Welcome to the website of the Canadian University Music Society. CUMS is a bilingual and scholarly society dedicated to the promotion of music as a subject of study and research in Canadian post-secondary institutions. To this end, we support the following activities:
- sponsorship of an annual three-day conference of music scholars, composers and performers in late May or early June;
- sponsorship of cash prizes for student members of CUMS for best scholarly paper and best composition;
- publication of a biannual peer-reviewed journal, Intersections: A Canadian Journal of Music, distributed in print and electronically;
- support for university and college music programs across the country through the Standing Committee of Institutional Members (SCIM) ;
- distribution of news of interest to all university-based musicians, via this web site and a biannual electronic bulletin.
CUMS members include institutions―departments, schools and faculties of music in Canada—and individual scholars and musicians, working in Canada and the United States—both university-affiliated and independent, from graduate student to the rank of senior professor. Some individual members of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Information Centres choose also to be CUMS members; similarly, the CUMS annual conference is frequently held in conjunction with that of CAML. As a learned society, CUMS is a member of the Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences and holds its conference in tandem with the Federation’s annual Congress whenever possible. In recent history, roughly 60% % of the society’s annual budget for operations and publication has been derived from membership fees and the remainder from successful applicants to Canadian funding organizations.
CUMS occupies a unique position within North American music academe: our journal presents cutting-edge research of ethnomusicologists, music educators, music theorists and musicologists, working in all fields; to this output, our annual conference adds the output of composers and performers. That the society's professional activities cut across disciplinary boundaries constitutes one sign of our Canadian identity; the other sign is attention to Canadian subject matter alongside subjects of international import, in the journal and conference; over the next few years, our goal is to increase the interaction of CUMS with other Canadian music associations.
This web site, admirably maintained by web site editor Eric Hung, is the society’s primary mode of regular communication with individual members, institutional members and other interested persons; here you will find more detailed information concerning the Society, all the activities of the Society mentioned above and membership. You will find contact information for members of the executive board and links to other web sites of interest. Watch, during the next year, for additions to the page of links to other Canadian music associations, as we explore ways of cooperating with them.
Should you have questions about CUMS or any of its activities not answered by this web site, or suggestions for improvement of the site, please feel free to contact me at
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