Expanding the soundscape
JMU professors advance collaborative music theory, Korean cultural studies, and new composition
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Gui Hwan Lee, assistant professor of music theory, was recently selected as the grant recipient of "The Seed Program for Korean Studies." The Academy of Korean Studies, an academic institution under the South Korean Ministry of Education, manages the program. As a result, James Madison University will be awarded $210,000 in total over three academic years (2025-2028).
Lee received crucial support from Dr. Seung Hee Han, the Co-Project Investigator, with Lee being the Project Investigator. Their grant program is titled Toward Cooperation, Innovation, and Turning Point: Korean Culture Course/Workshop Construction. Course Objectives include the development of new courses and workshops on Korean cultures at JMU; the realization of cultural and scholarly events to promote Korean cultures at JMU; scholarships for student researchers/assistants at JMU; the cultivation of Korean cultural research at JMU; and the launching of an interdisciplinary national conference on Korean cultural studies at JMU.
Professor Lee will continue this work with Han and four undergraduate student assistants from the School of Music and the World Languages and Cultures Department.
Dr. Sue Barber, professor of bassoon, has received a commission of solo work for bassoon and piano by composer Margaret Brouwer, which premiered with Lori Piitz at The International Double Reed Society Conference in Indianapolis this past June.
Barber is the principal bassoon of the City Music Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, an organization that brings high-quality music to underserved communities in Cleveland at no cost. During her time in Cleveland, she met composer Brouwer, who heard her practicing and was interested in writing something for her, which led to her submitting the grant application to cover the fees.
The piece is in two movements, with the first movement being slow and ethereal in tone. The second movement is lively and playful, using some unusual techniques, including flutter tongue for the bassoon and soup spoons on the strings of the piano.
Professor Barber will perform the piece in February on JMU's campus.
John Peterson, associate director and associate professor of the School of Music's book, Modeling Musical Analysis, was released by Oxford University Press in January 2025. Modeling Musical Analysis is a collection of 28 essays written by minoritized scholars who model analytical writing using a variety of music theories and genres from diverse regions of the world.
The essays represent current analytical trends that are both accessible to and achievable by undergraduate students. Each essay will begin with a brief autobiography of the author, which foregrounds their identity, highlighting aspects such as their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic upbringing, membership in the LGBTQ community, and parenthood. These biographies encourage the reader to connect with the humanity of the author, an element that sets our collection apart from other collections of essays. Scholarship taught in the music theory classroom is currently dominated by one particular cultural reality, and our collection is a step toward changing that paradigm.
Lee received crucial support from Dr. Seung Hee Han, the Co-Project Investigator, with Lee being the Project Investigator. Their grant program is titled Toward Cooperation, Innovation, and Turning Point: Korean Culture Course/Workshop Construction. Course Objectives include the development of new courses and workshops on Korean cultures at JMU; the realization of cultural and scholarly events to promote Korean cultures at JMU; scholarships for student researchers/assistants at JMU; the cultivation of Korean cultural research at JMU; and the launching of an interdisciplinary national conference on Korean cultural studies at JMU.
Professor Lee will continue this work with Han and four undergraduate student assistants from the School of Music and the World Languages and Cultures Department.
Dr. Sue Barber, professor of bassoon, has received a commission of solo work for bassoon and piano by composer Margaret Brouwer, which premiered with Lori Piitz at The International Double Reed Society Conference in Indianapolis this past June.
Barber is the principal bassoon of the City Music Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, an organization that brings high-quality music to underserved communities in Cleveland at no cost. During her time in Cleveland, she met composer Brouwer, who heard her practicing and was interested in writing something for her, which led to her submitting the grant application to cover the fees.
The piece is in two movements, with the first movement being slow and ethereal in tone. The second movement is lively and playful, using some unusual techniques, including flutter tongue for the bassoon and soup spoons on the strings of the piano.
Professor Barber will perform the piece in February on JMU's campus.
John Peterson, associate director and associate professor of the School of Music's book, Modeling Musical Analysis, was released by Oxford University Press in January 2025. Modeling Musical Analysis is a collection of 28 essays written by minoritized scholars who model analytical writing using a variety of music theories and genres from diverse regions of the world.
The essays represent current analytical trends that are both accessible to and achievable by undergraduate students. Each essay will begin with a brief autobiography of the author, which foregrounds their identity, highlighting aspects such as their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographic upbringing, membership in the LGBTQ community, and parenthood. These biographies encourage the reader to connect with the humanity of the author, an element that sets our collection apart from other collections of essays. Scholarship taught in the music theory classroom is currently dominated by one particular cultural reality, and our collection is a step toward changing that paradigm.
