Teaching Experience
Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
2013 – present: Associate Professor of Composition and Music Theory; Department Chair, 2016-present
2006 – present: Visiting Assistant Professor of Composition and Music Theory
2005-2006: Instructor of Music Theory and Composition
2004-2005: Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition
Private Composition Instruction
Weekly 30-minute individual meetings; students are required to have music performed on a recital scheduled each semester
Beginning Composition
This class meets twice weekly. Students complete various projects including compositional etudes/exercises and larger compositions to be performed in a public concert. The purpose of this course is to study the “basic tools of the trade” involved in the study of musical composition, primarily through the act of composing itself. Five shorter compositional projects and a more substantial final project are assigned.
Twentieth-Century Music Theory
This course investigates the materials and techniques of twentieth and early twenty-first century music, beginning with late 19th-century chromatic harmony and moving in a quasi-chronological fashion up to present times. The primary goal of the course is that students develop an increased appreciation and understanding of the music of this era. This is obtained through analysis, written work, composition, and the acquisition of ear-training, sightsinging, and keyboard skills reflective of musical materials and techniques covered in the course. In both the areas of analysis and development of skills, the course addresses the rhythmic, harmonic, and linear/melodic complexity shared by many contemporary musics flourishing in our culture.
Music Theory I
Music 121 commences with a brief review of the basic elements of music (pitch, intervals, basic rhythmic structures, triads and seventh chords, texture and chordal spacing) before proceeding to functional diatonic harmony and voice leading in the styles of the common practice period, the focus of the course. Areas of emphasis will include partwriting, melody harmonization, and figured bass and in four voices.
Aural Skills I
Music 121 concentrates on the development of skills essential to the practicing musician – interval and chord recognition, sight-singing (using solfège and numbers); musical elements of melody, rhythm, basic harmony; and rudiments of conducting and music notation. The assimilation of material are assessed through quizzes, dictation exams, sightsinging and keyboard hearings.
Counterpoint I (Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint)
This course approaches the study of eighteenth-century counterpoint through analysis based on aural and visual acquaintance with contrapuntal music of the Baroque period as well as through the composition of music involving forms and techniques characteristic of the period, including dance-suite movements, two-part invention, and three-part fugue.
Counterpoint II (Sixteenth- and Twentieth-Century Counterpoint)
This course focuses on modal and non-tonal counterpoint as found in the music of the sixteenth and twentieth centuries with the goal of developing analytical and compositional skills in these techniques. The first unit of the course is a close examination of the ecclesiastical music of Palestrina and his contemporaries, commencing with principles of melodic structure and continuing through two-and three-part writing, with a brief study of four- and five-voiced composition. The second unit of the course is an exploration of polyphony in the twentieth-century. Areas of emphasis include polyphonic practices found in chromatic counterpoint, expanded diatonicism, polytonality, the free use of dissonance, “diatonicized chromaticism,” atonality, serialism, and other individual approaches.
Indiana State University at Terre Haute, IN
2003-2004: Lecturer in Composition and Basic Scoring
Private Composition Instruction
Weekly individual meetings with undergraduate and graduate students; assisted students in preparing works for a divisional recital each semester
Basic Composition
Two meetings each week; students were assigned shorter as well as two more substantial creative assignments; assisted students in preparing works for a divisional recital each semester
Basic Scoring
The course is designed to familiarize the students with the fundamentals of score reading, notation, instrumentation and score nomenclature; study in scoring/arranging and basic orchestration is pursued through the completion of creative projects for a variety of ensembles
Williams College, Williamstown, MA
2002-2003: Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory
Basic Theory and Musicianship (M 103)
Taught three lectures and two eartraining skills labs per week
Course focus: review of the fundamentals of music theory and an introduction of triadic harmony through figured bass realization at the keyboard, composition of harmonic progressions, harmonization of melodies, and extensive eartraining exercises
Stetson University, DeLand, FL
2001: Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Theory
Twentieth Century Music Theory (MC 272)
Taught three sections of second semester sophomore music theory
Course dealt with music of the late 19th century through music of today, focusing on important trends and styles in 20th-century music
Course featured CD-ROM with required listening, and emphasized a thorough exposure to the many styles of the twentieth century
Introduction to Composition (MC 279)
Gave weekly private lessons to 13 private composition students at the introductory and intermediate levels as well as a weekly class exploring a wide variety of compositional techniques in which students were able to have their works performed
Free Composition (MC 375/475)
Gave weekly private lessons to 5 private composition students as well as a weekly class exploring advanced compositional techniques in which students were able to have their works performed
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
1996-1997: Course Coordinator/Associate Instructor, Twentieth Century Materials and Skills
1991-1997: Associate Instructor in Music Theory, Indiana University, Bloomington
Musical Skills IV (T331), 20th-Century Materials and Skills (1996-7)
Course Coordinator/Instructor: Principal instructor; responsible for supervising assistant instructors and for coordinating and organizing drill section activities and lesson plans
Lectured combined drill sections twice weekly
Designed and administered dictation exams
Musical Skills IV (T331), 20th-Century Materials and Skills (1994-6)
Associate Instructor: instructor for two drill sections
Administered keyboard and sightsinging hearings, graded exams
Musical Skills II (T231), 1600-1800 Materials and Skills (1992-3, 1991)
Associate Instructor: instructor for two drill sections
Administered keyboard and sightsinging hearings, graded exams
Musical Skills III (T232), 1800-1900 Materials and Skills (1992)
Associate Instructor: instructor for two drill sections, administered keyboard and sightsinging hearings, graded exams
The Walden School for Composers, Dublin, NH
1996, 1993, 1989: Instructor
Composition
Composition/Improvisation
Beginning Musicianship
Intermediate Musicianship
New Music Notation
Introduction to Jazz
Music of the Twentieth Century
Additional Instruction
Northwest Music Academy, Portland, Oregon
2005-present: Instructor of composition, contemporary music literature, music theory, and saxophone
Multnomah Arts Center
2005-present: Instructor of saxophone
Celebration of New Music, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
2000: Guest Composer/Composition Instructor
Yellow Barn/Putney Summer Composition Intensive, Putney, VT
1999: Guest Composer/Composition Instructor
