Education | Employment | Leadership | Research | Teaching Service | Awards | Affiliations
Education
- Ph.D. in Music Theory, 2009
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
- Major Professor: Matthew Shaftel
- Dissertation title: “An Analytical Model for the Study of Multimedia Compositions: A Case Study in Minimalist Music”
- M.M. in Music Theory, 2006
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
- B.M. in Music Theory and Trombone Performance, 2004
- Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina
- Major Theory/Composition Professor: Mark Kilstofte
- Major Trombone Professor: Mark Britt
Academic Employment
- University of Montevallo
- Dean, College of Fine Arts, 2025-present
- Professor of Music, 2025-present
- Texas Christian University
- Director, School of Music, 2021-2024
- Associate Professor of Music, 2020-2024
- Assistant Professor of Music, 2014–2020
- University of Texas, Arlington
- Assistant Professor of Music Theory, 2009–2014
Academic Leadership
- Dean, College of Fine Arts, University of Montevallo, 2025-present
- Director, School of Music, TCU, 2021-2024
- Chair-elect, Chair, and Past Chair, Faculty Senate, TCU, 2019–2023
- Co-Chair, University Budget Advisory Committee, TCU, 2019–2020
- Chair, Faculty Senate Academic Excellence Committee, TCU, 2018–2019
- Co-Chair, School of Music Committee on the BA Degree in Music, TCU, 2017
Research Activities
Monograph
- Music Theory: The Foundation of Great Music, The Great Courses (Chantilly: The Teaching Company, 2021).
Invited Publications
- “Introduction,” in The Psychology of Final Fantasy: Surpassing the Limit Break, ed. Anthony Bean, (Fort Worth: Leyline Publishing, 2020).
- “What is Music Theory, and Why Does it Matter?” Blog post for Astraios Chamber Music, January 2020.
- “Problems and (Some) Solutions in Creating Student-Centered Learning.” Insights Magazine, Fall 2015.
Articles/Book Chapters
- “Embracing the Culture of Our Community: The Story of Mariachi Sangre Royal de TCU.” In Race & Reconciliation: The First Five Years, eds. Karen Steele and Amiso George. TCU Press (expected 2025).
- “Crossing the Ludo-Cinematic Continuum: Music-Theoretical Approaches to Video Game Music,” in Oxford Handbook of Video Game Music and Sound, eds. Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard and William Gibbons, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024).
- “Those Tunes Really Hold the Game Together: Thematic Families in Final Fantasy IX,” in The Music of Nobuo Uematsu in the Final Fantasy Series, ed. Richard Anatone, (Bristol: Intellect, 2022).
- “Tonality in Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas.” Music Theory and Analysis, Volume 6, Number 2, Fall 2019.
- “Creating Dynamic Media Examples: a Brief Tutorial.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, Volume 33, 2019.
- “Soaring Through the Sky: Topics and Tropes in Video Game Music,” Music Theory Online, 25.2.
- “The Musical Narrative of JRPGs: ‘Melodies of Life’ in Final Fantasy IX,“ First Person Scholar, January 2019.
- “Deceptive Love and Denied Endings: Tropes in the Music of Billy Joel.” Popular Music, Volume 37, Number 3, 2018.
- “Aspects of Otherness in John Adams’s Nixon in China.” Dutch Journal of Music Theory, Volume 18, Number 3, 2013.
- “Musical, Textual, and Visual Meanings in Bang on a Can’s Lost Objects.” Indiana Theory Review, Volume 30, Number 2, 2013.
- “Integrating Domains: The Role of the Visual in Multimedia Analysis.” College Music Symposium, Volume 54.
- “The ever more specialized topic: How do we know what it means?” Proceedings of the International Conference on Music Semiotics in Memory of Raymond Monelle.
- “Canons, Augmentations, and Their Meaning in Two Works by Steve Reich.” Music Theory Online 17.1.
- “Focus of Attention to Melody or Harmony and Perception of Musical Tension: An Exploratory Study.” Co-authored with Lindsey R. Williams and William E. Frederickson. International Journal of Music Education, Volume 29, Number 1.
Selected National and International Conferences (peer-reviewed)
- “Tropes and Narrative Foreshadowing in Final Fantasy IV.”
- Music and the Moving Image XIII, May 2018, New York City, New York.
