I tailor my lessons with YOUR goals and learning desires in mind: I start with what you already know and go from there. Music theory is a lot like playing an instrument or speaking a foreign language in that we spend a lot of time working back and forth with each other. I demonstrate a skill, but give you lots of time to practice and experiment, and I give constant and supportive feedback at each step of the way.
I am a music theorist and flutist. I have been in the classroom teaching music for 27 years, music theory and aural skills for 20 of them! I have worked with probably thousands of students in my career, some performers, some just to have better theory skills, many music educators, and a number of my students have gone on to get graduate degrees in music theory. I began my career as a band director and elementary music teacher, so I have worked with nearly every age and skill level.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Music Theory, Indiana University, 2010
Minor Fields: Music History and Literature, Music Information Technology
MA, Music Theory, University of Kentucky, 2001
MM, Flute Performance, University of Kentucky, 2000
BME (âwith high distinctionâ), Music Education, University of Kentucky, 1993
TEACHING POSITIONS
2007-2020: Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Luther College, Decorah, IA
Courses Taught:
Written Theory I â IV (including form and analysis)
Honors Written Theory I, Honors Written Theory II
Ear Training I, Ear Training II, Ear Training III
Honors Ear Training I, Honors Ear Training II
Special Topics: Music Theory and Pop/Rock Music (spring 2008), Music and Gender (spring 2012, spring 2017)
Music History II â Classical and Romantic Eras
2004-2007: Visiting Professor of Music Theory, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN
Courses Taught:
Fundamentals of Music Theory (for non-music majors)
Musicianship I, Musicianship II
Theory and Musicianship I, Theory and Musicianship II
Theory I, Theory II
OTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1987-present Private teacher of flute, voice, and piano
2014-2016 Instructor, Dorian Music Camp, Luther College, Decorah, IA
Devise and carry out instruction for junior and senior high camp courses in music theory, music appreciation, improvisation, and flute choir
2012-2020 Director of Music, Decorah First United Methodist Church
Lead choir rehearsals for regular Sunday services and special programs (Christmas cantata, Good Friday music service)
Direct choir for Sunday services and special programs
Accompany choir on piano for rehearsals
Accompany Sunday services on piano
Coordinate with senior pastor on issues of programming and worship planning
2007-2009 Instructor, Dorian Music Camp, Luther College, Decorah, IA
Devise and carry out instruction for junior and senior high camp courses in music theory, music appreciation, improvisation, and flute choir
2003-2004 Associate Instructor, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Associate Instructor, graduate aural skills review, summer 2004
Associate Instructor, honors written theory, spring semester 2004
Independent tutor in music theory
2001-2003 Associate Instructor, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Instructor of record for Aural Skills II
1998-2001 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Teaching Assistant in music theory
1999-2001 Choir Director, Lexington Lafayette Christian Church
1998-1999 Music Director, Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church
1996-1998 Owensboro Catholic Consolidated Schools (KY): elementary general music
1993-1996 McLean County Public Schools (KY): elementary general music, beginning band, junior high and high school band
PUBLICATIONS
2018 âJohann Bernhard Logier and the Musikwissenschaft of Harmony in His System of the Science of Music and Practical Composition,â Theoria: Historical Aspects of Music Theory 25 (2018).
âWhen Words Create Music: The Spontaneous Art Song Workshop and Its Value in Teaching Improvisation,â Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 32 (2018).
âEmbracing âthe Teachable Momentâ: Creative Warm-Ups, Pre-Teaching, and Their Role in the Music Theory Curriculum,â Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 31 (2018).
2012 Program notes, Gems Rediscovered by Spencer Martin, viola. Delos Records.
Manuscript
âToward a Semiology of Meaning across Artistic Boundaries: Winterguard and Elton Johnâs âCandle in the Windâ.â
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2001 Indiana University School of Music, travel grant
2001-2003 Indiana University Chancellorsâ Fellowship
CONFERENCE ACTIVITY AND PARTICIPATION
Conferences and Panels Organized:
2012 Site organizer, College Music Society Upper Midwest Regional Conference
2004 Indiana University Research Symposium in Music Theory, session chair for keynote speaker
2004 Indiana University Research Symposium in Music Theory, program committee chair
Papers Presented:
2013 âChiroplasts and Musik-Wissenschaft: Johann Bernhard Logierâs Writings in Early Nineteenth-Century England,â Third Biennial North American Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, TX (10-13 July)
âWilliam Crotch and the Specimens of Various Styles of Music,â Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain conference, Cardiff University, Cardiff (24-27 June)
âChiroplasts and Musik-Wissenschaft: Johann Bernhard Logierâs Writings in Early Nineteenth-Century England,â Society for Musicology in Ireland, Irish National University, Maynooth (21-23 June)
âWhen Words Create Music: The Deep Listening Pieces of Pauline Oliveros and Spontaneous Art Song,â The Improvising Brain Symposium, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia (6 April 2013)
âWhen Words Create Music: The Deep Listening Pieces of Pauline Oliveros and Spontaneous Art Song,â College Music Society Northeast Meeting, Keene State University, Keene, NH (15-16 March 2013)
2012 âChiroplasts and Musik-Wissenschaft: Johann Bernhard Logierâs Writings in Early Nineteenth-Century England,â North American British Music Studies Association Biennial Meeting, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (28 July)
ââThe Handel of Swedenâ: Arranging the Twelve Flute Sonatas of Johan Helmich Roman,â lecture-recital for the joint meeting of the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music and the Haydn Society of North America (April); paper accepted.
