"All my degrees (Penn State BMus '86, Cornell MFA '91 and DMA '99) are in music composition and theory. My background combines experience in classical and popular styles, and I've published articles on the music of Harrison Birtwistle and King Crimson. I've taught music theory part-time at Ithaca College, Cornell University, and the College of the Holy Cross, and I've taught it full-time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, and Northeastern University. (In a weird twist of the job market, I taught music history for eight years at Northeastern, so I can help you with that as well.)

While my teaching load has been primarily classroom teaching, over the years I've worked with dozens of students one-on-one. I always strive to connect a student's prior experience of music with the course material, and to help them recognize the ways that the classical tradition still influences the choices of songwriters today.

Most of my experience has been working with undergraduate students of traditional age, but I'm always happy to help people of any age who want to understand how music is organized, and how (and how much) traditional music theory applies to their favorite music. Textbooks tend to present music theory as if it's a stable, logical, scientific system, but in reality it's a hodgepodge of different ideas from different regions, different eras, different cultures ... so don't feel bad if it seems confusing! I'm here to help you sort it out." less...