CamTAGS 2026: 30-31 March 2026
The Society for Music Analysis is thrilled to announce that its annual Theory and Analysis Graduate Students (TAGS) Conference will be hosted at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, on Monday 30 March and Tuesday 31 March, 2026. The event provides a supportive and friendly environment in which postgraduates (and undergraduates) can meet fellow researchers and gain experience presenting their scholarly work. The conference offers opportunities for career development and networking in a relaxed atmosphere, as well as options to meet with and receive feedback from SMA Trustees and other senior academics. Participants who do not wish to give a paper are also most welcome to attend.
The conference will feature a keynote address by Dr James Donaldson (Indiana University Bloomington). A vibrant workshop focussed on skills for early-career researchers considering an academic career will also feature in the timetable.
The conference will take place on the central main site of Trinity College, Cambridge, in both the intimate ‘Allhusen Room’ and the magisterial ‘Old Combination Room’. Cambridge is blessed with numerous accommodation options germane to several of the historic colleges, as well as all the standard hotel vendors. Trinity College itself is a 25-minute walk from the main Cambridge station, and is a centrally located institution with a highly prestigious scholarly record in both the Arts and Sciences.
The SMA is an international organisation based in the UK; applications from outside the UK are thus heartily encouraged.
Provisional Programme
Please find the provisional conference schedule here.
Conference Registration
Please simply email rsl34@cam.ac.uk to register. Remember that registration is free.
Travel
The SMA offers Travel Grants for student and early-career members (https://www.sma.ac.uk/grants/travel/); members are also invited to consider applying for the Music Analysis development fund(https://www.sma.ac.uk/grants/development/).
By Train: Cambridge station is serviced primarily via both London Liverpool Street (c.90 minutes) and London King’s Cross (c.50 minutes) Stations. An array of rail links connect the North of England to Cambridge, though travel down into London and then ‘back up and out’ again (via London Liverpool Street or London King’s Cross) tends to represent the most reliable form of transit. The TRAINLINE app offers journey planning and cost-saving ticket strategies, as well as live tracking for convenience.
By Plane: If you are travelling internationally, the nearest airport is London Stanstead, with affordable bus and train services consistently available direct from the airport to Cambridge.
By Road: There is no parking available at Trinity College. Free street parking available within walking distance is extremely rare in the city. Those driving may wish to use the city’s ‘Park and Ride’ scheme, which offers affordable parking and reliable bus travel to an area mere minutes from the conference venue.
Accommodation
In terms of accommodation, Cambridge affords several options:
1) though Trinity College does not itself issue guest rooms, many other Cambridge colleges run hotel-form businesses outside of term time. The website UniversityRooms.com contains further details: https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/. Particularly recommended for proximity to Trinity College are Westminster College, Gonville & Caius College (Harvey Court or The Stephen Hawking Building), and Sidney Sussex College.
2) Cambridge is blessed with a range of hotels. Central hotels such as the ‘The Graduate Hotel’, ‘The Varsity Hotel and Spa’, and ‘The Gonville Hotel’ are ordinarily more expensive than venues located near the station such as the ‘Ibis Cambridge Central Station’ and ‘The Lensfield Hotel’. Those individuals booking hotels further from Trinity College than the station area should bear in mind the potential cost of taxis. The website Booking.com offers the fullest array of options.
3) Airbnb remains a reliable outlet for spare room finding, even at short notice, and is also a place where some Cambridge colleges advertise their rooms.
Generally speaking, the cheapest accommodation options in central Cambridge will derive from the historic colleges, rather than from private companies.
Call for papers (please note, the call is now closed)
Proposals for individual papers (format: 20-minutes, with 10 minutes of subsequent audience questions), may be submitted through the following Google Form:
https://forms.gle/GJV93n8GfXS5ggpz8
Deadline: Friday January 16th 2026, midday UK-time
Please note: to present a paper at CamTAGS 2026, one must be a registered SMA member at the time of the conference; see the ‘Join’ tab at https://www.sma.ac.uk/ for more. There is otherwise no formal registration fee for CamTAGS 2026.
Conference Committee:
Dr Rajan Lal, Title A Fellow: Trinity College, University of Cambridge (Chair)
Dr Peter Asimov, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Dr Jane Hines, Gonville & Caius College University of Cambridge
Dr Christopher Tarrant, Newcastle University (SMA President)
{Please address all queries to Dr Rajan Lal via rsl34@cam.ac.uk}