Invitation to PCMT Conference
To honor the 100th anniversary of the founding of The Ohio State University School of Music, we are excited to invite you to a conference on Practitioner-Centered Music Theory: Concepts, Methods, Perspectives.
Practitioner-Centered Music Theory: Concepts, Methods, Perspectives
October 9–11, 2025
Timashev Music Building, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
This conference will draw together scholars, practitioners, and scholar-practitioners across music theory, musicology, ethnomusicology, performance studies, music cognition, public music theory and related fields who use interviews, (auto) ethnography, and other quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how musicians across a range of practices conceptualize what they do, in dialogue with or distinct from institutionalized music theories.
Featured Speakers:
Jason Rawls, assistant professor of Hip Hop, The Ohio State University
Jonathan de Souza, associate professor of Music Theory, University of Western Ontario
Leslie Tilley, associate professor of Music, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Proposal Invitation
The Program Committee invites proposals including (but not limited to) the following themes:
- Theorist-practitioners and practitioner-theorists
- Theories of technologically-based practice
- Music theory in oral traditions, including ensemble leadership and pedagogy
- Music theory in musical (sub)cultures
- Vernacular music theories
- Embodied music theories
- Ensemble-centered theories of collective creative practice
- Practitioner-centered theory through fieldwork and/or archival research
- Practitioner-centered theory, instruments, and the voice
- Co-creative processes between musicians, dancers, and other artists
Guidelines:
Upload proposals to the conference website by April 15, 2025.
Complete submissions must include:
- Proposal title
- Author name(s)
- Author email address(es)
- Desired format (paper, workshop, and/or poster demonstration); more details below.
- An abstract not exceeding 300 words; more details below.
- Between 3–7 keywords related to the presentation
- A list of required AV equipment
Abstracts:
A proposal for a research presentation should indicate its goals, methods, and results (if applicable), alongside a bibliography.
A proposal for an interactive workshop should indicate methodologies used and the desired outcome(s) for attendees, which may be skill- or knowledge-based.
A proposal for a poster demonstration should indicate what concepts, theories, and/or skills will be demonstrated throughout the poster session.
Submitted abstracts should contain no identifying information, including author names and institutional affiliations. The abstract may include up to four pages of supplementary materials (bibliography, graphics, diagrams, musical examples, etc.), which do not count towards the word limit. Upload the abstract and supplementary materials as a single, combined PDF file. If your presentation or workshop is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
Format:
Research Presentation: Lecture-style presentation of original research and/or creative work that focuses on practitioner-centered theories or methods.
- 30 minutes: 20-minute presentation followed by 10-minute Q&A.
Workshop: An interactive session designed to engage conference attendees to learn about and try approaches developed by practitioners.
- 45 minutes: this time can be segmented in whatever way best fits your workshop.
Poster Demonstrations: Repeated 5–10 minute demonstrations of practitioner-centered work for different audiences throughout the poster session, with opportunities for hands-on learning or Q&A.
- Part of a single 60-minute session
The program committee may request that a project proposed in one format be converted to a different format.
Program Committee
Anna Gawboy, The Ohio State University, Chair
Ryan Skinner, The Ohio State University
Katie Graber, The Ohio State University
David Heinsen, The Ohio State University
Anabel Maler, The University of British Columbia
Questions? Email Alex Sallade at sallade.5@osu.edu
This conference is made possible by the generous donation of Ohio State alumnus Roger Vogel and the Poland Lecture Fund.