Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music Theory and Composition
University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music

Born in Ibiza (Spain) in 1953

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Music Theory with high distinction, Indiana University, 1990
Dissertation: "Compositional Theory and Practice in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Castilian Instrumental Music: The Arte de tañer fantasía by Tomás de Santa María and the Music of Antonio de Cabezón"
Minors: Composition, Music History and Literature

Título de Profesor Superior de Armonía, Contrapunto, Composición e Instrumentaciín, Royal Superior Conservatory of Music, Madrid, 1988 (highest conservatory diploma issued in Spain)

M.M. in composition with high distinction, Indiana University, 1985 (Teacher: Juan Orrego-Salas)

Título Profesional de Piano, Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Baleares (Majorca), 1982 (equivalent to American B.M.)

Private study of composition in Madrid with Spanish composer Miguel A. Coria, 1976-81

Languages spoken fluently: English, Spanish, French, Catalan
Languages read: Italian

AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS

First Prize, National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales, 1981, for Five Pieces for Orchestra

Second Prize, UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, Paris, 1982, for Five Pieces for Orchestra (prize carried broadcast of work in 24 countries)

Grant, U.S.-Spain Joint Committee for Cultural and Educational Affairs, for graduate studies in composition at Indiana University, 1983-84

Nomination for Grawemeyer Music Award, 1985, by Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra

Two grants, Spanish Ministry of Culture, for doctoral studies at Indiana University, 1985-86 and 1986-87

Winner of 1987 Student Paper Competition, Indiana Musicologists Association
Paper: Bass Emancipation in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: The Arte de tañer fantasía by Tomás de Santa María

Dissertation Year Fellowship, Indiana University, 1988-89

Grant-in Aid for research in Spain, Indiana University, summer 1988

Dean's Dissertation Prize, Indiana University School of Music, 1991

Ithaca College Summer Research Grant, 1991
Research project: "Analysis of mode and structure in the motets of Nicolas Gombert"

Dana Research Fellow Award, Ithaca College, 1992

Summer Grant for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, NIU, 1993
Project: "A Complete Rewriting of the Undergraduate Core Music-Theory Curriculum"

Graduate School Summer Research Grant, NIU, 1993
Research Project: "Net-Structures, Symmetry, and Constant Transformation: Compositional Techniques in the Music of György Ligeti"

Graduate School Summer Research Grant, NIU, 1995
Research Project: "Defining Pitch Extension in Post-Tonal Music"

Medal of Honor, Conservatorio Superior de Música de las Islas Baleares, 2004

A.B. "Dolly" Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Cincinnati, 2007

George Rieveschl Jr. Award for Creative and/or Scholarly Work, University of Cincinnati, 2009

Ramón Llull Prize, Government of the Balearic Islands (Spain), 2010

University Research Council Faculty Summer Grant, University of Cincinnati, 2012
Research Project: “A Study of Tonal Structure in the Masses of Tomás Luis de Victoria”

Distinguished Teaching Professor Award, University of Cincinnati, 2013

Gold Medal of the Island of Ibiza, Spain, 2014

AHSS Third Century Fellowship for Research/Creative Academic Leave, University of Cincinnati, Fall semester 2016

American Prize in Composition (Band/Wind Ensemble Division) for Perseus, for Symphonic Band, 2016

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2000- : Professor, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
1996-2000 : Associate Professor, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
Summer 1994: Visiting Assistant Professor, Indiana University
1992-96: Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University
1990-92 : Assistant Professor, Music Theory, Ithaca College
1989-90: Lecturer in Music, Indiana University, Junior 20th-century Analysis
1987-88: Course Coordinator, Indiana University
1985-87: Associate Instructor, Indiana University

PUBLICATIONS

Textbooks

Harmony in Context, 3rd edn., McGraw-Hill, 2020

Harmony in Context, 2nd edn., McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Understanding Post-Tonal Music, 2nd edn., Routledge, 2021.

Understanding Post-Tonal Music, McGraw-Hill, 2007. Chinese translation, Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 2012.

Anthology of Post-Tonal Music, 2nd edn., Routledge, 2021.

Anthology of Post-Tonal Music, McGraw-Hill, 2007. Chinese translation, Beijing: People's Music Publishing House, 2012.

