John MacKay

38 Front St.                                                                                           
West Springfield MA 01089
e-mail: johnwmackay@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 



Educational Background


Sept. 1983

Ph.D. Music: Theoretical and Experimental Studies - UC San Diego

      - funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council   of Canada Doctoral Fellowship

      - EU Doctoral Equivalency conferred Universidade de Aveiro 10/95

Nov. 1979

M.A. in Music Theory - McGill University

Nov. 1977

B.A. (Linguistics) B. Mus. (Composition) - McGill University

 

Professional Experience

Sept. 2003—July 2004

 

 

visiting assistant professor, Department of Music, Eastern Mediterranean University Gazimağusa, TRNC (Turkish Republic of North Cyprus)

 

July 2001 - Aug. 2001

instructor UCSD summer extension program

Sept. 1999 - April 2000

visiting professor, leave replacement, Queen's University, School of Music, Kingston, Ontario CANADA

Mar. 1998 - Sept. 1999

invited professor, co-ordinator section of music Escola Superior de Educação, Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, Guarda PORTUGAL

Oct. 1997 - Feb. 1998

part-time professor in music theory/analysis Universidade Nova de Lisboa and faculty accompanist (full-time) Escola Superior de Música, Porto, PORTUGAL

Sept. 1982 - Sept. 1997

invited professor Secçao Autonoma de Comunicação e Arte, Universidade de Aveiro (PORTUGAL)

visiting assistant professor, Department of Music and Dance, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

visiting assistant professor, West Chester University (West Chester PA)

visiting assistant professor, College of the Holy Cross (Worcester MA)

assistant professor, Department of Music, University of Ottawa (ON) CANADA

visiting scholar Department of Music, University of California San Diego

and visiting professor, part-time San Diego State University

visiting assistant professor, School of Music, University of Victoria (BC) CANADA

 

 

Publications

 

“Introduction” for Karel Janeček’s ’“Foundations of Modern Harmony” trans. Anne Hall and Anna Skarecky, forthcoming from Pendragon Press.

"Sobre, Forma, Tempo e Estrutura Harmonica no Concerto para Harpa e Orquestra de Jorge Peixinho," in Dez Compositores Portugueses do Século XX,  M.P. Ferreira ed.  Lisbon: forthcoming Dom Quixote.

“On Community, Institutions and Politics in the Life and Work of Robert Erickson forthcoming in “Music and Culture” ed. John Wall, Cambridge Scholars Press, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

“The Games of Jeux: On Debussy’s Intrigue of Motive, Narrative and Proportion,” ex tempore xii/2 (Spring/Summer 2005), pp. 47-72

"On Form and Moment In Will Ogdon's String Quartet #3," in festschrift for Will Ogdon, UCSD Press, June 2003.

"An Overview of Karel Janeček's Foundations of Modern Harmony," ex tempore XI/1 (Spring/Summer 2002) pp. 1 - 43 "Sobre a    

             Forma 'Mosaica' e o Fluxo Textural:a Linguagern Musical do Noturno no Cabo do Mundo ('Sonata para 3 Pianos') de

            Jorge Peixinho" in Jorge Peixinho - In Memoriam, José Machado ed., forthcoming Caminho Press, Oct. 2001.

"Les Jeux Sont Faits: Ensemble Strategies and Historical "Borrowing" in the Music of Bengt Hambraeus " ex tempore X/1 (Summer  

             2000), pp. 15 - 70.

"Sobre Forma Tempo e Estrutura Harmónica no Concerto ara Harpa e Orguestra de JorgePeixinho " Dez Compositores

            Portugueses do Século XX Manuel Pedro Ferreira ed . Lisbon: Dom Quixote, 1999.

"Ensemble Strategies in Bengt Hambraeus's Jeu de Cinq and Strata," in Crosscurrents and Counterpoints: Offeringsin Honor of

            Bengt Hambnwus at 70 ed. Per Broman. Nora A. Engebretsen, Bo A. Alphonce. Gothenburg, Novem Grafiska 1998, pp.

            227 - 246.

"On Form, Tempo and Harmonic Structure in the Concerto for Harp and Orchestra by Jorge Peixinho: Commentary with Graphic

            Analysis," ex tempore vol.V111/2 (Spring-Summer 1997) pp. 9 - 15.

