Contributing Areas
Musicology faculty research embraces a wide range of topics with a particular emphasis on American music, including women in musical life, Hollywood film music, jazz in New Orleans, and online musical communities, among others. In addition to completing a rigorous coursework regime, students develop professional skills through conference presentations and TA assignments in Western art music, world music, and popular music courses.
The Music Theory faculty at the University of Iowa comprises a small group of scholars doing cutting-edge research in areas such empirical musicology, music cognition, music theory pedagogy, musical form, and popular music. Our research expertise spans the Baroque era to the present.
The Composition faculty teach individual composition lessons at two levels: undergraduate composition for students working toward the Bachelor of Music degree and graduate composition for composers in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs.
Recent News
Musicology alum Cody Norling begins new appointment at West Virginia University
UI students and faculty participate in Iowa Musicology Day 2025
Join Us For Colloquium!
All colloquium presentations are 1:30–2:30 pm on Fridays in Classroom 2 on the Basement Level of the Voxman Music Building, unless otherwise noted.
The University of Iowa Ethno/Musicology, Music Theory, and Composition Colloquium Series puts Students, Faculty, and other university community members in dialogue with a range of experts in related fields. Invited guests have included Holly Watkins (Eastman School of Music), Will Robin (University of Maryland), Dwandalyn R. Reece (National Museum of African American History and Culture), Nadine Hubbs (University of Michigan), Gabriel Solis (University of Illinois), Sherrie Tucker (University of Kansas), Mark Katz (UNC-Chapel Hill), Neil Lerner (Davidson College), Glenn Watkins (University of Michigan), Carol Oja (Harvard University), Douglas Shadle (Vanderbilt University), Wendy Heller (Princeton University), and Anne Walters Robertson (University of Chicago). In addition to formal presentations by guest presenters, the annual calendar of events routinely includes works-in-progress presentations by university students and faculty, and professional development workshops on everything from resumes and cover letters to the design of music curriculums and digital humanities projects.
Alumni
Click the "Hawkeyes In The Field" button to learn more about what past Musicology and Music Theory and Composition Hawkeyes are up to now.
Instruments both musical and chemical played a starring role in Musical Chemistry—a collaborative concert between the University of Iowa School of Music, Public Digital Arts, and the Department of Chemistry.