CURRICULUM VITAE

Education

2002 Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Literature, Eastman School of Music
1993 Master of Music in Performance and Literature, Yale University School of Music
1992 Diploma of Advanced Studies in Guitar Performance, Royal Academy of Music, London
1988 Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance, Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
1986-present Private studies of viola da gambe, baroque lute, baroque guitar, theorbo, vihuela, flamenco, and jazz guitar in Europe and the United States

 

Professional Activities

2006–2023 Full Professor, Nyack College School of Music, Manhattan Campus (later Alliance University), New York City.

Areas of responsibility:

  • Director of Theory and Ear Training Studies
  • (supervising 3-5 adjunct professors)
  • As director for theory and ear training, I designed the integrated
    undergraduate curriculum for music theory, ear training, functional
    piano, and music history into the Literature and Materials course
    that we used at Nyack College and Alliance University for 15 years.
    At Alliance University, I designed a complete graduate curriculum
    with majors in performance, pedagogy, musicology, and music
    journalism
  •  Director of Classical Guitar Studies
  •  (supervising 3 adjunct professors)
  • Instructor, Collegium Musicum
1997–present Associate Professor (adjunct), Director of Guitar Studies, Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, City University of New York
1999–2002 Teaching Assistant, Guitar Department, Eastman School of Music
1998–2002 Teaching Assistant, Collegium Musicum, Eastman School of Music
1990–1992 Teaching Assistant, Guitar Department, Yale School of Music
1998–2002 Substitute Guitar Instructor, Juilliard Pre-College
1997–2006 Guitar and Piano Instructor, the Hewitt School, New York City

 

Courses Taught

2007-2023 Literature and Materials 1-5 (Nyack College and Alliance University) An integrated music history survey and theory course, integrating the history and theories of Western music and art from our present-day to Antiquity. The course curriculum, which I designed,
can be forwarded on request

2009–2023 Form and Analysis (Nyack College and Alliance University) Introductory course for music majors to the common forms in Western concert music, from the 12- 16- and 32-bar forms in jazz standards, to sonata forms, rondo, fugue, and concerto styles of the canonic
concert literature. Special emphasis is placed on the techniques to analyze and understand form and structural reduction techniques.

2006-2023 Elementary and Advanced Counterpoint (Nyack College and Alliance University) Introductory and continuing courses in two- and three-part counterpoint, composing species counterpoint and beyond, using both historical and contemporary sources.
Counterpoint texts: Felix Saltzer and Carl Schachter: Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading. Johann Joseph Fux: The
Study of Counterpoint (Gradus ad Parnassum), translated and edited by Alfred Mann. Online courses in both elementary and advanced
counterpoint developed (2017)

2023 Culture and the Arts (Alliance University) An online summer course for non-majors in contemporary cultures and arts of New
York City

2006–2023 Music to 1700 (Classroom and online. Nyack College) Historical survey of Western music. Students develop listening skills and examine compositional designs and cultural contexts for the major musical genres. Special emphasis on the history of music theory and aesthetics during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, particularly with respect to text setting and rhetorical procedures

2006–2023 Music to 1800 (Nyack College) Historical survey of Western music. Special emphasis on the development of opera and instrumental genres

2006–2023 Basic Music Theory (Nyack College) Introduction to musical notation, clefs, scales, intervals, triads and seventh-chords, basic vocabulary and syntax of music from the common practice period

2006–2023 Theory I and II (Nyack College) Tonal harmony and syntax, phrase models and common practice harmonic vocabulary in part-writing, analysis and two-part first- and second-species counterpoint.

Theory text: Steven G. Laitz The Complete Musician

2006-2023 Theory III and IV (Nyack College) Building on the skills from theory I and II, this course further develops and examines the prolongation of phrase models through a detailed study of part-writing, analysis, listening and counterpoint exercises in several species. The fourth semester includes sketching of shorter tonal pieces from the canonic literature. It also introduces students to non-tonal theory (PC set-theory and twelve-tone matrix.)

