The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

The Faculty of the Department of Music Theory comprises thirteen full-time professors (including two dedicated to Keyboard Studies and two dedicated to Ear-Training) who hold degrees from, among other schools, the Eastman, Hartt and Manhattan Schools of Music, the Peabody and Moscow Conservatories, Duke, Harvard and Princeton Universities, and the Universities of Chicago, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

These faculty members are active members of the music-making community, many of whom are active as composers and performers in addition to pursuing their scholarship. They have presented papers at national and international conferences of organizations such as the Society for Music Theory and the American Musicological Society, and have published through the Oxford University Press, Schirmer Music Books, and many other publishers and journals.

Please see the Department News page and the links below for more information about the current activities of these faculty members.

Adjunct Faculty

The Department of Music Theory welcomes back its distinguished faculty member, Thomas Benjamin. Dr. Benjamin, an active composer, is also the author of several articles and books on music theory and musicianship pedagogy. In Spring 2012, he will teach a seminar on Tonal Chromaticism.

We also welcome back Dr. Judah Adashi, Peabody alumnus, composer and director of the Evolution New Music Series, who will teach Theory 5–6, along with current doctoral candidates Lonnie Hevia, teaching Theory 3–4, and Douglas Buchanan, teaching Accelerated Theory 1–4. In addition, we welcome three new adjunct faculty members, Dr. John Bower, composer, teaching Theory 5–6 and Music Since 1945, Dr. Ruby Fulton, composer and Peabody alumna, teaching Graduate Theory Review and a seminar on Minimalism, and Dr. Jolie Lin, pianist and Peabody alumna, teaching Theory 3–4 and Graduate Theory Review.

Judah Adashi has been honored with composition awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the ASCAP and BMI Foundations, and the Aspen Music Festival. Mr. Adashi directs the composition program at the Peabody Preparatory, and is an adjunct member of the music theory faculty at the Peabody Conservatory. His principal composition teachers have been Nicholas Maw and John Harbison; he holds degrees from Yale University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University.

Armando Bayolo received his B.M. in music composition from Eastman School of Music, his M.M. in music composition from Yale University, and his D.M.A. in music composition from the University of Michigan. He has studied music composition with Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Rouse, Jacob Druckman, Martin Bresnick, Ingram Marshall, Roberto Sierra, George Tsontakis, Michael Daugherty, Sydney Hodkinson, Bright Sheng and Evan Chambers. His awards include a Rackham Merit Fellowship from the University of Michigan, Top Prize in the 2000 competition of the Ateneo Puertorriqueño, selection for the 2007 Symposium for New Band Music at Virginia Tech University and a Brandon Fradd Fellowship in Music Composition from the Oscar I. Cintas Foundation for Cuban and Cuban-American artists. His performances and commissions include those for the National Gallery of Art Orchestra and Vocal Arts Ensemble, the Euclid and Degas Quartets, the Aspen Music Festival, the Syracuse Society for New Music, the Western Piedmont Symphony, cellist Philip von Maltzahn, conductors Carlos Carrillo and Michael Wittenburg, pianists Winston Choi and Ellen Elders, among others. Also active as a conductor, Bayolo is founder and Artistic Director of Great Noise Ensemble in Washington, D.C. His music theory interests include the music of Louis Andriessen and The Beatles. He is a former faculty member at Reed and Hamilton Colleges.

John E. Bower is a music theorist, composer, and technologist who finds inspiration at the intersection of disciplines. John studied composition at the Berklee College of Music (B.M.) and Duke University (Ph.D.) and has received several awards supporting his creative work, including a McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowship. Prior to joining the Peabody community, John taught at the St. Olaf College, Duke University, the University of St. Thomas, and American University.

Faye Chiao is currently a doctoral student in music composition at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Chiao is a recipient of the Ada Arwens Morawetz Memorial Award and the Randolph S. Rothschild Scholarship in composition, and has received commissions from various organizations. Her principal teacher has been Michael Hersch. Chiao holds an MM in composition from The Peabody Institute, a BM in composition from The Catholic University's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, and a BS in physics from Georgetown University. She currently resides in Baltimore.

John Crouch has been the first prize winner of the Prix d'Ete composition prize for his solo violoncello piece Her Light, Extinguished, and the recipient of the Otto Ortmann Award for composition. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. Mr. Crouch holds a B.M. cum laude, with honors, in composition, from the University of Arkansas, where he studied with Robert Mueller and James Greeson, and a M.M. in composition from The Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Bruno Amato and Michael Hersch. Mr. Crouch is currently in the D.M.A. degree program for composition at The Peabody Conservatory.

Travis Hardaway earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts at St. John's College and a D.M.A. in Composition and Theory at Boston University. He studied composition with Douglas Allanbrook, George Tsontakis, Charles Fussell, Marjorie Merryman. Previously, Dr. Hardaway taught at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Pianist Jolie Lin is an active performer and teacher based in Baltimore, Maryland. She has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral pianist in the United States, South America, and Europe. Her principal teachers include Rosemary Carswell, Sharon Mann, Evelyne Brancart and Boris Slutsky. Dr. Lin’s research interests include music education and cultural studies in music. She holds degrees from the University of California (Berkeley), Indiana University (Bloomington), and Peabody Conservatory.

Graduate Teaching Fellows

Three of our Masters in Music Theory Pedagogy students: Joshua Bornfield, Joseph Kneer, and John Craven, are assisting Music Theory 1 (Intensive) as Graduate Teaching Fellows, teaching sections of the class under the supervision of Kip Wile. Lillian Green will assist in Ear Training 1 (Intensive) under the supervision of Courtney Orlando.

Peabody at Homewood

On the Homewood campus, Faye Chiao will teach Music Theory and Musicianship 1; John Crouch will teach Rudiments and Music Theory and Musicianship 1; Travis Hardaway will teach Rudiments and Music Theory and Musicianship 1, 2, and 3; and Steve Stone will teach Music Theory and Musicianship 2 and 3.