IMPORTANT: NATIONAL CONFERENCE CANCELLED (COVID-19)
MARCH 9, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
It is with sadness that we write to inform you that an in-person SEAMUS 2020 has been cancelled due to the rapidly evolving situation with COVID-19. We made this decision in response to a communication sent last night from UVA’s president strongly advising against all non-essential domestic travel, and indicating the possibility of further restrictions to be announced mid-week. Many registrants and performers had withdrawn already. Our primary concerns are about the safety and well-being of our UVA and SEAMUS communities. In addition, we want to prevent attendees from becoming stranded while traveling, for an event whose status would be tenuous throughout. This decision was not made lightly, and it follows rigorous discussion with UVA administration as well as SEAMUS board members.
We hope this communication reaches you in time to recoup some or all of your travel expenses. For those who registered at the conference hotel, we have cancelled your reservation and you will not be charged. (If you wish to maintain your reservation, please email us.) Regarding registration fees, we have spent most of registration revenue, University support, advertising, and sponsorship on production expenses such as design and printing of the conference booklet and swag, equipment rental and shipping (e.g., the Genelecs), and honoraria for performers rehearsing the pieces. We will ship these physical artifacts to you as applicable, and are as well working to produce an online platform that presents the conference in a way that serves you, the larger SEAMUS community, and beyond.
At this time, we are focused on assembling this online presentation of the conference. UVA coordinators will be in touch soon. We would like to thank the entire UVA team for the countless hours they have spent in producing an exceptional conference. We are hoping to create an exceptional substitute given the situation. If you have any suggestions on what this might include, please feel free to contact us.
Wishing you good health!
Best,
Ted Coffey & Leah Reid, SEAMUS 2020 cohosts
Call for Submissions to the SEAMUS 2020 National Conference
The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) 2020 National Conference will be held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, March 12-14, 2020. SEAMUS 2020 will present an exceptional program of works showcasing a broad spectrum of electro-acoustic modes and practices. In addition, we will present a selection of paper presentations, demonstrations, and workshops. The University of Virginia, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Music's program in Composition and Computer Technologies are thrilled to be hosting the SEAMUS conference, and we look forward to welcoming you into our community.
The submission portal will open September 1st, 2019 and close 11:59 PM PDT, October 10, 2019. Links to the submission portal are provided at https://seamusonline.org/seamus-2020-national-conference/.
SUBMISSIONS
SEAMUS members may submit up to one each of an original musical work, an installation proposal, and a paper / workshop proposal. Music formats include fixed media electroacoustic works, compositions for real-time interactive performance with or without additional performer(s), works for dance (BYOD), and works combining sound and image / video. Selected works will be presented in a variety of spaces, including but not limited to two multi-channel halls, a film theater, ‘late-night’ spaces on the downtown Charlottesville Mall, and the Rotunda's Dome Room. Please also see the 'Special Proposals' section below.
University of Virginia Music faculty will consider works for piccolo/flute/alto, oboe/English horn, bassoon/contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, percussion, and piano.
When submitting a multi-channel work, please include preference as to speaker configuration in your submitted technical specification. We will do our best to accommodate speaker configuration / routing preferences within the limits of technical feasibility.
SEAMUS adjudication is a peer-reviewed double-blind process. Technical / logistical feasibility will be the only consideration subsequent to the adjudication process. More details are available at https://seamusonline.org/national-conference-adjudication-process/
Notifications will be made in early December 2019. Composers whose work is selected are required to register for and attend the conference.
Read SEAMUS's Statement of Non-Discrimination at https://www.seamusonline.org/statement-of-nondiscrimination/
SPECIAL PROPOSALS
Special spaces:
We invite submission of works for one to eight channels to be realized in the Dome Room of the Rotunda. We further invite submission of sound installations of any kind for realization on UVA’s historic Lawn. These spaces will be open to the public throughout the conference. Please note that while we plan to realize selected works more than once, conversation and other environmental sound may be present at any given time. Information about the Rotunda space may be found at https://rotunda.virginia.edu/dome-room. Information about the Lawn may be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawn.
Community-engaged practice:
We invite proposal submissions for workshops and performances that engage youth populations in Charlottesville. UVA Music has developed partnerships with several community institutions, including the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, the Boys and Girls Club of Charlottesville, International Neighbors, and Charlottesville City Schools. We leave the parameters for this category as open as possible. Proposals may or may not be coordinated with a designated “Kids’ Concert” on the SEAMUS 2020 program that will especially welcome kids into the audience. More generally, we can help find appropriate partners and spaces for proposals accepted into this stream. Proposals submitted into this category will be adjudicated by a separate peer-review panel composed of SEAMUS members and local stake-holders in Charlottesville.
Performer-curated concert:
We invite proposals from performers of electro-acoustic music to present a curated concert of music performed by them or their ensemble. The proposal should take the form of a text document that lists the (1) title, (2) composer, (3) duration, and (4) technical requirements for each piece contained in the proposal. The text document should also provide links to audio recordings of three recent performances, at least one of which must be a live recording (not studio) and at least one of which must include electro-acoustic elements. Video recordings are not accepted. All submitted text documents and recordings must be strictly anonymous per double-blind peer review: performer(s) name(s) must not appear anywhere on the proposal, recordings, nor on websites from which recordings are accessed. Please note that selected performers are required to register.
Questions may be directed to co-hosts Ted Coffey & Leah Reid at seamus2020@virginia.edu