2011 âTrees of Sound and Color: Ruth Crawford and the Five Songs to Poems of Carl Sandburg,â Women and the Nineteenth-Century Lied, Irish National University, Maynooth (9-11 December)
âOpen and Affirming: Music and Inclusiveness in the United Church of Christ,â Congregational Singing: Global and Local Perspectives, Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire (3-4 September)
2005 âDance as Musical Text: Winterguard and Elton Johnâs âCandle in the Windâ,â Third Annual Hawaii International Conference in the Arts and Humanities (12-15 January)
2004 âThe Poetic Structure of Music: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Verse Form, and the Diaphonic Suite for Solo Flute or Oboe,â University of Western Ontario Graduate Symposium in Music, London, Ontario (6 June)
âDance as Musical Text: Winterguard and Elton Johnâs âCandle in the Windâ,â Ethnoise!, University of Chicago (21 May)
âThe Poetic Structure of Music: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Verse Form, and the Diaphonic Suite for Solo Flute or Oboe,â TAGS Day for Postgraduates in Music, Society for Music Analysis, Oxford University, England (8 May)
âThe Poetic Structure of Music: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Verse Form, and the Diaphonic Suite for Solo Flute or Oboe,â McGill University Graduate Student Symposium (13 March)
âThe Poetic Structure of Music: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Verse Form, and the Diaphonic Suite for Solo Flute or Oboe,â University of Toronto Graduate Student Music Symposium (28 February)
2003 âThe Poetic Structure of Music: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Verse Form, and the Diaphonic Suite for Solo Flute or Oboe,â Indiana University Music Theory Colloquium Series (12 November)
2001 âRondo Form in the Third Movement of Ruth Crawford Seegerâs Suite for Wind Quintet (1952)â, Ruth Crawford in Chicago, Elmhurst College, Chicago (9-10 November)
CAMPUS PAPERS AND TALKS
2014 âWhen Words Create Music: The Deep Listening Pieces of Pauline Oliveros and Spontaneous Art Song.â Luther College Faculty Research Symposium
2013 âReflections on Being a Church Musician.â Luther College student church musiciansâ group.
2011 âLessons I Learned During My Student Teaching Semester and First Year.â Future Music Educators of America, Luther College chapter newsletter.
FLUTE PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
2018 Luther College Artist Series Recital: âA Night at the Opera: Fantasies and Variationsâ
2017-present Principal flute, Oneota Valley Community Orchestra, Decorah, IA
2016 Benefit recital to raise money for Re-Member (Oglala Lakota service organization)
2015 Luther College Artist Series Recital: âThe French Connectionâ
2012 Principal flute, New Minowa Players pit orchestra, Pippin
Benefit recital for Decorah First United Methodist Church music program
2011 Recital: âFlute Music of Scandanaviaâ
Flute, New Minowa Players pit orchestra, the Wizard of Oz
2009 Flute, New Minowa Players pit orchestra, Chess
2008 Luther College Faculty Showcase Recital
Guest Artist, Luther College Faculty Artist Series Recital, Carol Hester, flute
2007 Luther College Faculty Showcase Recital
2006 Recital, Indiana University Concert Series
2001 Co-Principal Flute, University of Kentucky pit orchestra, Itâs a Grand Night for Singing
2000 Masterâs Degree recital in flute performance, University of Kentucky
1995 Benefit recital for Owensboro community member Michelle Ayer
1992 Bachelorâs Degree recital, University of Kentucky
1991-1993 Principal Flute, University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra
1988-1991 Co-principal Flute, University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra
1987-present smaller engagements, such as weddings, church services, etc.
COMPOSITIONS AND COMPOSITION ACTIVITIES
2018 Composition Scholar, PREMIERE | Project, sponsored by the Choral Arts Initiative, Newport Beach, CA (15-18 June)
âOh, Freedom,â premiere date TBA by the American Spiritual Ensemble
2017 âWhat Wondrous Love Is This.â Published by Augsburg Fortress Press.
âSometimes I Wonder.â Premiered by the drip project, June.
âHarvest Home.â Premiered by the Decorah First United Methodist Church Choir, November.
âA Child This Day Is Born.â Premiered by the Decorah First United Methodist Church Choir, December.
2016 âThe Garden in Winter.â Premiered by the Hopewell Junior School Vocal Chamber Ensemble, December.
âWhen I Survey the Wondrous Cross.â Published by Augsburg Fortress Press.
2015 âAll the Hemispheres.â Premiered by Chad Sonka, baritone, at the Luther College Music Faculty Showcase, September.
2014 âUpon This Ground.â Premiered by the Hopewell Junior School Vocal Chamber Ensemble, November.
âThis Is My Fatherâs Worldâ. Premiered by the Luther College Collegiate Chorale, May.
A Modern Tenebrae Service. Premiered by the Decorah First United Methodist Church Choir, April.
2012 âAmazing Graceâ. Premiered by the Luther College Cathedral Choir, April.
2011 âTwo Walden Songs.â Premiered by Rachel Ware, soprano, at the Luther College Music Faculty Showcase, September.
2010 âAnd This is Me.â Premiered by Rachel Ware, soprano, at the Luther College Music Faculty Showcase, September.
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