany the audio samples submitted under item #4. 
6. Optional: In addition to the two required audio samples of the performer(s), an additional reference recording of the proposed work being performed by someone else may be added to support the submission. This is recommended in cases where the proposer(s) have not recorded the proposed work. 
7. A brief biography of the proposer (not to exceed 250 words). 
8. Name of performing ensemble, if applicable. 
9. Biographies of the performer(s) or ensemble (maximum total text of 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. 
10. Contact details for all collaborators, including an email address, mailing address, and phone number for each person. Pianists must be named in this section. If your presentation includes 3 or more persons, download this spreadsheet, save the file using your name as the file name (e.g., smith_john.xlsx), and complete the requested information for each involved person. You will be asked to upload this completed file with your proposal. 

Please Note: 

• 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 audio samples or other support materials, as submissions are evaluated anonymously. Proposals identifying the proposer or co-presenters 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.
• 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 12 noon Mountain Time on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
• Proposers will be notified by Sunday, June 9, 2024.

QUESTIONS?

Questions regarding this call should be directed to: 

Andrés Gómez Bravo, 2025 CMS International Conference Program Chair

Questions concerning conference operations should be directed to:

Charlie Chadwell, CMS Conference Planner