- North American Conference on Video Game Music, January 2018, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
- “Musical Tropes as Narrative in Video Games.” Semiotic Society of America National Conference, October 2017, Puebla, Mexico.
- “Deceptive Love: The Impact of Deceptive Motion in Billy Joel’s ‘She’s Got a Way’ and ‘She’s Always a Woman.'” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”: The Music and Lyrics of Billy Joel, A Public Musicology Conference, October 2016, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- “Topics in Video Game Music: The Sky in Recent Nintendo Franchise Games.”
- North American Conference on Video Game Music, January 2016, Davidson, North Carolina.
- Lightning Presentation (6 minutes) at the Film and Multimedia Interest Group Meeting at the Society for Music Theory, October 2015, St. Louis, Missouri.
- “Without Text: Meaning in Einstein on the Beach from the sonic and visual domain.” Semiotic Society of America National Conference, October 2015, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- “Without narrative: Meaning in Einstein on the Beach from the sonic and visual domains.” International Conference on the Multimodal Experience of Music, March 2015, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
- “Steve Reich’s Phase Music Reconsidered,” Society for Music Theory, November 2014, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- “The ever more specialized topic: How do we know what it means?” International Conference on Music Semiotics in Memory of Raymond Monelle, October 2012, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
- “Can minimalist music convey meaning?” Semiotic Society of America National Conference, October 2010, Louisville, Kentucky.
- “Meaning in minimalist opera: Investigating the subtext of Doctor Atomic.” Second International Conference on Minimalist Music, September 2009, Kansas City, Missouri.
- “Music, politics, and image in Adams’s Nixon in China.” Second International Conference for Ph.D. Music Students, February 2009, Thessaloniki, Greece.
- “A semiological model for the study of musical multimedia.” Semiotic Society of America National Conference, October 2008, Houston, Texas.
- “Dr. Trombone: The development of a computerized musical training aid.” Association for Technology in Music Instruction National Conference, November 2005, Québec City, Canada.
Selected Regional Conferences (peer-reviewed)
- “Billy Joel and the Cinematic American West.” Texas Society for Music Theory, February 2020.
- “Flipped Classroom Strategies for Music Theory Instruction.” Special Pedagogy Presentation at the Texas Society for Music Theory, February 2016.
- “Steve Reich’s Phase Music Reconsidered.” Texas Society for Music Theory, March 2014, San Antonio, Texas.
- “Building Bridges: Music Theory from High School to College.” Panel Session sponsored by the Texas Society for Music Theory, presented at the Texas Music Educators Association, February 2014, San Antonio, Texas.
- “Of Cycles and Loss: How an Interval Cycle Effects Meaning in Bang on a Can’s Lost Objects.” Texas Society for Music Theory, March 2013, Denton, Texas.
- “Representations of the ‘Other’ in Adams’s Nixon in China.”
- Music Theory Southeast, March 2012, Atlanta, Georgia.
- South Central Society of Music Theory, February 2012, Lafayette, Louisiana.
- “Augmented canons and eternal time in the music of Steve Reich.”
- Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, March 2010, University Park, Pennsylvania.
- Music Theory Southeast, March 2010, Rock Hill, South Carolina.
- “Can you repeat after me? The use of double-interval cycles in Lost Objects.” Music Theory Southeast, March 2008, Greensboro, North Carolina.
- “Process and intuition: Narration in Three Tales by Steve Reich.”
- Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Music Theory and Musicology Society Student Conference, February 2007, Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Florida State University Music Theory Forum, January 2007, Tallahassee, Florida.
- “Transitions in a collage: Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.” Florida State University Music Theory Forum, January 2006, Tallahassee, Florida.
Invited Lectures
- Video Game Music Pre-Concert Talk. Mesquite Symphony Orchestra, April 2024, Mesquite, Texas
- “Video Game Music.” Composition Seminar at Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, April 2024, Dallas, Texas
- “Topics and Tropes in Video Game Music.” Music Theory Forum at The University of Texas, Austin. March 27, 2019.
- Panelist, Dallas Museum of Art “Second Thursdays With a Twist.” Evening theme: The Beatles. August 9, 2018.
- “An Individualized Approach to Flipped Classroom Instruction.” Koehler Center (TCU) Teaching and Learning Conversation. April 2015, Fort Worth, Texas.
- “An Introduction to Research in the Field of Music Theory.” University of Texas, Arlington. Guest lecturer in MUSI 5362: Intro to Research in Music. October 2014, Arlington, Texas.