Articles and Reviews

"From Renaissance to Baroque: Tonal Structures in Tomás Luis de Victoria's Masses." Music Theory Spectrum 40/1 (2018): 27-51.

"A Pedagogical and Psychological Challenge: Teaching Post-Tonal Music to Twenty-First-Century Students." Indiana Theory Review 33 (2017): 36-68.

"A Pedagogical and Psychological Challenge: Teaching Post-Tonal Music to Twenty-First-Century Students." Portuguese translation by Alex Pochat. Teoria e Análise Musical em Perspectiva Didáctica. Salvador (Brazil): UFBA, 2017, pp. 19-46.

"Approaching the Analysis of Post-1945 Music: Pedagogical Considerations."  Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia 3/1 (2016): 57-78.

"Los tientos 68, 65 y 67 de Obras de música: Estudio analítico de tres obras maestras de Cabezón." Anuario Musical 69 (2014): 61-72.

"Tonal Structures in the Magnificats, Psalms, and Motets by Tomás Luis de Victoria." In Estudios. Tomás Luis de Victoria. Studies. Ed. Javier Suárez-Pajares and Manuel del Sol. Madrid: ICCMU, 2013, pp. 145-162.

"Some Basic Principles of Good Teaching."Music Theory Pedagogy Online, 2013

"Semblanzas de Compositores Españoles: Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566)," Revista de la Fundación Juan March, Madrid, April 2010 (a commissioned article).

"Procesos compositivos y estructura musical: Teoría y práctica en Antonio de Cabezón y Tomás de Santa María." In Políticas y prácticas musicales en el mundo de Felipe II (Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 2004), pp. 393-414.

"A Theory of Pitch-Class-Set Extension in Atonal Music," College Music Symposium 41 (Fall 2001): 57-90.

"Santa María, Tomás de." New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 7th ed.

Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana (Dictionary of Spanish and Latin-American Music). Articles on "Tañer a consonancias" ("Playing in consonances") and "Tañer fantasía" ("Playing fantasía").

"Paradigms and Contrast in Sixteenth-Century Modal Structure: Commixture in the tientos of Antonio de Cabezón." Journal of Musicological Research 19 (2000): 1-47.

Review of the Italian book Canone infinito (540 pp.), by Loris Azzaroni. Analisi: Rivista di teoria e pedagogia musicale 30 (1999): 24-31.

"Dos tientos de Cabezón basados en tonos del Magnificat." Revista de Musicología 21 (1998): 1-19.

"Teoría, análisis, crítica: Reflexiones en torno a ciertas lagunas en la musicología española." Revista de Musicología 18 (1995): 11-25.

"Harmonic and Formal Processes in Ligeti's Net-Structure Compositions." Music Theory Spectrum 17/2 (Fall 1995): 242-67.

Review of Historical Organ Techniques and Repertoires: An Historical Survey of Organ Performance Practices and Repertoires. Vol. 1: Spain, 1550-1830. MLA Notes (September 1995): 297-99.

"Playing in Consonances: A Spanish Renaissance Technique of Chordal Improvisation." Early Music (August 1995): 93-103.

"Modal Paradigms in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Composition: Theory and Practice in Antonio de Cabezón and Tomás de Santa María." Journal of Music Theory 38/2 (Fall 1994): 247-89.

Review of Apparitions and Macabre Collage, by György Ligeti. MLA Notes 51/1 (September 1994): 421-23.

"En torno a la figura y la obra de Tomás de Santa María: Aclaraciones, evaluaciones, y relación con la música de Cabezón." Revista de Musicología (Madrid) 15/1 (Spring 1992): 55-85.

"Bass Emancipation in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: The Arte de tañer fantasía by Tomás de Santa María." Indiana Theory Review 9 (Fall 1988): 77-97.

PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

"A Pedagogical and Psychological Challenge: Teaching Post-Tonal Music toTwenty-First-Century Students."  Keynote Address at the II Congress of TeMA, the Brazilian Society for Music Theory and Analysis, Florianopolis, Brazil, May 3, 2017.

Two Workshops on "The Pedagogy of Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis." II Congress of TeMA, the Brazilian Society for Music Theory and Analysis, Florianopolis, Brazil, May 3 and 4, 2017.

