Toronto 2000: Musical Intersections

The University of Toronto Faculty of Music is serving as the local host for a "megameeting" of university music societies in Toronto, November 1-5, 2000. The American Musicological Society, as host organization, will be sharing the meeting with fifteen other music societies, including CSTM (Canadian Society for Traditional Music); CUMS (Canadian University Music Society); HBS (Historic Brass Society); IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music); LYRICA (Society for Word-Music Relationships); SEM (Society for Ethnomusicology); SMPC (Society for Music Perception and Cognition); and SMT (Society for Music Theory).

Some of these societies have never met in Canada before and we hope to make it an event they well long remember. For instance, in conjunction with this international gathering, the Opera Division at the Faculty of Music will premiere The Last Duel, a new opera by Gary Kulesha and Michael Albano, during the week of the conference.

Nothing of this size has ever taken place before, and the Local Arrangements Committee, chaired by Prof. Timothy McGee, has been working on the logistics of welcoming the registrants and their guests, currently estimated at 3500 to 5000 coming from Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Location of the conference is the Sheraton Centre and Hilton hotels, where as many as 32 simultaneous paper sessions will take place during the five days. Taking care of the academic sessions, room reservations, and numerous concerts will require a volunteer staff of several hundred faculty and students, and we are establishing contacts with all other university music departments in the area for help.

A list of reasonable area hotels, hostels, and bed-and-breakfasts is available here.