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Education
Ph.D. in Music Theory, 2009
M.M. in Music Theory, 2006
B.M. in Music Theory and Trombone Performance, 2004
Academic Employment
Associate Professor of Music, 2020-present
Assistant Professor of Music, 2014–2020
Assistant Professor of Music Theory, 2009–2014
Academic Leadership @ TCU
Chair-elect, Faculty Senate , 2019–2020
Co-Chair, University Budget Advisory Committee, 2019–2020
Chair, Faculty Senate Academic Excellence Committee, 2018–2019
Co-Chair, School of Music Committee on the BA Degree in Music, 2017
Research Activities
Published Articles
“Tonality in Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas.” Music Theory and Analysis “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 “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 “Problems and (Some) Solutions in Creating Student-Centered Learning.” Insights Magazine
“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 .”
“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.”
“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.”
“Augmented canons and eternal time in the music of Steve Reich.”
“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.”
“Transitions in a collage: Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.” Florida State University Music Theory Forum , January 2006, Tallahassee, Florida.
Invited Lectures
“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 AddRan College of Liberal Arts Grant Submission Incentive Grant ($5000), 2018
TCU College of Fine Arts Creativity, Innovation, and Interdisciplinarity in Learning Grant ($2500), 2018
TCU College of Fine Arts Microgrant for New Technologies ($1500), 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 ($2048), 2020-2021
“Symposium on the Music of Billy Joel”
TCU Instructional Development Grant ($3600), 2019-2020
“How Video Games Reflect and Impact the Real World”
TCU Honors College Mini-Grant for Instructional Development ($100), 2017
Film screening at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art.
TCU Honors College Colloquium Development Grant ($1000), 2015
Led to the course Society through Multimedia, taught in the Honors College.
College Board Travel Grant ($425), 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-present
Chair-elect, 2019-2020
Chair, Academic Excellence Committee, 2018-2019
Honors College Curriculum Committee, 2018-2019
TCU Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, 2015-2018
Graduate Committees
MM, Music Theory, directing (Jacy Pedersen )
MM, Musicology (Elizabeth Kirkendoll)
DMA, Piano Performance (You You Zhang)
Professional Service
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
Editorial Committee for Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy
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
Professional Affiliations
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