UA Music Department graduate Dr. Barrett Ashley Johnson has written and published a book titled Training the Composer: A Comparative Study Between the Pedagogical Methodologies of Arnold Schoenberg and Nadia Boulanger, published through Cambridge Scholars Publishing and available at the publisher's website.
Dr. Johnson will be at Nightbird Books on Saturday April 16, 2011 at 3 P.M. for a book signing. Nightbird Books is located at 205 W. Dickson Street. For his research, Dr. Johnson has had in his possession many original letters and manuscripts that formerly belonged to the composers, including the last letter that Arnold Schoenberg wrote. Some of these items may be on display at the book signing.
Dr. Johnson describes his efforts:
"While many teachers of music composition have influenced both the aesthetic and eventual success of their students, few have equaled the contributions of Arnold Schoenberg and Nadia Boulanger in the twentieth-century. A larger volume of a more comprehensive collection including all music composition teachers of the era would serve a certain purpose. However, the unique aspect of the current text examines, in detail, and herein presented for the first time in print, many of the teaching materials and approaches of these two famed musicians.
"In making the case for both Schoenberg and Boulanger, the Author has chosen two differing philosophies of music education practice of the late twentieth-century and early twenty-first century: those of Bennett Reimer and David Elliott. Among the subjects discussed: the nature of musical creativity, the process and methods of teaching creativity/music, and the teacher/student dynamic, to name a few.
"In closing, the Author has presented his own suggestions for teachers, or would-be teachers, of music composition in a seven-step process leading to an effective pedagogy of the subject."
Dr. Johnson was born in Neuilly (Paris), France in 1960. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition from Baylor University in 1983 where he studied with Dr. Richard M. Willis and received the Master of Music degree from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in 2001, studying with Dr. Robert Mueller. Johnson received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a major in music composition and a minor in music education in December 2007 from The Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, studying with Dr. Stephen David Beck, Dr. Dinos Constantinides, and Dr. Jane Cassidy.
Alumnus Dr. Barrett Ashley Johnson Publishes Book
Alumnus Marcel Rominger - Piano (Photo by Patrick Oehler)
