Curriculum vitae

Steven D. Coburn, Ph.D.

stevendcoburn@gmail.com

• Professional Profile
  • Accomplished college level music instructor experienced with basic through advanced level instruction, evaluation, and course design for majors and non-majors, curriculum development, and thesis advisement.
  • Widely published writer on music for several specialized publications, and also for the All Media Guide database, demonstrating the ability to communicate complex and advanced musical concepts to the general public.
  • Seasoned and highly experience performer as a collaborative pianist, musical and choral director, and singer.
  • Frequently performed composer, with a growing local reputation and following.
  
  Education
  • Ph.D., Musicology, New York University, 2002
  DISSERTATION: Mahler’s Tenth Symphony: Form and Genesis
  • M.A., Musicology, New York University, 1992
  • Bowling Green State University, Ohio
  Non-degree graduate work in piano (Jerome Rose) and choral conducting (Ivan Trusler), 1978-80
  • B.Mus., Music Education, minors in conducting and piano performance, Magna cum laude, Breaky Piano Scholarship, Performance certificate, State University of New York, Potsdam, Crane School of Music, 1978
  • Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute, Saratoga Springs, NY
  Non-degree graduate work in music, including study with Robert Shaw, Aaron Copland, Gregg Smith, Frank Pooler, Stanley Chapple, Brock MacElheran, and others, 1975-81
  
  Areas of Specialization
  Western Classical Music History and Musicology
  World Music
  Choral Music Direction
  Collaborative Piano
  
  Areas of Competence
  Music Theory and Analysis
  Jazz and Rock History and Style
  Music-related Cultural Studies
  Composition
  Music Theater Direction
  
  Courses
  
  College Courses Taught
  
  Theory
  • Elements of Music (theory, ear training and notation)
  • Ear-training and sight-singing lab for Elements of Music
  • Fundamentals of Music (theory, ear training and basic class keyboard
  
  Music History
  • Music Appreciation (introductory survey)   
  • Music of the Western World (introductory survey)
  • Jazz History (advanced survey)
  • The Art of Listening (Western music style and history)
  • American Music (advanced survey)
  
  Ethnomusicology
  • Music and Society (advanced interdisciplinary survey)
  • Music of Many Cultures (World Music introductory survey)
  • Popular World Music (advanced survey)
  
  College Courses Prepared and Qualified to Teach
  
  Theory
  • Ear Training and Sight Singing (multi-semester course for majors)
  • Theory I and II (introductory survey for majors)
  • Advanced Harmony and Voice Leading I and II (advanced survey for majors)
  • Structural Analysis (advanced survey for majors)
  • Introduction to Schenkerian Analysis (advanced survey for majors)
  • Counterpoint (introductory survey for majors)
  Music History
  • Opera (introductory survey/advanced survey)
  • Survey of Western Classical Music (advanced survey for majors)
  • Advanced Surveys in all specific eras and composers: Medieval through Modern
  • Jazz Style (advanced survey)
  • Intro to Jazz (introductory survey)
  • Rock History (introductory survey)
  • Advanced Surveys in Rock and Jazz topics (e.g. American Hardcore, Bebop, Prog Rock, Swing, etc.)
  Ethnomusicology
  • Music in Context (introductory survey)
  
  (course proposals and outlines available upon request)
  
  Teaching Experience
  • Class and private piano instruction (BrooklynPianoLessons.com), current
  • Senior Adjunct Professor, St. Francis College, current
  • Adjunct Lecturer, Pace University, 2002-07
  • Adjunct Instructor, The New School University, 2001-02
  • Guest Lecturer, The Eugene Lang College Division of the New School University, 2001
  • MS and HS choral assistant, the Berkeley Carroll School, 2000-02
  • Adjunct Instructor, New York University, 1995-2000
  • Teaching Assistant, New York University, 1991-95
  • Teaching Assistant, Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute, 1975-81
  
  Performing Experience
  Pianist:
  • Accompanist for the Brooklyn Community Chorus, current
  • Accompanist for the Brooklyn Philharmonia Chorus, 2001-2023
  • Accompanist for the Park Slope Singers, 2001-2010
  • Extensive recital, ensemble and accompanying experience, current
  Singer:
  • Extensive amateur and professional ensemble experience, including regular choral performances with MidAmerica Productions in Carnegie Hall, current
  Both:
  • NYU Collegium Musicum, singer and keyboardist, 1990-95
  
  Conductor:
  • Co-director for the Brooklyn Community Chorus, current
  • Assistant director for the Brooklyn Philharmonia Chorus, 2001-2023
  • Associate director for the Park Slope Singers, Brooklyn, 2001-2010
  • Music director for Stageworks Summer Repertory Theater, Watertown, NY, 2004-2006
  • Chorus Master for the Vertical Players Repertory Opera Company, Brooklyn, 2002
  • Rehearsal assistant for the Berkeley Carroll School, 2000-02
  • Assistant to the Director for the Saratoga-Potsdam Choral Institute, 1975-81
  • Assistant Director for Bowling Green State University Theater Department, 1978-80
  • Co-founder and Director of Crane School of Music Composer’s Forum Orchestra and competition winner for Crane School of Music One-act Opera Festival, 1975-78
  
