David Chapman
Dr. David Chapman teaches courses on the history and theory of music and encourages students to explore the creative, expressive, and intellectual sides of music as part of their Rose-Hulman education. His scholarly interests include American music in the 20th century, the post-war avant-garde, and most especially minimalism, while his teaching covers the fundamentals of tonal music, histories of western art music and of recorded sound, as well as musics of the world. He also oversees and advises students in the music minor, and occasionally showcases his piano-playing skills at campus events.

Academic Degrees

  • BMus, Kennesaw State University, 2001
  • MA, University of Georgia, 2006
  • PhD, Washington University in St. Louis, 2013

Awards & Honors

  • Paul A. Pisk Award, American Musicological Society, 2013 (For the paper "Improvisations, Watermelons, and Steve Reich's Piano Phase")

Research Experiences

  • Ensembles as historical subjects
  • Cultural and social histories of minimalist music
  • Intersections of music analysis and history
  • Archival research and histories of the recent past

Select Publications & Presentations

  • “Improvisation, Variations on a Watermelon, and a New Timeline for Piano Phase,Rethinking Reich, Oxford Press, 2016 (forthcoming)
  • “Minimalism, Incorporated: The Business of Becoming Steve Reich and Musicians and the Philip Glass Ensemble,” Royal Musicological Association Annual Conference, London, 2016
  • “Contrasts and Continuities in the Performance History of Philip Glass’ Music in Twelve Parts,” Fifth International Conference on Music and Minimalism, Turku, Finland, 2015
  • “Improvisation, Watermelons, and Steve Reich’s Piano Phase,” American Musicological Society National Conference, Pittsburgh, 2013
  • “Hearing the Flowers, Reading the Seeds in Jon Gibson’s Call (1977),” Fourth International Conference on Music and Minimalism, Long Beach, California, 2013
  • “Reconsidering Philip Glass: Space, ‘Presence,’ and Downtown Loft Culture in the Early 1970s,” Society for American Music National Conference, Charlotte, North Carolina, 2012

Teaching Interests

  • Western music history
  • Non-Western music
  • Music theory and composition
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