For the 2025 Symposium on Music of the Sea, we are seeking proposals for papers in Music, Ethnomusicology, History, Literature, Folklore, or other appropriate disciplines that address any aspect of music or verse of the sea, rivers, or inland waters from the Age of Sail until the present. 

Topics may include: shipboard work songs, songs of maritime or other occupational trades, songs of rivers and lakes, seafaring cultures and cultural change, ethnicity and ethnic influences, ballad and broadside traditions, the use of sea music in literature and in popular culture, including the Internet, and the work of collectors and performers of sea music. We are particularly interested in the maritime musical cultures of the Connecticut River Valley and the Town of Essex (formerly Pettipaug).

The one-day Symposium on Music of the Sea is part of a three-day festival celebrating the lives and work of sailors through concerts and demonstrations in the Town of Essex, CT. The Symposium will be held in the Town Hall’s Auditorium, 29 West Ave, Essex, CT 06426 on FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2025.

Graduate students, practitioners, and independent scholars are encouraged to submit proposals which will be reviewed by a committee of scholars and experts in the field of sea music. Presentations with audiovisual components are welcome.

We plan to hold the Symposium in person; we will also review proposals that would be recorded in advance with presenters participating remotely. The Symposium will be recorded. Each presenter will have 45 minutes: papers should be 30-35 minutes long to allow time for questions.

 SUBMISSION DEADLINE is February 1, 2025

Proposals should be 1-2 pages and should include a thesis, an explanation, and a list of sources, plus a short (under 100 words) bio of the presenter(s).

Please submit proposals to Faye Ringel, Symposium Director,  symposium@maritimemusicandtraditionsociety.org