"Addressing the Challenges of Teaching Music Theory in the Twenty-First Century." Round table presentation, II Congress of TeMA, the Brazilian Society for Music Theory and Analysis, Florianopolis, Brazil, May 5, 2017.

"From Renaissance to Baroque: Tonal Structures in the Masses of Tomás Luis de Victoria." Invited Lecture, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, March 26, 2014.

Invited presentations at the EAFIT University Music Department, Medellín, Colombia, October 10-12, 2013:
"The Modern Composer and the Past" (lecture)
Teaching Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis in the United States" (workshop)
Composition masterclass

Four invited presentations at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, China, April 10-14, 2013:
"The Modern Composer and the Past" (lecture)
"The Linear Approach to Teaching Tonal Harmony and Form" (lecture)
"Teaching Tonal and Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis in the United States" (lecture)
"Teaching Tonal and Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis in the United States" (masterclass)

"Estructuras tonales en los Magnificats, salmos y motetes de Tomás Luis de Victoria." Invited keynote presentation, Tomás Luis de Victoria Symposium, CCM, University of Cincinnati, Feb. 23, 2013.

The Modern Composer and the Past."
Invited presentation, University of South Dakota, Sept. 27, 2012
Invited presentation, Dordt College, IA, Sept. 28, 2012

"Estructuras tonales en los Magnificats, salmos y motetes de Tomás Luis de Victoria." Invited presentation, Congreso Internacional Tomás Luis de Victoria, León, Spain, November 10, 2011.

Two invited lectures, University of Iowa School of Music, April 3, 2009:
(1) "Revisiting the Emic/Etic Controversy in Analysis of Early Music, or, What is Analysis, and What is Not"
(2) "Teaching Analysis of Post-1945 Music: Problems and Issues"

Invited lecture at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Ibiza, Spain, December 14, 2008: "Presente y Futuro de las Profesiones Musicales."

Invited lecture at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Ibiza, Spain, April 26, 2007: "El mosaico de las estéticas musicales del siglo XX: Modernismo, postmodernismo, y el diálogo con el pasado."

Program Committee member, Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, 2006.

Chair, session on Medieval and Renaissance Music, Music Theory Midwest Annual Conference, Ball State University (Muncie, IN), 12-13 May 2006.

Invited two-day composition workshop at Conservatorio Superior de Música de las Islas Baleares, Mallorca, Spain, 10-11 April 2006.

"Principles and Pedagogies: Organizing the Large Theory Lecture." Invited presentation for session on Teaching Large Theory Lectures at the CMS Annual Conference, San Francisco (2004).

Invited to become a permanent member of a team of scholars on Spanish and French music organized and sponsored by the Musicology Department at the Sorbonne University in Paris (2001).

"Submitting Articles to Journals: An Author's Perspective." Invited paper, presented at a special session on the process of publishing articles, organized by the SMT Committee on Professional Development. Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting, Chapel Hill, Dec. 5, 1998.

Invited by the Universidad Complutense of Madrid to teach and present his work at a one-week summer course on "The Musical World of Philip II," commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Spanish monarch's death. July 6-14, 1998, Monastery of El Escorial. Attended by 50 students from all over Spain, and 16th-century scholars from Australia, England, Hong-Kong, France, Spain, and the U.S.A. Duties included two presentations:
"Theory and Practice in Antonio de Cabezón and Tomás de Santa María"
"Composition and Improvisation in 16th-Century Instrumental Music"

Chair, session on "Post-War Music." Society for Music Theory National Meeting, Phoenix, Oct. 31, 1997.

Contributions to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Manuel de Falla festival, May, 1997:
Artistic Advisor for festival
Lecture at the Art Institute of Chicago: "Falla, Picasso, Massine: The Making of a 20th-Century Masterpiece"
"Spanish Folkloric Traditions: Exploring the Roots of Falla's Music," Pre-Concert Lecture for an all-Falla CSO subscription concert with Daniel Barenboim (conductor) and Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano).

Organizer of a special session on the topic "Long-Range Pitch Coherence in Atonal Music: Methods and Issues," Society for Music Theory National Conference, Baton Rouge, Nov. 1, 1996. Participants included James Baker, Fred Lerdahl, Joel Lester, Catherine Nolan, Miguel Roig-Francolí, and Peter Westergaard.

