Music Theory Pedagogies Reimagined, July 6-9

July 6th, 1:00 pm to July 9th, 2:00 pm, 2026. Creatively and collaboratively explore opportunities and challenges for innovation in the 21st century music theory classroom with an exciting, international group of scholar-pedagogues.

Welcome to Music Theory Pedagogies Reimagined! July 6–9, 2026

Dive deep into the world of music theory pedagogy in this in-person conference and hackathon at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Supported by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant for Higher Learning, this event will bring together scholars and pedagogues from across music’s subdisciplines to explore challenges and possibilities for pedagogical innovation in music theory, broadly defined. Panel presentations, lightning-talk poster sessions, hands-on workshops, roundtable discussions, and three rich plenary sessions of invited speakers will be interspersed with the creative, collaborative activities of a hackathon, where participants will grapple with hard questions and together develop practical solutions for curricular transformation. We are looking to foster a space for imagination and growth, moving beyond esoteric debate to engage in conversation about the future of music theory teaching and learning.

Whether you are early-career or later, you'll find creatively curated sessions, hands-on workshops, and inspiring talks as well as plenty of space for dialogue and exploration. Meet fellow lovers of music theory and pedagogy, share ideas, build out your pedagogical toolkits, and add your voice to a vibrant conversation on curricular transformation in music theory. This event will serve as a launch for a larger, multi-year project to design a new, open-access music theory curriculum, and we seek wide input from the outset. Join us!

For more information on the event, including details about our 12 invited speakers, go to the conference website.

Logistics

Registration/Fees: There are two registration options and each offers early-bird pricing: students and scholars without a full-time position will pay just $40 for the full event by registering before May 1st and $60 after May 1st; scholars with a full-time position will pay $80 before May 1st and $120 after May 1st.

Food: Registration fees will include tasty breakfasts, lunches, coffee, and snacks for the duration of the event as well as an opening night reception and at least one dinner.

Accessibility needs/Dietary restrictions: While we cannot necessarily accommodate all dietary restrictions or other accessibility needs, we'll do our very best. Attendees with dietary or other needs should fill out this google form by May 1st (those filled out later will be taken into account where possible).

Accommodations: The conference hotel is the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge at 575 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA. It is about a 15-minute walk from the conference venue in MIT's Music Building (W18). Group rates will be available through the conference accommodations webpage. [Note that the World Cup is happening in Boston during this time, so we strongly recommend booking flights and accommodations early! The group rate is only available while rooms remain available.]

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