- “Disco and Minimalism: Time…and More Time…and More Time…” Furman University, Composition Seminar, December 2013, Greenville, South Carolina.
- “Using Technology in the Music Classroom.” Florida State University, Program for Instructional Excellence, October 2007, Tallahassee, Florida.
Research Grants
- TCU Research and Creative Activities Grant, 2024-25
- TCU AddRan College of Liberal Arts Grant Submission Incentive Grant, 2018
- TCU College of Fine Arts Creativity, Innovation, and Interdisciplinarity in Learning Grant, 2018
- TCU College of Fine Arts Microgrant for New Technologies, 2018
Teaching Activities
Courses Taught (or are currently teaching)
- Core Undergraduate Music Theory and Ear-Training Sequence (4 semesters)
- Form and Analysis
- Linear Analysis
- Honors College: Society through Multimedia
- Graduate: Music Analysis 1880-1950
- Graduate Theory Seminar: Music and Meaning
- Graduate Theory Seminar: The Music of Billy Joel
Teaching Grants
- TCU Instructional Development Grant, 2020-2021
- “Symposium on the Music of Billy Joel”
- TCU Instructional Development Grant, 2019-2020
- “How Video Games Reflect and Impact the Real World”
- TCU Honors College Mini-Grant for Instructional Development, 2017
- Film screening at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art.
- TCU Honors College Colloquium Development Grant, 2015
- Led to the course Society through Multimedia, taught in the Honors College.
- College Board Travel Grant, 2014
- Supported travel to present “Building Bridges: Music Theory from High School to College” at several regional conferences.
University Service (TCU)
- TCU Faculty Senate, 2016-2022
- Chair-elect, Chair, and Past Chair, 2019-2022
- Chair, Academic Excellence Committee, 2018-2019
- Honors College Curriculum Committee, 2018-2019
- TCU Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, 2015-2018
- Graduate Thesis/Treatise Director
- John Cope, DMA Music Theory Treatise, (2023) “Boss Battle Music in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”
- Reed Mullican, MM Music Theory Thesis, (2022-2023) “Chromatic Block Analysis: A Practical Approach to Atonal Harmony and Counterpoint for the Undergraduate Classroom and Beyond”
- Tori Vilches, MM Music Theory Thesis, (2021-2022) “Exploring the Hidden Curriculum: Diversifying Gender Representation in Music Theory Pedagogy”
- Jacy Pederson, MM Music Theory Thesis, (2018–2019) “A Theory of Closure in the Works of Sergei Prokofiev”
Professional Service
- Editorial Board, SMT-V: The Society for Music Theory Videocast Journal, 2024-2027
- Session Chair, Texas Society for Music Theory, Arlington, Texas, 2024
- Nominating Committee, Texas Society for Music Theory, 2020
- Chair, Archives Committee, Society for Music Theory, 2018-2021
- Chair, Colvin Award (Best Student Paper), Texas Society for Music Theory, San Marcos, Texas, 2019
- Session Chair, Texas Society for Music Theory, Houston, Texas, 2017
- Session Chair, Texas Society for Music Theory, El Paso, Texas, 2015
- Nominating Committee, Texas Society of Music Theory, 2014–2015
- Editorial Committee for Engaging Students 2, 2014
- Editorial Committee for Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy, 2013
- Advisory Board for Mosiac: A Journal of Music Research, 2011–2016
- Networking/IT Committee, Society for Music Theory, 2011–2017
- Webmaster for the Society, 2013–2014
- Chair of the Committee, 2014–2017
- Executive Board, Texas Society for Music Theory, 2011–2014
- Program Committee, Texas Society for Music Theory, 2010
- Editorial Assistant for Music Theory Online, 2008–2012
- Professional Development Committee, Society for Music Theory, 2007–2010
- Co-Chair for the Music Theory Society Forum, Florida State University, 2007–2008
- President of the Music Theory Society, Florida State University, 2006–2007
- Secretary of the Music Theory Society, Florida State University, 2005–2006
- Session Chair for the Music Theory Society Forum, Florida State University, 2005
Honors and Awards
- Wassenich Award for Mentoring in the TCU Community Nomination, September 2019
- Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award Nomination, Florida State University, April, 2006
- Induction into Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Chapter, Florida State University, April 2006
Sean Atkinson 