The Society for American Music invites proposals for (a) individual papers, (b) organized panels of 2-4 papers, (c) lecture-recitals, (d) alternative-format sessions, (e) digital research posters, and (f) interest groups for its 52nd Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia, to be held March 12-15, 2026. All proposals must be submitted via the SAM website by 11:59 pm PDT on June 1, 2025. The full call can be found here: https://www.american-music.org/page/SAM2026CFP
We welcome proposals about all facets of musical life throughout the Americas, and about American music and aspects of its cultures anywhere in the world. To celebrate the musical heritage of the conference site, we solicit proposals that emphasize any aspect of music or of musical cultures associated with Richmond or its surrounding areas at any stage of Virginia’s history, from pre-colonial to contemporary times. Topics might include our 2026 honorary member, Judith Shatin; musicking by Virginia’s Black or Indigenous populations; music traditions brought by immigrant populations to Virginia; the musical and pedagogical history of the region’s educational institutions, including its historically Black colleges/universities and women’s colleges; explorations of the region’s significant history of opera and orchestral music-making; the state’s rich history of country music; or any of Richmond’s pioneering musicians from any genre, e.g. gospel (The Legendary Ingramettes), R&B (D’Angelo), hip hop (Mad Skillz), metal (GWAR), indie rock (Lucy Dacus), and jazz (Butcher Brown). Topics might also explore musical connections to the various USA 250 celebrations scheduled to take place in 2026.