Professional Development

Career Goals

My primary career goal is to maintain the highest standards of teaching, research and service as a member of a college music faculty. In addition, I would also like to have a productive creative career as a composer, continue to promote new music, and to make a positive impact on the social and cultural life of my community. My teaching interests are in Music Theory, Composition, Electronic Music, Music Literature and Music Appreciation.

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Music Theory Teaching and Research

I have a varied and successful record of teaching experience, both at Sam Houston State and other universities. Last semester, I taught a graduate seminar, Song Cycles of Schubert and Schumann, which was very well received. This course focused on developing analytical skills, text setting issues, and the relationship between performance and analysis. In my counterpoint class, students composed canons for voice, binary dance suite movements and two-part inventions, which were performed during in-class concerts using computer playback. In addition to my upper division and graduate teaching, I have, in consultation with other faculty members, worked to standardize and improve the lower division theory curriculum.

I have a significant record of accomplishment in music theory research which includes a number of papers presented at professional conferences and my dissertation research project, “Text and Structure in Schoenberg’s Op. 50”, an in-depth analysis of Schoenberg’s final three works. This study focuses on the relationship between serial structure and text setting in each piece and, through an examination of Schoenberg’s sketches and other sources, attempts to provide insights into Schoenberg’s compositional process. The analytical findings of this study are then viewed in relation to the large body of scholarship on Schoenberg’s religious compositions in order to provide an accurate historical perspective. I am preparing to submit a journal article for publication based on this research. My other research interests include the lieder of Schubert and Schumann, text/music relationships, performance/analysis issues, and computer assisted instruction.

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Composition

I have built up a steady record of success as a composer and have had my music performed at a number of conferences and festivals. The composition portion of my dissertation is a symphony (which draws its spiritual inspiration from the music of Gustav Mahler) scored for orchestra with a vocal soloist in the final movement. In addition to teaching studio and class composition, I currently serve as co-director of the Annual Festival of Contemporary Music at Sam Houston State University.

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Music Technology/Electronic Music

During the last four years, I have made numerous additions to the music technology curriculum at Sam Houston State. I designed and configured the current Electronic Music Studio and have developed an electronic music class that is taught every spring. This semester, my electronic music class will score short videos created by SHSU professor Michael Henderson’s computer animation class and write music for the Art department animation festival. I have also integrated technology into other aspects of music instruction. I developed the current music theory CAI curriculum and oversaw the installation of a new electronic classroom/computer lab. Currently, all lower-division theory and musicianship classes use the electronic classroom on a rotating schedule. Additionally, I have given guest lectures on music technology in music therapy and orchestration classes. My previous experience in this area includes teaching a Computer Literacy for Musicians course at Arizona State University.

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Career Goals
	My primary career goal is to maintain the highest standards of teaching, research and service as a member of a college music faculty. In addition, I would also like to have a productive creative career as a composer, continue to promote new music, and to make a positive impact on the social and cultural life of my community. My teaching interests are in Music Theory, Composition, Electronic Music, Music Literature and Music Appreciation.

Music Theory Teaching and Research
	I have a varied and successful record of teaching experience, both at Sam Houston State and other universities. Last semester, I taught a graduate seminar, Song Cycles of Schubert and Schumann, which was very well received. This course focused on developing analytical skills, text setting issues, and the relationship between performance and analysis. In my counterpoint class, students composed canons for voice, binary dance suite movements and two-part inventions, which were performed during in-class concerts using computer playback. In addition to my upper division and graduate teaching, I have, in consultation with other faculty members, worked to standardize and improve the lower division theory curriculum.
	I have a significant record of accomplishment in music theory research which includes a number of papers presented at professional conferences and my dissertation research project, “Text and Structure in Schoenberg’s Op. 50”, an in-depth analysis of Schoenberg’s final three works. This study focuses on the relationship between serial structure and text setting in each piece and, through an examination of Schoenberg’s sketches and other sources, attempts to provide insights into Schoenberg’s compositional process. The analytical findings of this study are then viewed in relation to the large body of scholarship on Schoenberg’s religious compositions in order to provide an accurate historical perspective. I am preparing to submit a journal article for publication based on this research. My other research interests include the lieder of Schubert and Schumann, text/music relationships, performance/analysis issues, and computer assisted instruction.

Composition
	I have built up a steady record of success as a composer and have had my music performed at a number of conferences and festivals. The composition portion of my dissertation is a symphony (which draws its spiritual inspiration from the music of Gustav Mahler) scored for orchestra with a vocal soloist in the final movement. In addition to teaching studio and class composition, I currently serve as co-director of the Annual Festival of Contemporary Music at Sam Houston State University.

Music Technology/Electronic Music
	During the last four years, I have made numerous additions to the music technology curriculum at Sam Houston State. I designed and configured the current Electronic Music Studio and have developed an electronic music class that is taught every spring. This semester, my electronic music class will score short videos created by SHSU professor Michael Henderson’s computer animation class and write music for the Art department animation festival. I have also integrated technology into other aspects of music instruction. I developed the current music theory CAI curriculum and oversaw the installation of a new electronic classroom/computer lab. Currently, all lower-division theory and musicianship classes use the electronic classroom on a rotating schedule. Additionally, I have given guest lectures on music technology in music therapy and orchestration classes. My previous experience in this area includes teaching a Computer Literacy for Musicians course at Arizona State University.