Form and Function: Comments on the Analytical Legacy of René Leibowitz and Aspects of Tonal Form in the Twelve?Tone Music

            of Schoenberg and Webern," ex tempore vol. VII/1, Fall, 1996, pp. 92-131.

with Robert Erickson, Music of Many Means: Essays and Autobiographical Sketches on the Music of Robert Erickson Metuchen,

            NJ: Scarecrow Press 1995, 456 pages (funded by a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research

            Council of Canada).

"On the Recent Music of Robert Erickson," ex tempore VI/2, Fall 1993, pp. 118-145.

"Aspects of Post-Serial Structuralism in Berio's Sequenza I and V1," Interface 7/4 (1988) pp. 223-240.

"On Tonality and Tonal Form in the Serial Music of Arnold Schoenberg," Canadian University Music Review vol.8 (1987) pp.62-77.

"On the Music of Robert Erickson: A Survey with Selected Analyses," Perspectives of New Music, vol 26/2 (Summer 1988) pp.56-85.

"An Interview with Rudolf Komorous," ex tempore 111/2 (1985-86) pp.91-96.

            Ph.D. dissertation "The Analysis of Phrase Structure and Tonal Centering in Early Twentieth Century Styles," (selected                                                            

            works of Scriabin, Debussy, Schoenberg andVebern) UCSD,1983.

"Some Comments on the Visual/Spatial Analogy in the Perception of Musical Texture," ex tempore vol. 1/2 (Winter/Spring, 1981)

             pp. 39-55 .

"The Orality Perspective : The Oral Mode in Contemporary Art and Performance," Perspectives of New Music vol.20 (Winter/

             Spring 1981) pp.68-75.

M.A. Thesis "An Analysis of Musical Time in Selected Works of George Crumb," McGill University, 1979.

 

Co-editorship of ex tempore: 1981 to present; a referee journal for compositional, theoretical and analytical research in contemporary music with 70 North American and a growing number of European Community institutional subscriptions.

 

Representative Papers and Colloquia Presentation:

 

November 2005 - "On René Leibowitz's Compositional Pedagogy and Thematic Process in Twelve-Tone Music," paper given at Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting, Boston Hyatt.

June 2004, October 2004 and April 2005 “On Karel Janeček and the codification and pedagogy of atonal harmony," paper given at the Eastern Mediterranean University "Inscriptions in the Sand,"  University of California Santa Barbara Music Department Colloquium, and New England Conference of Music Theorists, UMass Amherst.

April 2000 - "The Pedagogical Legacy of René Leibowitz." Colloquim Presentation given at Queen's University School of Music.

             March 1997 - "On Structure and Expression: The Grammar of Emphasis and Articulation in Poetic Reading: Examples from Music and Spoken Language," The University of Aveiro, Section of Communication and Arts. "On Qu'est-ce que c'est que la

             Musique de Douze and the unpublished "Traité sur la Composition avec Douze tons:" the Pedagogical Legacy of René

             Leibowitz: Form and Serial Function in the Music of Schoenberg and Webern " Colloquium Presentations at the University

             of Pennsylvania Department of Music (February 1996) Yale University Department of Music January of 1995) and confer-

             ence presentation at the West Coast Conference on Music Theory and Analysis, Mills College, Oakland CA (March 1994).

January 1994 - "On Poetic Reading in Bach, Webern, Eliot and e.e. cummings," colloquium presentation at the York University

             Department of Music, Toronto Ontario.

June 1993 - "On the Topology of Musical Performance," paper delivered at the Society for Music Perception and Music Cognition,

             University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA.

March 1993 - "On the Music of Robert Erickson," presented at the University of Western Illinois Contemporary Music Festival,

             Macombe, Illinois.

July 1992 - "The Musical Score and its 'Mutability' under Interpretive Performance and Analysis: Inquiries into the Music of Bach

             and Webern," American Society for Aesthetics, Sante Fe, NM, July 1992.

May 1991 - "Prosody and Structure in Musical/Poetic Performance Performance: Variant Structural Interpretations of Performances

             of Webem's Variations op.27" paper delivered at "Resonant Intervals" (inter-disciplinary conference on musical analysis) at

             the University of Calgary, in Calgary, Alberta.

