The 23rd annual plenary conference of the Society for Musicology in Ireland (SMI) will take place on 19-21 June 2025, hosted by the School of Music, University College Dublin. The keynote address will be given by Professor Esteban Buch (Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris). On the day before the SMI conference starts, Wednesday 18 June 2025, the UCD School of Music will also host a one-day Farewell Symposium in Honour of Harry White to mark Professor White's retirement as Chair of Music, UCD. Delegates to the SMI conference are warmly invited to attend this additional event.

Further updates about the conference will be posted here in due course.

Update, 6 December 2024: The call for papers has been issued, as below, with Monday 31 January 2025 as the submission deadline. Each proposal should be sent, as a Word-compatible file, to the conference email address smiucd2025@gmail.com.

Proposals are invited from all areas of musical scholarship, including – yet not restricted to – historical musicology, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, music theory and music education. Topics may cover – yet again, are not restricted to – music, AI and digital cultures; intersections between music, socio-politics, gender, ethnicity, and religion; issues of aesthetics and performance; and methodological challenges for the discipline. The following formats are welcomed:

  • Individual papers.
  • Themed panel sessions (comprising three individual papers).
  • Round-table sessions (up to six people, each presenting a position paper, followed by a discussion).
  • Lecture recitals.

Individual papers and papers in themed panel sessions will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Round-table sessions should not exceed 90 minutes, including time for discussion. Lecture recitals should be 30 minutes in length, including time for discussion.

Abstracts for all individual papers should not exceed 250 words. In the case of themed panel sessions and round-table sessions, there should be an abstract for the whole session (maximum 250 words) plus an abstract for each individual speaker (maximum 150 words each), and should be submitted as a single document. Abstracts should include:

  • A title for the paper and/or session.
  • The name, contact details and affiliation (where applicable) of the speaker(s) and, in the case of themed panel sessions and round-table sessions, the panel convener,
  • Brief biography of the speaker(s) (maximum 150 words per speaker).
  • An indication of equipment that is required.

The Organizing Committee for the conference is:

  • Wolfgang Marx (University College Dublin), Chair
  • Laura Anderson (University College Dublin)
  • Anika Babel (University College Dublin)
  • Matthew P. Thomson (University College Dublin)

The Programme Committee for the conference is:

  • Laura Anderson (University College Dublin)
  • Anika Babel (University College Dublin)
  • Barbara Dignam (Dublin City University)
  • Matthew P. Thomson (University College Dublin)
  • Laura Watson (Maynooth University)