School of Music
2023-24 Awarded Amount: $7,145
Title: Teaching Composition: A Symposium on Music Composition Pedagogy
On Sept. 28-30, 2023, the University of Utah hosted the second meeting of Teaching Composition: A Symposium on Music Composition Pedagogy. The program featured thirty-four composers and teachers from across the United States and Canada. Four School of Music Faculty members presented, three of whom presented in a special session focused on pedagogy at the U. One School of Music alum also presented worked based on their doctoral dissertation. Fifty-seven registrants attended in person, with an additional sixty-five registrants attending virtually through the YouTube stream. Videos from the stream will be available through the conference YouTube channel for future reference by the community.
Keynote Speaker Patricia Plude gave a stimulating talk on creativity drawing on philosophical and religious themes followed by a lively workshop on improvising songs. The second Keynote Speaker, Alan Belkin, gave a virtual talk on ways to teach composition that can be applied to any style of music. Guest Artist Linda Dusman gave a masterclass to U composition students during the MUSC 2570 Composition Seminar class and also presented her research to students throughout the School of Music at the MUSC 1000 Concert Attendance class. Peer-reviewed presentation and workshop topics included: lessons, approaches to assessment and grading, goal-setting, technology, curriculum design, community engagement, and more.
The presentations, workshops, and informal discussions had an immediate impact on the students, faculty, and scholars who participated. The conference was well received by attendees, as evidenced by in person feedback and written feedback submitted through a post-conference survey. Additionally, the talks preserved in the conference videos also represent a significant contribution to the very limited pool of available research on music composition pedagogy.
Conference website with link to program: https://music.utah.edu/news/teach-comp-conference.php.