Theory text: Steven G. Laitz The Complete Musician.

Supplemental material for non-tonal theory is drawn primarily from Joseph N. Straus: Post-Tonal Theory

Counterpoint texts: Felix Saltzer and Carl Schachter: Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading. Johann Joseph Fux: The Study of Counterpoint (Gradus ad Parnassum), translated and edited by Alfred Mann. Online course in both elementary and advanced counterpoint developed (2017)

2012–2023 Orchestration (Nyack College) online course developed (built) and taught, using Samuel Adler’s textbook The Study of Orchestration

2012–2023 Senior Seminar (Nyack College) writing skills, application to graduate school; audition techniques and recording; Curriculum Vitae writing; review of undergraduate history and theory skills for application to graduate school

2007–2011 Director of Nyack College Collegium Musicum (Nyack College) Focusing on chamber music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the Nyack College Collegium is a conducted ensemble that comprises both vocal and instrumental soloists, choir and basso continuo

2008 Foundations for Excellence (Nyack College) Introductory course in basic academic skills: writing skills, research methods, time management, oral presentation and practicing

2007–2023 Classical Guitar Studio, (Nyack College) Undergraduate private classical guitar lessons

2023 Music 1400 Fundamentals of Music (Brooklyn College) A music theory fundamentals course for non-majors

___________________

1997–present Associate Adjunct Professor and Director of Guitar Studies (Brooklyn College.) Undergraduate and graduate studio classical and jazz guitar

1997–present Director of Guitar Ensemble (Brooklyn College.)

The ensemble commissions and works with contemporary composers from within and outside the college. The ensemble has premiered more than 20 new works by student composers and others, featuring both the classical as well as the electric guitar.

The college hosts a professional classical guitar quartet (the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet) whose repertoire includes music by all the major composers, including ten piano works by Felix Mendelssohn in guitar quartet transcription, works by Leo Brouwer and other contemporary composers

1997–present Fretted String Workshop (Brooklyn College.) A guitar pedagogy course for undergraduate and graduate music education majors

1998–2002 Music Appreciation, Core 2.2 (Brooklyn College.) Introductory course in music from the Western Tradition (classical and popular genres) for non-majors

_____________

1997–2000 Chamber Music Coach (Apple Hill Summer School for Chamber Music, New Hampshire.) Comprising an international faculty with members of the Chicago, New York, and London Symphonies, I was the first guitarist to appear at the Apple Hill Summer Festival. I coached chamber music at Apple Hill for five consecutive concert seasons

Academic Service

2008–2023 Director for Theory and Ear Training Studies, Nyack College, Manhattan Campus.
The theory and ear training director is responsible for curriculum development and the supervision of adjunct faculty. Our theory and ear training curriculum is based on the basic tenets of Shenkerian theory, using Steven Laitz’s textbook The Complete Musician (London: Oxford University Press, 2007) as its foundation
2006–2023 Jury Member for vocal and instrumental auditions and juries at Nyack College
2000–2023 Supervisor for Independent Studies. Graduate and undergraduate students from Nyack College and Brooklyn College.

Topics for independent studies have included:

  • Form and Analysis (Nyack College)
  • Senior Seminar (Nyack College)
  • The Organ Sonatas of Felix Mendelssohn (Nyack College)
  • Orchestration and Instrumentation (Nyack College)
  • The Guitar Music of Heitor Villa Lobos (Nyack College)
  • Tonal and Modal Counterpoint (Nyack College)
  • Music History Survey Classes (Nyack College)
  • Ornamentation in 17th Century Vocal Music (Brooklyn College)
1997–present Chair, Guitar Auditions and Juries, Brooklyn College
1998–2000 Jury Member, Wood Winds Auditions and Juries, Bklyn College

  

