UMD to Host 10th International Conference on Music and Minimalism
March 27, 2026
The conference provides attendees with an abundance of scholarly and performance attendance opportunities to dive into minimalism in music.
By TJ Wagman ’20
The University of Maryland School of Music (SOM) will host the Society for Minimalist Music’s 10th International Conference on Music and Minimalism at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center from May 7-10, featuring keynote speakers and performances, including work produced by students.
A subgenre of classical music defined by extreme simplification, minimalist music relies on repetition, steady pulses and drones, and gradual, subtle changes to create atmosphere. The Society for Minimalist Music promotes the intellectual and scholarly study of both its classic forms dating from the 1960s and subsequent developments in postminimalism. The society is also interested in how minimalist music intersects with other art forms, including dance, theater and visual art.
The society held its first conference in Bangor, Wales, in 2007, and has held biennial meetings in the United States and abroad since. SOM Associate Professor of Musicology Will Robin is organizing this year’s conference. He received an ArtsAMP grant from Arts for All, a campuswide initiative that encourages access to the arts, for the conference's development.
“I am incredibly excited that the School of Music is hosting the 10th International Conference on Music and Minimalism,” said Robin. “The conference provides students, faculty and the broader Maryland community the chance to engage with an important musical movement that is both avant-garde and deeply accessible.”
In total, the conference will feature six concerts, including performances by SOM students for Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” and Meredith Monk’s “Atlas,” as well as collaboration between the UMD Wind Orchestra and Clarice Presents visiting artist The Living Earth Show. The School of Music will additionally have a recital showcasing its Fellowship String Quartet, Atria Quartet, along with a work performed by SOM alumna Eric Spear ’25 featuring choreography by School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) alumna Isabella Grady ’25. Organist Kalie Malone will be joined by members of vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth and a brass ensemble for a performance at the university’s Memorial Chapel. Attendees will also have the opportunity to attend scholarly presentations on various topics in minimalism, visit the Library of Congress to view materials related to the conference, and more throughout the weekend.
This conference is a collaboration between SOM, The Clarice and TDPS, and is supported in part by the university’s Arts for All initiative. To learn more about the Society for Minimalist Music and this year’s conference, visit their website.
Pictured above: Organist Kali Malone will perform at the UMD Memorial Chapel as a part of the Society for Minimalist Music’s conference this spring. Photo by Emma Birski.