"Beyond Prolongation: A Theory of Pitch Extension in Atonal Music." Society for Music Theory National Conference, Baton Rouge, Nov. 1, 1996.

“Unveiling a Well-Kept Secret: Highlights of Spanish Music.” Lecture presented at a joint seminar of the Women's Association of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Women's Board of The Art Institute of Chicago (Música y Arte: Sounds and Colors of Spain), Orchestra Hall, March 14, 1996.

"Net-Structures, Symmetry, and Harmonic Transformation in the Music of György Ligeti" Society for Music Theory National Conference, Montréal, Nov. 5, 1993

"Net-Structures, Intervallic Constellations, and Symmetrical Designs in Ligeti's Ramifications" Music Theory Midwest Fourth Annual Conference, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 16, 1993

"Modal Ambiguity and Commixture in the tientos of Antonio de Cabezón" Society for Music Theory National Conference, Cincinnati, October 31, 1991

"Compositional Paradigms in Sixteenth-Century Instrumental Music: Modal and Formal Structure in the tientos of Antonio de Cabeón" American Musicological Society Annual Meeting, Oakland, California, November 10, 1990
Cornell University Music Colloquia, March 25, 1991

"Modal Structure in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: Theory and Practice in Antonio de Cabezón and Tomás de Santa María"
College Music Society--Great Lakes Chapter, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, March 31, 1990
Sixth Symposium of Research in Music Theory, Indiana University, Bloomington, April 6, 1990
Music Theory Midwest Inaugural Conference, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, May 18, 1990

"Bass Emancipation in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: The Arte de tañer fantasía by Tomás de Santa María."
Indiana Musicologists Association, Butler University, Indianapolis, April 24, 1987
Fifth Symposium of Research in Music Theory, Indiana University, Bloomington, April 8, 1988
College Music Society, Great Plains Chapter 1988 Annual Meeting, University of Iowa, Iowa City, April 30, 1988

"Sacred Time in Traditional Musics" International Society for the Study of Time, Colloquium on "Time and Rhythm in Music," Indiana University, Bloomington, April 18, 1987

COMPOSITIONS, RECORDINGS, COMMISSIONS

Espejismos, for chamber ensemble, 1977. Madrid: Editorial de Música Española Contemporánea.
Suite apócrifa, for piano, 1978. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Quasi variazioni, for four female voices and instrumental ensemble, 1979. Madrid: Fundación Juan March.
Concierto en Do, for chamber ensemble. 1979. Madrid: Fundación Juan March.
Rondo, op. 5, for chorus and orchestra, 1980.
Five Pieces for Orchestra. 1980. Madrid: Editorial de Música Española Contemporánea.
Conductus, for orchestra, 1981.
Cantata on Dante's Vita nuova, for baritone, chorus, and orchestra, 1983.
Partita, for eight instruments, 1983. Madrid: Editorial de Música Española Contemporánea.
Concerto grosso, for orchestra, 1984.
Sonata, for cello and piano, 1984. Valencia: Editorial Piles.
Tres cantigas d'amigo, for soprano and percussion quintet, 1985.
Diferencias y Fugas, for string quartet, 1987. Madrid: Fundación Juan March. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Easter Toccata, for organ, 2004. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Dona eis requiem (In memory of the innocent victims of war and terror), for chamber orchestra and chamber chorus, 2005. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Antiphon and Psalms for the Victims of Genocide, for chamber orchestra and optional chamber chorus, 2005. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Canticles for a Sacred Earth, for chamber ensemble, 2006. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Canticles for a Sacred Earth, for orchestra, 2006-07. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Missa pro pace, for mixed chorus and strings, 2007. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Improvisations for Jennifer, nos. 1, 2, and 3, for violin solo, 2007. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Five Gothic Miniatures, for chorus a cappella, 2009. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Songs of the Infinite, for violin and piano, 2010. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Missa pro pace, for mixed chorus and organ, 2010. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Songs of the Infinite, for violin and orchestra, 2010. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Orion (Three Astral Poems, no. 1), for orchestra, 2011. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Songs of Light and Darkness, for piano trio, 2011. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Cinco canciones con los ojos cerrados, for soprano and piano, 2011. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Desconhort, for tenor and string quartet, 2012. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Andromeda (Three Astral Poems, no. 2), for orchestra, 2012. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Perseus (Three Astral Poems, no. 3), for orchestra, 2014. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Three Astral Poems, for orchestra, 2011-14. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Un piccolo concerto grosso, for three solo violins and youth string ensemble, 2014. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Chaconne: Of Loss and Hope, for string orchestra, 2014. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Perseus, for symphonic band, 2014. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Six Preludes after Chopin, for piano, 2015. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
A Tale of Madness, for chamber wind ensemble, 2016. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Sinfonía, "De Profundis," for orchestra, 2016. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
A Tale of Madness, for symphonic band, 2017. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.
Dos cançons populars eivissenques (Two Ibiza Folk Songs) ("Sa serena cau menuda" and "Jo tenc una enamorada"), for children's choir and piano, 2019. Cincinnati: Perennis Music Publishing.

