TSMT 2026 Program

Annual Conference Home

Texas Society for Music Theory
48th Annual Conference
February 27 - February 28, 2026
Texas Woman's University
Denton, Texas

Conference Program

Except where noted, all events will take place in the Texas Woman's University Music Building/Margo Jones Performance Hall, at Central Standard Time.

KEY:

Friday, February 27 - Morning Sessions

REGISTRATION, COFFEE: (8:00 - 8:30 Music Building Foyer )

WELCOME: (8:30 - 8:45 Room: 317)

BREAK: (8:45 - 9:00 )

SESSION I: (9:00 - 10:45 Room: 304)

Session Chair: TBD

"From the Surface to Deeper‐level Structure — Two Case Studies on Music Borrowing: Schubert's Fantasy in C Major, D. 760 and Schumann's Fantasie, Op. 17/I"
Xiao Yun, Wabash College
"Unfinished Business: Deferral of Closure in the First Movements of Three Late Beethoven Quartets"
Alexander Amato, Stephen F. Austin State University
"Reconsidering the Period: Eight-Measure Period in Nineteenth-Century Waltzes"
Tanja Knez̆ević, University of North Texas

SESSION II: (9:00 - 10:45 Room: 317)

Session Chair: Jose Garza, Texas State University

"Speaking the Japanese Jazz Language: An Analytical Approach to Hearing a National Sound"
Talitha Murphy, Baylor University
"What Makes a Metal Genre? A Case Study from Epica's Symphonic Metal"
Alison Parker, University of North Texas
"Riff Transformations in Funeral Doom Metal and Aural Iconology"
David Heetderks, University of North Texas

BREAK: (10:45 - 11:00)

SESSION III: (11:00 - 12:30 Room: 317)
Undergraduate Lightning Talks

"Beyond the Pink Opaque: An Analysis on Gendered Scoring and Intersectional Identity in “I Saw The TV Glow"
Rachel Braunschweig, Texas Woman's University
"Harmonic Function of Stretto in J. S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier"
Matthew Cooley, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
"Sonic Impact: The Buildup-Payoff Model of 2010s YouTube Gaming Intros"
Mary Kerr, Texas Tech University
"'The More I Get of You the Stranger it Feels': Narrativizing the Stages of Addiction Through Seal's Kiss from a Rose"
Mercedes Shook, Texas Woman's University

LUNCHEON: (12:30 - 2:00 )

Friday, February 27 - Afternoon Sessions

Pedagogy Session (2:00 - 3:00)
Room: Anne Stuart Science Complex 259

Session Chair: Benjamin Graf, University of North Texas

"Curriculum, Coaching, and Collaboration: Strategies to Improve TExES Student Outcomes"
Susan de Ghizé, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

BREAK: (3:00 - 3:15)

SESSION IV: (3:15 - 4:45 Room: 304)

Session Chair: Graham Hunt, University of Texas at Arlington

"The Type 2 Sonata and Comic Narrative in Frank Ticheli's Apollo Unleashed"
Austin Brake, University of Houston
"Defying Gravity: Motive, Magic, and Metaphor"
Benjamin Graf, University of North Texas
"Hearing the Story: A Narrative Framework for Analyzing Late-Nineteenth-Century African-American Piano Music"
Nico Schüler, Texas State University

SESSION V: (3:15 - 4:45 Room: 317)

Session Chair: TBD

"Krenek's Exercises of a Late Hour for chamber orchestra and electronic tape op. 200 — Reflections upon the Theory and History of Serialism"
Frank Heidlberger, University of North Texas
"Do Humans Dream of Virtual Singers? Human-Machine Liminality in Vocaloid Music"
"'Dissolution' as Ontological Identity: The Cheshire Cat in Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland"
Ji Yeon Lee, University of Houston

BREAK: (4:45 - 5:00)

Keynote Address: (5:00 - 6:00)
Room: Anne Stuart Science Complex 259

Session Chair: Jennifer Beavers, University of Texas at San Antonio

Canons — Repertorial, Analytical, Personal
Stephen Rodgers, University of Oregon

Saturday, February 28

Coffee/Breakfast: (8:00 Music Building Foyer)
Breakfast hosted by Auralia & Musition

POSTER SESSION: (8:30 - 9:30 Music Building Foyer)

Session Chair: TBD

"Listening to Rhythm Game Charts"
Marcos Acevedo-Arùs, University of Texas at Austin
"Accentuation Patterns and their Impact on Steps in Scottish Highland Dance"
Stefanie Bilidas, University of Texas at Austin
"Marching-Percussion Pedagogy in Aural Skills: 'Check Patterns' and Rhythmic Rounds"
Tyler M. Howie, Oberlin College and Conservatory
"Jochanaan's Beheading: Distorted Authentic Cadence at the End of Salome"
Sanha Lee, University of North Texas
"Regarding Relevance and Efficacy: A Modular Curriculum for Modern Students"
Jacy Pedersen, Wichita State University
"Metric Deception: Metric Dissonance in Popular Music and its Effect on Pulse Perception"
Aidan Ramos, University of Texas at San Antonio
"Jekd and the Influence of American 1980s Popular Music"
Aurica Rising, Texas Tech University
"Trauma and Hearing: Radigue's Triptych (2009) as a Theory of Interoception"
Andrew Malilay White, Austin Community College

BREAK: (9:30 - 9:45)

SESSION VI: (9:45 - 11:15 Room: 304)

Session Chair: TBD

"'Otonality' and 'Utonality:' Semantic and Expressive Contents in The Long-Departed Lover from Harry Partch's Seventeen Lyrics by Li Po"
Jiaqi Sun, University of North Texas
"Barbershop Theory: The Stylistic Harmonic Features of a Great American Pastime"
Lance Russell, Independent Scholar
"Keyboard Distance: An Analytical Tool for Bridging Transformational Theory and Embodied Performance in Piano Music"
Zekai Liu, Eastman School of Music

SESSION VII: (9:45 - 11:15 Room: 317)

Session Chair: Rachel Mann, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

"First Let Them Hear: Nurturing the Cognitive Perception of Music"
Jennifer Shafer England, Montana State University, et al.
"Self-Determination and Student Motivation in Music Theory and Aural Skills"
Angela Ripley, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
"All Songs Use the Same Four Chords, but Nobody Can Tell"
Samuel Gardner, Oberlin College Conservatory

BREAK: (11:15 - 11:30)

TSMT Business Meeting: (11:15)
Room: Anne Stuart Science Complex 259

TSMT Executive Board

Jennifer Beavers (University of Texas at San Antonio), President
David Forrest (Texas Tech University), Immediate Past President
Kevin Clifton (Sam Houston State University), Secretary
Andrew Davis (University of Houston), Treasurer Damian Blättler (Rice University)
Justin Lavacek (University of North Texas)
Rachel Mann (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
Andrew Vagts (Baylor University)

TSMT 2026 Program Committee

Bryan Espinosa, chair (Sam Houston State University)
Hon Ki Cheung (University of Texas at Austin)
Ruixue Hu (Eastman School of Music, winner of 2025 Colvin Award)
Ji Yeon Lee (University of Houston)
Edward Taylor (Baylor University)

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