We have the pleasure to announce that the 4th edition of the International Conference on Timbre will be held in Montreal from July 2 to 4, 2026, hosted by the University of Montreal in collaboration with the research partnership ACTOR (Analysis, Creation and Teaching of ORchestration), and with the support of Montreal-based music research centres CIRMMT (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology) and RCMS (Regroupement inter-universitaire de recherche et création - musiques et sociétés).

Timbre is the fundamental material that composers, improvisers, performers and sound designers shape into music and sound art. Timbre poses multifaceted research questions across the scientific spectrum, from hearing, psychology, and neuroscience to acoustics and artificial intelligence. Timbre can also be approached from the perspective of the humanities, including history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and sound studies.

Bringing together musicians and researchers from these and related fields, the International Conference on Timbre aims to provide a truly interdisciplinary forum for exchanging novel perspectives and forging collaborations across different disciplines to advance our understanding of timbre from artistic, empirical, theoretical, and computational perspectives.

Timbre 2026 seeks original, high-quality contributions in all areas related to timbre, including research presentations (delivered as oral presentations [20 minutes], lightning talks [5 minutes], or posters), artistic reports [20 minutes], and panel sessions, tutorials, or workshops [60-120 minutes] (details below). Presentations can be in either English or French.

Important Dates

All deadlines are Anywhere on Earth (AoE) UTC-12.

• Submission deadline: December 15, 2025
• Notification of acceptance: January 31, 2026
• Updated abstracts: April 30, 2026

Potential Topics

Contributions are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following topics and disciplines :

• Orchestration and composition
• Electroacoustic music and sound art
• Instrumental/vocal performance and improvisation
• Sound recording
• Room acoustics
• Psychoacoustics and auditory perception
• Analysis of creative processes
• Embodiment and crossmodality
• Neuroscientific approaches
• Gestural control and biomechanical approaches
• Organology, lutherie and acoustic instrument design
• Human-computer interaction and digital instrument design
• Computational and AI insights and applications
• Sound synthesis and processing
• Notation and graphical representations
• Semantics and semiotics
• Music theory and analysis
• Popular music and jazz studies
• Sound studies
• Sound ecology, ecomusicology, zoomusicology
• Historical perspectives
• Aesthetic and philosophical perspectives
• Ethnomusicological, cultural, and sociological perspectives
• Pedagogical perspectives

Call for Participation

Timbre 2026 invites submissions in the following formats.

Research presentations

• Contribution: Original research, including case studies, position papers, and review papers.
• Presentation: Authors should indicate in their abstracts the mode of presentation (20-minute presentation, 5-minute lightning talk, or poster) that best fits their contribution. Final presentation mode will be based on author request, reviews, and program constraints.

Artistic reports (including musical performance or sound diffusion)

• Contribution: Reports on creative work, presented in one of the following formats:
  • Lecture-recitals (20 minutes, instrumental/vocal/electroacoustic timbre in practice)
  • Reports on research-creation projects (20 minutes, creative processes in composition and improvisation)
• Presentation: This format can include the presentation of up to 10 minutes of musical works or excerpts, either performed live or diffused on the sound system. Authors should indicate in their abstracts if they would also like to propose an acoustic or electroacoustic work for inclusion in a concert during the conference, pending selection by the committee and availability of concert spaces. NB: Authors will be responsible for providing any necessary performers.

Panel sessions and workshops

• Contribution: Longer sessions by one or more presenters, for example:
  • Multi-author panels discussions or roundtables
  • Pedagogy conversations
  • Professional development sessions
  • Lecture-demos for technological tools
• Presentation: Sessions/tutorials/workshops typically last 60-120 minutes. Authors should indicate upon submission how long they plan their session/tutorial/workshop to last. The final duration will be determined by the scientific committee based on the requested duration and the program constraints.

Submission

For all of the formats above, abstracts of 500 to 1000 words (with a list of references included in the word count) through this form by December 15, 2025. Proposals will be evaluated anonymously and abstracts should not include any indication of the author’s identity. References to the author’s own work should be in the third person.

We particularly encourage submissions from “newcomers” (masters or early-stage doctoral students) and scholars from underrepresented groups.

LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE

• Caroline Traube, University of Montreal
• Dominic Thibault, University of Montreal
• Nicolas Bernier, University of Montreal
• Pierre Michaud, University of Montreal
• Robert Hasegawa, McGill University

PROGRAMME CO-CHAIRS

• Caroline Traube, University of Montreal
• Jimmie LeBlanc, University of Montreal

EVALUATION COMMITTEE

• Jay Marchand Knight
• Malte Kob
• Stephen McAdams
• Lindsey Reymore
• Zachary Wallmark
• Charis Satis
• Dominic Thibault
• Robert Hasegawa
• Emily Dolan
• Michael Tenzer
• more TBC