University Service

2018-2023 Chair, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Nyack College
2010-2023 Faculty Affairs Committee, Nyack College
2017–2023 Task force Curriculum Committee, Nyack College
2006–present Curriculum Development, Nyack College.
Syllabi and course rubrics available upon request
2008 Coordinator for Outreach and Development ConcertsNyack Performances, Nyack College
2000 Member of the Curriculum Committee, Brooklyn College

 

Other Professional Service

2008-present Consultant for Christie’s Auctions, New York City.
Consultant regarding the sale of Francisco Tarrega’s Torres guitar (FE. 17), including a live televised performance for an invited audience

 

Presentations

2019 Lecture recital in Hong Kong on the Siete Canciones Populares Epañolas by Manuel deFalla at the International Guitar Research Institute
2017 Lecture on the harmonic procedures (the Augmented Sixth of Giant Steps) common to both John Coltrane and Ludwig van Beethoven at the Rockland Campus of Nyack College
2015 Lecture recital (on Hans Werner Henze’s Royal Winter Music) at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Surrey University, U.K.
2013 Lecture recital (on Hans Werner Henze’s Royal Winter Music) and master classes at Mersin University, Turkey
2013 Lecture recital at New York City Classical Guitar Society on Hans Werner Henze’s Royal Winter Music
2011 Presentation for Nyack Scholars’ Symposium, Manhattan Campus
2010 Presentation at CUNY on the life and works of Hans Werner Henze
2010 Presentation for New York City Classical Guitar Society on Analysis and Performance
2002 Presentation at the Eastman School on sound reinforcement for the classical guitar
1998 Presentation at Yale School of Music on sound reinforcement for the classical guitar

 

Master Classes

2006 Aalborg International Guitar Festival (Denmark). Other festival artists included Carlo Machione (Italy), Paul Gregory (England), Duo Spinoza (France)
2004 Guest Lecturer, Houghton College, NY
2003 Guest Lecturer and Performer, Mansfield University, PA
2002 Concert tour and master classes in South America

  

Master Class Performances

2018 Brazilian Guitar Duo (with Brooklyn Guitar Quartet)
2017 Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (with Brooklyn Guitar Quartet)
2003 Canadian Guitar Quartet (with Brooklyn Guitar Quartet)
SOLO
1989-1992 John Williams (three times)
1988-2002 David Russell (four times)
1988 Nicola Hall
1988 Seppo Siirala
1986 Manuel Barrueco
1985 Vladimir Mikulka

 

Recordings

2024 Recording of guitar quartets by Joao Luiz with the Brooklyn Guitar
Quartet, released by New Focus Recordings
1994 World Music album The Colour of Silence with English flamenco guitarist Jason Carter,
recorded under the name of the Jason Carter Project at Sony Studios in Bombay, India, for CBS records. Later re-released on Jason Carter’s private label as incd001. Also including Sharafar Ali, tablas; Rajinder Singh, violin; and Sunil Das, sitar

 

Awards

1990-2003 Recording of guitar quartets by Joao Luiz with the Brooklyn Guitar
Quartet, released by New Focus Recordings
2009 $10,000 Yale Alumni Award from Yale University to Further the Cause of Music
by performing in fifty maximum-security prisons in California and New York with double bass player Richard (Dobbs) Hartshorn

                