Aug. 1990 "On Semeiology and Mosaic Form in Works of Webern, Boulez, Berio and Feldman," at the New Hampshire Summer

             Music Festival Composer's Conference in Plymouth, NH.

Sept. 1989 invited performer and panel participant for anal sis symposium on Luciano Berio's Seduenza (New York State

             Conference of Music Theorists. (chapter of the Society for Music Theory) at Barruch College, NYCU.

April 1988 "Aspects of Post-Serial Structuralism in the Music of Luciano Berio," at the New England Conference of Music

            Theorists, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.

November 1987 "On Mysticism and Form in Scriabin's Sonata #8 at the Music and Mysticism Symposium at the University of

            California at San Diego Department of Music.

July 1987 "On the Perception of Density and Stratification in Granular Sonic Textures" at the New Hampshire Summer Music

            Festival Composers Conference in Plymouth NH.

 

 

Some Representative Solo Programs and Performance Activities

    

· December 2003, Eastern Mediterranean University, lecture-recital of works by Mozart and David Lidov

· April - May 2001, Jones Library, Amherst MA, Atlantic Union College

·           Mozart Sonata in A minor K. 310 Beethoven Sonata op. 101, Alfred Fisher At Winter's End David Lidov Sonata

· March 2000 Queen's University, Kinqston Ontario

·           Schoenberg Fünf Klavierstucke op.23 Alfred Fisher At Winter's End  Debussy Préludes Bk.Il

· May and July 1999 Conservatories of Aveiro, Santarém and Castelo Branco

·           Schoenberg Fünf Klavierstucke op.23 Beethoven Sonatas op. 78 and 101 Debussy Préludes Bk.II

· February 1997 - University of Aveiro Department of Communication and Arts

·           Beethoven Diabelli Variations op. 120 Isabel Soveral Fragments (1982) Evgeni Zoudilke Quatro Lados de "Mi"

                 João Pedro Oliveira Pirámides de Cristal June 1995

· - Conservatório de Música de Aveiro, Portugal

·           Brahms Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel op.24 Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit

·           João Pedro Olveira Pirámides de Cristal Rosemary Mountain Sondas Sonoras (1995)

                 Amilcar Vasques-Dias "Raiz"(1977), with Jorge Correia, flute and magnetic tape

· December 1993, May 1994, Walter Hall (Lincoln Center NYC) performances of works by Yuri KasppLrov, Roman Yakub

                 and Robert Erickson in the "Bridge" series for contemporary music, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

· November 1992 University of Massachusetts Amherst

·           Larry Nelson Music of Twelve Centers (excerpts) Pierre Boulez Première Sonate Yusef Lateef Sonata

                Debussy Préudes Bk. II

· February 1991 Amherst College Amherst MA - Five College Composer's Anniversary Concert

                premiere performance of Sonata for Piano Solo by renowned jazz artist Yusef Lateef

· October 1989 Colleqe of the Holy Cross, Worcester MA.

·           Beethoven Sonata op. 106 Schoenberg Klaviersuüke op. 11 Stravinsky Trois Mouvements de Petroushka

· November 1988 - Carleton University, Ottawa Ontario

·            Scriabin Sonata #8 Bartok Sonata Schoenberg Fünf Klavierstücke op. 23 Stravinsky Trois Mouvements de Petroushka

· January 1986 University of California at San Diego, Department of Music

·           Robert Erickson Tocatta "Ramus" Robert Thompson Polychroma Margo MacKay-Simmons For Jock

·           Mamoru  Fujieda Begin at the Beginning ......

· April 1985 Western Front, Vancouver BC

·           Schoenberq Fünf Klavierstücke op.23 Claudio Ambrosini Grande Ballo Futurista  Joji Yuasa On the Keyboard

·           John Celona Tracking Owen Underhill Darmstadt Tryptich

· Summer 1984: ensemble pianist for the contemporary music ensemble at the Johanessen International Festival, Victoria BC

 

 

Courses Taught

 

· Eastern Mediterranean University: Music 111- an introduction to music theory Music 243/343 - common practice harmonic theory Music 445 - 20th century analysis,  tutorials and advanced keyboard harmony, atonal dictation and counterpoint

· Queen’s University:  Music 391— a course in advanced chromatic harmony and 20th Century analysis Music 356—modal (16th Century) and 18th Century Baroque) counterpoint Music 446 = an advanced undergraduate seminar in 20th analysis