Recordings

Songs of Light and Darkness.Rawlins Piano Trio. Azica ACD-71282.
Easter Toccata. Arnau Reynes, organ. Compact disc by Priory Records, PRCD 1014, 2011.
Diferencias y Fugas. Cassette tape by Fundación Juan March, Madrid, 1988
Concierto en Do. Cassette tape by Fundación Juan March, Madrid, 1982
Espejismos. Record by Movieplay-ACSE, Madrid, 1980
Various works recorded and regularly broadcast by the Spanish National Radio, Spanish National TV, and SFB Radio, Berlin

Major Commissions

Lo desconhort, for tenor and string quartet. Institut Ramon Llull, Majorca, Spain, 2012
Songs of the Light and Darkness, for piano trio. Rawlins Piano Trio, University of South Dakota, 2011
Songs of the Infinite, for violin and piano. Composer’s Commission, Foundation for Iberian Music, CUNY, New York, 2010
Diferencias y Fugas, for string quartet. Fundación Juan March, Madrid, 1987
Cantata on Dante's Vita Nuova, for baritone, chorus, and orch. Spanish National Orch., 1983
Five Pieces for Orchestra. Spanish National Radio, 1980

PUBLIC PERFORMANCES

Works performed in numerous concerts in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Berlin, Florence, Medellín (Colombia), New York, Detroit, Jacksonville, Mexico, Cincinnati, Bloomington, Salamanca, Valencia, Canary Islands, Majorca, Ibiza, and other cities.

Concert Halls include Carnegie Hall in New York City; Teatro Real, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Auditorio Nacional, and Fundación Juan March in Madrid; Palau de la Música Catalana and Fundación Joan Miró in Barcelona; Grosser Sendesaal in Berlin; and Teatro de la Danza in Mexico City.

Orchestral works performed by the following orchestras: Orchestra of Spanish Radio and TV (Madrid), National Orchestra and Chorus of Spain (Madrid), Madrid Symphony Orchestra with the National Ballet of Spain (Madrid), Orchestra of the City of Barcelona, Municipal Orchestra of Valencia, Orchestra of the City of Palma (Majorca), Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (Canary Islands), Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands, Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the City of Ibiza, CCM Philharmonia (Cincinnati), University of North Florida Chorale and Chamber Singers with Orchestra of the Chamber Music Society of the Good Shepherd (Jacksonville, FL), Wayne State University Orchestra and Concert Chorale (Detroit, MI), Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid.

Live broadcast of Five Pieces for Orchestra premiere (Orchestra of Spanish Radio-TV) by Spanish National Television (Feb. 1982). Also performed by Orchestra of the City of Barcelona (1984), National Orchestra of Spain (2002, conducted by Jesús López Cobos), and CCM Philharmonia (Cincinnati, 2003). Same work broadcast in 24 countries as result of UNESCO prize. In 1987, the National Ballet of Spain included in its repertoire the ballet La Espera ("The Awaiting") by choreographer Ray Barra, based on Five Pieces for Orchestra. Since then, the ballet has been performed in most major Spanish cities.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Member of the editorial board, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy
Member of the editorial board, Gamut, the journal of the Georgia Association of Music Theorists
Member, Committee on Professional Development, Society for Music Theory (1995-98)
Chair, 1995 Music Theory Midwest Nominating Committee
Chair, 1994 Music Theory Midwest Program Committee
Member, 1994 Music Theory Midwest Awards Committee
Member of the Illinois Chamber Symphony Artistic Development Committee (1993-95)