 Selected Performances

2024 Scheduled concert tour with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti with concerts in Brighton, England, Leipzig, Germany, Oslo and Kristianssand, Norway, and Sondermarks Kirken, Viborg, Denmark
2024 Recital at Elsinor Theatre, Elsinor, Denmark, with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti and pianist Kim Lindgreen
2024 Recital with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti at Sondermarks kirken in Viborg, Denmark
2020-2023 Recital tours (in private homes during Covid) of Denmark with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti
2019 Recital at David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fischer Hall) at Lincoln Center, with faculty and students from Nyack College
2019 Invitation to give lecture recital on DeFalla songs in Hong Kong with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti
2018 Invitation to give lecture recital at Yale University on Henze and deFalla
2018 Two recitals in the Boston area with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti as part of the production of Terence McNally’s Masterclass
2018 Recital at Merrimack College in Andover, MA with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti
2018 Recital at Steinway Recital Hall in Manhattan with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti
2017 Recital at Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center with faculty and students of Nyack College
2017 Recital at Brooklyn College, CUNY in Roosevelt Hall with mezzo-soprano Christina Lamberti
2017 Guitarist for the Broadway play In The Heights at the Actors’ Theatre in MidTown Manhattan
2015 Lecture recitals at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Surrey University, England
2015 Faculty concert at Brooklyn College with the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet (brooklynguitarquartet.com)
2014 Faculty concert at Brooklyn College
2013 Lecture recital at Mersin University, Turkey
2013 Recital with the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet at the Manhattan Campus of Nyack College
2013 Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center: celebration performance with Nyack College faculty and students
2013 Recital with the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet at the Manhattan Campus of Nyack College
2013 Recital with the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet at the Rockland Campus of Nyack College
2013 Faculty Recital, Nyack College
2013 Faculty recital, Brooklyn College
2012 Faculty recital, Brooklyn College
2012 Recital with the Brooklyn Guitar Quartet at Nyack College
2011 Faculty and Alumni recital, Nyack College
2010 Faculty recital, Brooklyn College
2010 Nyack College Collegium Musicum (Director), Opera Workshop, Chamber Singers and Student Awards joint recital
2009 Nyack College Collegium Musicum (Director), Chamber Music and Student Awards joint recital
2009 Tour of California and New York with double bass player Richard (Dobbs) Hartshorn.
The tour was made possible through an award from Yale University. Fifty recitals in maximum security prisons across California and New York
2008 Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, as part of the 125th Anniversary Concert for Nyack College
2008 Faculty Recital, Nyack College School of Music
2008 Director, Nyack College Collegium Musicum recital
2007 Director, Nyack College Collegium Musicum recital
2006 Recitals in Manhattan and Brooklyn with Joseph Trent, flute, performing on 19th century original instruments
2005 Walt Whitman Hall, Brooklyn College, with the college chorus and symphony orchestra, celebrating Brooklyn College’s 75th anniversary
2005 Performance with the Gotham Chorus at St. Paul and St. Stephen’s Church in Manhattan
2003 Solo recital, Mansfield University, PA
2003 Brooklyn Guitar Quartet at Yale University
2002 Electric guitar performance with Kevin Gallagher in Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas, transcribed for electric guitars by Kevin Gallagher
1999 Recitals at Brooklyn College with Uli Speth, violin
1998–1999 Recitals with violist Peter James Sulski of the London Symphony Orchestra, and double bass player Richard (Dobbs) Hartshorn of the Apple Hill Players
1998 Recitals in Manhattan and at Brooklyn College with flautist Janet Axelrod of the Radio City Orchestra of New York
1997 Recital at Park Avenue Christian Church, Manhattan
with flautist Janet Axelrod of the Radio City Orchestra and harpist Susan Jolles of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. World premiere of Mark Grant’s solo guitar work, Alba
1997 Solo guitar recital at the American Institute of Guitar, Manhattan
1992 Recital tour (10 duo recitals) in England and Denmark with Paul Gregory, guitar.

Professional Recommendations

 Dr. Steven Laitz, Professor & Chair of Music Theory, Juilliard School of Music

Dr. Jefferey Taylor, PhD, Professor and Director for the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, CUNY

Dr. Jason Eckardt, Professor of Composition and Theory, Brooklyn College

Dr. Peter Holsberg, PhD Former Dean of Alliance University School of Music

Dr. Darryl Jordan, PhD, former colleague at Alliance University

Former Students

Carlos Cuestas, PhD Candidate (ABD)

Dr. Hale Birgul, PhD, Professor of Music, Mersin University, Turkey

Roberto Sanchez, DMA Candidate

Romulo Viana, DMA Candidate

 

Contact Info available upon request