· Instituto Politécnico da Guarda: (all courses taught in Portuguese) First and Second Year Orff and KodalyTechniques; theoretical introduction with practical exercises and group training/instruction/improvisation. “Oficina" Musical First and Third Year: an inter-disciplinary study in interpretive and applied creativity in history, analysis/composition, solo and chamber performance

· University of Aveiro: (all courses taught in Portuguese) Técnicas de Composição: the theory and composition of common practice (Bach chorale/Beethoven sonata) and late nineteenth-century styles (Chopin, Brahms, Debussy) Formação Auditiva I: exercises in recognition and dictation of harmonic, melodic, thematic and formal idioms in common-practice styles - aural analysis of passages from Bach, Mozart and Beethoven of varying genres from chorales to piano sonatas, symphonies and quartets. Formação Auditiva II: exercises in recognition and dictation of harmonic and formal idioms of chromatic common-practice styles (mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries) with aural analyses in Mozart to Beethoven, Brahms and Debussy and popular styles. Keyboard Harmony: figured bass, melody harmonization an transposition in simple common-practice styles, sight reading, and improvisation. AnáIise e Historia III: analysis of selected twentieth-century compositions. Scalar and modal analysis, set-theoretic analysis and elementary twelve-tone theory. Música de Câmera Século XX: performance of twentieth-century chamber music for small ensembles.

· University of Massachusetts Music 212 - elementary composition and analysis exercises involving shorter and lonqer-range forms as well as common-practice chromatic chordal vocabulary and chromatic modulation. Music 312 - 19th and 20th century analysis, a study with compositional exercises of advanced chromatic and twentieth-century harmony involving analyses of representative works of Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Chopin, Debussy, Bartok, Schoenberg and Webern Music 412 advanced undergraduate survey of selected topics in music theory. Music 794A - doctoral seminar involving a critical survey of important perspectives of twentieth century theory including Schenkerian and Schoenbergian ("Grundgestalt") analvsis, extended Schenkerian (20th- century) techniques, set theory, twelve-tone theory, implication-realization models, musical semeiologiy and psycho-acoustic/cognitive perspectives in music theory.

· West Chester University: Music Theory III: advanced harmony and analysis of late 19th century music. Music Theory IV: composition and analysis in 20th-century idioms. Aurals IV: advanced harmonic and rhythmic dictation and sight singing. Music Theory I and Music Theory II: common practice harmony and voice leading. Aurals I and II elementary harmonic, rhythmic dictation and sight singing Advanced Counterpoint - graduate seminar in the techniques of 16th and 18th century counterpoint.

· College of the Holy Cross: Introduction to Music: a general listening introduction to the history of western music. Fundamentals of Music: a practical introduction to the basic elements of musical expression and structure, rhythm, melody, harmony/counterpoint and form. Music Theory II: a course in common practice harmony, voice-leading and modulation. Music Theory III: a course in two and three-part counterpoint in the style of Bach. Twentieth Century Music: a historical survey of 20th century western art music

· The University of Ottawa: (all courses taught in French and English) Music 2811/2711: harmonic theory, analysis and practice from Bach through Wagner Music 2708/2208: introduction to melody and counterpoint; the basic principles of melodic writing and melodic analysis and a study of two- and three-part sacred polyphony. Music 2270/2370: introduction to the acoustic basis of contemporary instruments Music 3308: two- and three-part counterpoint in the style of Bach. Musique 3709: an analytical survey of the music of the twentieth century. Music 4308/3708: counterpoint in late19th-century chromatic and early 20th-century atonal idioms. Music 379/4779: an introduction to Schenkerian studies and analytical methodologies. Music 374/4474/4521: advanced undergraduate and graduate seminar in the theory of "atonal" music including studies of works by Scriabin, Schoenberg, Webern, Bartok and Stravinsky.

· San Diego State University: Music 608: Graduate Seminar in the history and development of music theory in western music.

· University of Victoria: Music 100: the tonal materials and harmonic/voice-leading idioms of common practice styles. Music 200: the technique of counterpoint in the styles of Machaut, Palestrina and Bach. Music 300: the analysis of nineteenth-century music. Music 105: introduction to composition in elementary twentieth-century idioms.

 

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