I have been fortunate to teach nearly every type of student, from undergraduate non-majors to PhD and DMA candidates. I feel privileged to teach non-majors, and enjoy discussing music and its cultural significance with all of my students.

 

I see musicology as taking a perspective on music midway between that of music theorists, who generally limit analyses to what lies between the covers of a score, and ethnomusicologists, who generally unpack the cultural work of music. Taking the middle ground, my courses analyze how composers, with their sundry new sounds collected through the twentieth century, express their responses to the artistic, political, religious, and economic pressures of their times.

 

My classes for performers have emphasized the classical repertory. I insist that they acquire a core sense of chronology and genre in the repertory and that they demonstrate strong writing and critical thinking about music. My courses thus often discuss points of music historiography and require research papers and program notes.

 

While interacting with the students in my classes is often inspirational, I especially enjoy meeting with students one-on-one, when I can get to know their interests and help them to craft thoughtful questions and strong answers to the historical issues that music raises. By answering these questions, students learn to see the connections between music and culture and to articulate the significance and resonances of the music that can help them to perform their music with intellectual integrity and emotional conviction.