Vice President – Rachel Mann

Dr. Rachel Mann is an Assistant Professor of Music at UTRGV, where she teaches music theory and ear training courses primarily on the university’s Brownsville campus. Dr. Mann completed a Ph.D. in music theory at the University of Texas-Austin, where she held a Kent Kennan Endowed Graduate Fellowship and was awarded the Herbert Colvin Award for the best student paper at the 2005 Texas Society for Music Theory conference. She also holds degrees in music with all-level teacher certification (BM) and music theory (MM) from Texas Tech University. Prior to joining the UTRGV faculty, Mann held positions in music theory at the University at Albany – SUNY, the University of North Texas, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Mann’s research interests include the music and writings of the twentieth-century Catalan composer, Roberto Gerhard, and other Second Viennese School composers; the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas; electroacoustic and film-music criticism; and pop-rock theory. Dr. Mann is also engaged in developing a computer-aided, music theory instruction package called Harmonia, which combines music notation, automatic music analysis and grading, word processing, multimedia playback, and a sophisticated web-based learning management system. As the Senior Content Developer for Illiac Software, she creates pedagogical content for Harmonia, updates software support pages, and runs a general music theory resource blog for teachers and students on the Harmonia website. Visit www.harmonia.illiacsoftware.com to learn more.

Dr. Mann has presented her research throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Spain, and the UK. Her work is published by Salem Press, Ashgate Publishing, and Cambridge Scholars Press, and her Harmonia research has been supported with funding from the University of Illinois and a Phase I STTR grant from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Mann is a reader for the national AP music theory exam, she is an active member of the Texas Society for Music Theory, and holds memberships in the Society for Music Theory (SMT), the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), the College Music Society (CMS), and the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA).

https://www.utrgv.edu/music/people/faculty/index.htm

Secretary – Jason Fick

Jason Fick is a composer, collaborator, audio engineer, researcher, and educator actively working in the field of music technology. His music and intermedia have been performed at international, national, and local events, including the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), and International Tribunal on Fracking and Human Rights (Corvallis, 2018). As an engineer, he has recorded classical, jazz, and popular music in live and studio contexts, audio for film, and dialogue for various commercial projects. Several his recent Corvallis-area concert recordings have been played on classical radio stations in Oregon and throughout the country. His research on sonification, pedagogy of music technology, and concert reviews have been published by the Audio Engineering Society, International Community on Auditory Display, International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing, and Array, the journal of the International Computer Music Association. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition and is currently Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Music Technology and Production at Oregon State University. Prior to arriving in Corvallis in 2016, he taught at Collin College and the Art Institute of Dallas. Jason currently serves as the President of the College Music Society–Pacific Northwest Chapter.

https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/users/jason-fick

Treasurer – Brendan McConville

Brendan McConville is Associate Professor, Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies, and Coordinator of Music Theory and Composition at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) School of Music. He also co-directs the University of Tennessee study abroad program in Bologna, Italy. He holds a PhD in Music Theory & Composition from Rutgers University and completed undergraduate training at Peabody Conservatory and the Johns Hopkins University.

As a music theorist, his areas of research include twentieth-century music analysis and the use of emerging technologies in music theory pedagogy. His writings appear in a variety of scholarly journals including Theory and Practice, The Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy,College Music Symposium, Perspectives of New Music, and Tempo, and he is co-author of Music Theory Foundations: an Interactive eBook (with Barbara Murphy). He serves as Editor for Technology/Online Resource Reviews for the College Music Symposium. He has co-developed mobile music theory applications for iOS and Android devices, and he is an active presenter of his research involving the use of relevant and mobile technologies in the classroom. These technologies have included social media and Web tools, Google applications, podcasts, collaborative and peer-review platforms, and online music sharing programs. He is an active presenter and member of the College Music Society (CMS), the Association for Technology in Music Instruction (ATMI), and the Society for Music Theory (SMT) organizations. He currently serves as President of the CMS Southern Chapter, Treasurer for ATMI, and as Program Chair for the 2019 ATMI National Conference in Louisville.

As a composer, he was recently awarded a Fulbright to Italy to compose a new vocal chamber work setting Gabriele D’Annuzio’s famous poem, “La Pioggia nel Pineto.” The work was released in 2018 on the award-winning album Un D’Annunzio Nuovo, which can be found on all major music distribution sites (Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, etc.). To build the work, he recorded the natural sounds of the Italian countryside – where D’Annunzio wrote the poem over 100 years ago – and put them into a background canvas for the vocal chamber piece. The sounds of the environment in the poem (e.g. cicadas, waves, rain, birds, frogs, etc.), presented both naturally and manipulated through computer software, create the sonic landscape for the performers. His music has been recognized by The American Prize in music composition and he has won three Global Music Awards. In 2020, he will compose a new song cycle through an affiliated fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. His music is found on the labels Wide Classique, ERMmedia, and Navona, and has been published with BRS Music. His works have been commissioned, performed, televised, and recorded in the United States and in Europe.

As Associate Director for Undergraduate Studies at UTK, he is actively involved in updating and enhancing curricular designs as well as improving student retention, mental health, and tutoring services. Since entering administration he has been active in the National Association of Music Executives in State Universities (NAMESU) and National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) organizations.

mcconvillemusic.com