  Affiliations
  
  • American Guild of Organists
  • American Musicological Society
  • College Music Society
  • Gustav Mahler Society
  • Music Library Association
  • Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, theta iota chapter
  • Society for Music Theory
  • Who’s Who in America (since the 58th edition)
  
  Relevant Experience and Skills
  
  • Founder and CEO of BrooklynPianoLessons.com, current
  • Staff writer for AllMusic.com, 1999-2002
  • Administrative Assistant for NEH Wagner Summer Seminar at NYU, 1995-96
  • Research assistant at NYU, 1991-96
  • Technical and sound assistant for NYU music department, 1990-94
  • Experienced with Finale, Sibelius, Protools, numerous DAW’s, as well as music education software such as Practica musica
  • Experienced in live sound setup and mixing
  • Basic proficiency in most instruments, and advanced proficiency in brass and keyboard instruments
  
  Publications
  
  Articles:
  For the All Media Guide (www.allclassical.com)
  Complete works commentaries:
  Albinez, piano only; Berg; Schoenberg; Brahms; Chopin; Debussy, piano only; Liszt, piano only; Mahler; Mendelssohn, piano only; Rachmaninoff, piano only; Schumann, piano and songs only
  Biographies:
  André, Maurice; Bergonzi, Carlo; Biggs, E(dward George) Power; Bolet, Jorge; Bream, Julian; Chorzempa, Daniel; Curzon, Clifford; Davies, Peter Maxwell; Donizetti, Gaetano; Ellis, Osian; Feldman, Morton; Feuermann, Emanuel; Field, John; Firkušný, Rudolf; Fox, Virgil; Geminiani, Francesco; Gobbi, Tito; Grainger, Percy; Harris, Roy; Haskil, Clara; Hickox, Richard; Hummel, Johann Nepomuk; Jacobs, Rene; Janacek, Leos; Janequin, Clemént; Kashkashian, Kim; Kirkpatrick, Ralph; Kissin, Evgeny; Lipatti, Dinu; Locatelli, Pietro Antonio; Marais, Marin; McCormack, John; Méhul, Etienne-Nicolas; (Goto), Midori; Milstein, Nathan; Moravec, Ivan; Moszkowski, Moritz; Mutter, Anne-Sophie; Petri, Michala; Piatigorsky, Gregor; Pogorelich, Ivo; Ponce, Manuel; Preston, Simon; Primrose, William; Reger, Max; Rodrigo, Joaquin; Romero, Pepe; Schipa, Tito; Schnittke, Alfred; Schreier, Peter; Skrowaczewski, Stanislaw; Stenhammar, (Karl) Wilhelm; Takemitsu, Toru; Taneyev, Sergey Ivanovich; Tcherepnin, Alexander; Thomas, Kurt; Torelli, Giuseppe; Tureck, Rosalyn; Wand, Günter; Weber, Carl Maria von; Wild, Earl; Williams, John;
  Other articles:
  Brahms’ Piano Music (overview, history, style, context, relevance)
  Brahms, the Conservative (explication and commentary on Schoenberg)
  Chopin’s Piano Music (overview, history, style, context, relevance)
  Mahler’s Symphonies (overview, history, style, context, relevance)
  Recordings of Mahler
  Schumann’s Piano Music (overview, history, style, context, relevance)
  
  Other
  Review of Gustav Mahler: Briefe und Musikautographen aus den Moldenhauer-Archiven in der Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek, Naturlaut, June 2004.
  
  “Mahler’s Tenth Symphony: A look at the sketches and performing editions,” Naturlaut, September 2005.
  
  “Cyclic and Referential Elements in Mahler’s Tenth Symphony,” Naturlaut, September 2006.
  
  Books
  
  Mahler’s Tenth Symphony: Form and Genesis (UMI/ProQuest, 2002)
  
  Presentations
  
  “Biographical Implications and Encoding in Mahler’s Tenth Symphony,” Gustav Mahler Society of NY, October 2007
  
  Consultations
  
  • Consulted for and extensively cited in Stuart Feder, Gustav Mahler: A Life in Crisis (Yale university Press, 2004)
  • Consulted for and extensively cited in Henry-Louis de La Grange, Gustav Mahler: Volume Four, A New Life Cut Short (1907-1911) (Oxford University Press 2008)
  
  Selected Compositions and Arrangements
  
  Choral
  Alleluia, Motet, Aspects of Prospect Park (four-movement suite), Jubilation, Dreams, Good Mothers
  Choral arrangements and medleys from The Beatles, Carole King, The Beach Boys, Sondheim, favorite Christmas songs, Godspell, Grease, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, and many others
  
  Vocal
  Rosta Songs for soprano, piano, and string quartet
  
  Instrumental
  Scherzo for sextet, String Quartet, Brass Quartet, Introduction and Fugue for piano quintet, Prelude and Invention for clarinet and piano, Trumpet Sonata, Fantasy for orchestra, Alleluia-Etude for piano, Motet for strings, Four Bird Songs for piano
  
  References available by request