Kevin's Academic Street Cred
Kevin has spent more years pursuing the academic study of music, culture, gender, race, and sexuality than he would like to admit.
Here's an official record of that time:
Kevin Schwandt
Curriculum Vita
(or download pdf)
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy: Musicology (A.B.D.); University of Minnesota. 2005-present.
(Preliminary examinations passed: November 2007; Defense planned, August 2009).
• Tentative dissertation title: “‘Oh What a World!’: Rufus Wainwright, Queer Masculinities, and the Musical Construction of a Reparative Cultural Historiography.”
Advisor: Dr. Kelley Harness.
Master of Music: Composition; University of Massachusetts Amherst. 2005.
• Thesis Project: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, song cycle on the poem by T. S. Eliot.
• Composition study with Dr. Salvatore Macchia.
• Electronic Composition study with Dr. Charles Bestor.
Bachelor of Arts: English and Music; Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. 2002.
• Graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors in both English and Music.
• Honors Thesis in English: Motherhood, Conjure, and the Act of Healing: Tactics of Liberation in the Fiction of Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor. Project Advisor: Dr. Veena Deo.
• Honors Thesis in Music: Soliloquy for Distance, song cycle on an original text. Project Advisor: Dr. Janet Greene.
Coursework toward Bachelor of Arts: Music; Luther College, Decorah, IA. 1997-1999.
COLLEGE TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Lecturer of Music. College of St. Catherine. 2008-2009.
• Music Theory III, Western Music History II.
• Taught tonal harmony, sixteenth- and eighteenth-century counterpoint, Music History from 1750 to the present.
Instructor. University of Minnesota. 2007-2008.
• Music 1021/3021: Introduction to Music.
• Designed course to emphasize cultural contexts, critical listening, and interpretive strategies.
• Supervised teaching assistant.
• Approximately seventy students each semester.
Instructor. National American University. 2006.
• Music Appreciation.
• Designed course emphasizing critical listening and political/cultural contexts.
Teaching Assistant. University of Minnesota. 2005-2007.
• Music 3601, 3602, 3603: History of Western Music.
• Music 1013: Rock I: Origins and Historical Development to 1970.
• Music 1801: Music, Society, and Culture.
Teaching Assistant. University of Massachusetts. 2003-2005.
• Music 112: Music Theory I.
• Music 113: Music Theory II.
• Taught sixteenth-century species counterpoint and diatonic harmony.
Teaching Assistant. Hamline University. 2001.
• Music 1030: Music in World Cultures.
PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming: “‘Rhythm is My Bitch’: Kevin Aviance, Matthew Shepard, and the Embodied Music of Hate, Violence, and Healing.” Popular Musicology Online. Refereed. Solicited by guest editor.
Forthcoming: “The Erotics of an Oil Drum: Queercore, Gay Macho, and the Defiant Sexuality of Extra Fancy’s Sinnerman.” Women and Music 13 (2009). Refereed. Solicited by guest editor.
Forthcoming: “Homocore Minneapolis,” digital archive entry. “A World in Two Cities”
Website (http://twocities.umn.edu/). Solicited by curator and webmaster.
Book Review: Lerner, Neil and Joseph N. Straus, eds. Sounding Off: Theorizing Disability in Music (New York: Routledge, 2006). Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal 4 (2008), 19. Refereed.
SELECT COMMISSIONS
Ce N’est Rien. Song cycle on texts by Rilke, Rimbaud, Verlaine, and Whitman for Soprano, Clarinet and Piano. Commissioned by Deborah Carbaugh and Dr. Kathy Thomsen, Hamline University. Premiered: Sundin Music Hall, St. Paul, MN. 20 February 2002.
“If I can stop one heart from breaking,” for soprano and piano. Commissioned by Jennifer Thorvig. Premiered: Sundin Music Hall, St. Paul, MN. 21 July 2002.
“If You Come As Softly,” for women’s chorus and piano. Commissioned by the Hamline University Women’s Chorus, Dr. Kathy Thomsen, Director. Premiered: Sundin Music Hall, St. Paul, MN. 4 May 2002.
“The Secret,” for string orchestra. Commissioned by the Valley View Middle School 9th Grade Orchestra, Edina, MN, Barbara Flooding, Director. Funded in part through a Bush Faculty Development Grant. Premiered: Valley View Middle School Auditorium, Edina, MN. 7 March 2002.
“I Will Remember You,” arrangement for mixed chorus, piano, and guitar. Commissioned by Central High School Robed Choir, La Crosse WI, Mike Esser, Director. June 1998.
SELECT OTHER COMPOSITION PREMIERES
“He Plays Barber” for piano and “Samuel Barber to His Mother” for voice and piano. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. 15 April 2007.
5 Songs of Experience on Texts by William Blake. Bezanson Music Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst. April 2005.
Wallingford Suite for solo violin. Bezanson Music Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst. May 2004.
“Fallacy for Saxophone Quartet.” Bezanson Music Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst. 10 December 2003.
Soliloquy for Distance. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University. April 2002.
• Song cycle on texts by the composer for soprano, clarinet, bassoon, piano, violin, and cello.
• Premiered by members of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Senior Recital. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University. 17 May 2001.
• Works performed: “A Noiseless, Patient Spider,” “Killers,” and “A Lovely Love” for baritone and piano; As Big as You Make It: Six Poems of Georgia Douglas Johnson for baritone and piano; Making Time: Three Love Poems of e. e. cummings for baritone, clarinet and piano; “Rabid Dance” for clarinet and cello; “999 Tupelo Drive” for clarinet and piano; “My Life in a Cube,” “Ode to a Static Life,” and “A Conversation with My Grandmother” for piano.
In Kat’s Heart. Central High School Auditorium, La Crosse WI. 7-8 August 1997.
• Operetta on a libretto by the composer.
• Produced and directed premiere.
SELECT PRESENTATIONS AND WORKSHOPS
“Classical Music and Identity Politics.” Guest Lecture. McNally/Smith College of Music. 6 February 2009.
“‘Rhythm is My Bitch’: Kevin Aviance, Matthew Shepard, and the Embodied Music of Hate, Violence, and Healing,” in the panel “Popular Music and the Negotiation of Trauma,” International Association for the Study of Popular Music—United States Branch 2008 Conference: “Global Pop, Space and Place,” University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. 25-28 April 2008. Refereed.
“(Re)Queering Orpheus in the Music of Rufus Wainwright,” Feminist Theory & Music 9, Montréal, Québec. 6-10 June 2007. Refereed.
“The Erotics of an Oil Can: Queercore, Gay Macho, and the Defiant Sexuality of Extra Fancy’s Sinnerman,” Queer Vibrations Conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 30-31 March 2007. Refereed.
“The Erotics of an Oil Can: Queercore, Gay Macho, and the Violent Sexuality of Extra Fancy’s Sinnerman,” University of Minnesota Graduate Student Symposium in Musicology and Ethnomusicology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 23-25 March 2007.
Workshop Panelist, “Queer Research: Exploring GLBT, Gender, and Sexuality Issues Within Academic Disciplines,” Alphabet Soup: The Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Ally College Conference, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 16-18 February 2007.
Queer Research Workshop panelist, Minnesota Out! Campus Conference, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. 6-7 October 2006.
“Masking Gender, Subverting the Orientalist Gaze: the Defiant Subjectivity of The Death of Klinghoffer’s Omar.” McGill University Graduate Student Symposium, Montréal, Québec. 3-6 March 2006. Refereed.
“Motherhood, Conjure, and the Act of Healing: Tactics of Liberation in the Fiction of Toni Morrison and Gloria Naylor.” Honors Day Conference. Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. 2 May 2002.
“The Defense of Identity: Self-Revelation and the Threat of Violence in Nella Larsen’s Passing and Octavia Butler’s Kindred.” National Conference on Undergraduate Research, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI. 25-27 April 2002. Refereed.
SELECT GRANTS, HONORS, AND AWARDS
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2008-2009.
Honorable Mention, Stephen J. Schochet GLBT Studies Award for Excellence: Best Graduate Academic Paper, for “(Re)Queering Orpheus in the Music of Rufus Wainwright,” 2007.
Teaching Assistantship, University of Minnesota, 2005-2008.
Teaching Assistantship, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2003-2005.
Graduated magna cum laude, Hamline University, 2002.
Departmental Honors in English, Hamline University, 2002.
Departmental Honors in Music, Hamline University, 2002.
Thomas P. Beyer Prize in English, Hamline University, 2002.
Eliza A. Drew Prize in Music Composition, Hamline University, 2001, 2002.
Bush Faculty Development Grant, with Dr. Kathy McLane for composition of orchestral work for use with Dalcroze pedagogy, Hamline University, 2001.
Hamline University Grant, to facilitate professional performance of Departmental Honors Project, 2002.
Regent’s Scholarship, Luther College. 1997-1999.
Weston Noble Talent Scholarship, Luther College. 1997-1999.
First Place, 1997 National Association of Teacher’s of Singing (NATS) Wisconsin Chapter High School Men’s division.
SOLO PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE
Numerous Performances of Original Vocal Works. 2001-present.
Participant in “Illuminating Blake,” component of VocalEssence’s “Illuminating Bolcom” Festival. 2007.
• Concert Lecture/Performance of original setting of William Blake’s “The Garden of Love.”
• Led classroom discussions and performed original song-cycle 5 Songs of Experience on Texts by William Blake. University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN.
“Barber and Schwandt”: music by Samuel Barber and music by Kevin Schwandt responding to music by Barber. Voice. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN. 15 April 2007.
Honors Recital. Voice. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN.
7 April 2002.
Senior Composition Recital. Voice and piano. Hamline University, St. Paul, MN.
17 May 2001.
Soloist. “An Evening of Rogers and Hart,” Luther College, January 1999.
“Giuseppe.” Lead role in workshop production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, Luther College, Decorah, IA. January 1998.
Solo Competition, “Showstoppers.” Performance of original song. Nashville, TN. 1997.
ENSEMBLE EXPERIENCE
Baritone/Bass, University of Massachusetts Chamber Choir, 2003-2004.
Baritone, Earth Mass Chorus, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine,
New York, NY, 5 October 2003.
Baritone/Bass, Hamline University A Cappella Choir, 2000-2001.
Baritone, Renaissance, Hamline University. 2000-2001.
Baritone, with the Minnesota Oratorio society in a performance of Beethoven’s
Missa Solemnis. Ted Mann Hall, Minneapolis, MN, February 2000.
Baritone, Luther College Cathedral Choir, 1998-1999.
Bass, Luther College Norsemen male chorus, 1997-1998.
Baritone, Juletide Chorus Luther College, 1997, 1998.
Baritone, with Luther College Community Messiah Chorus in performance of Handel’s Messiah, 1997.
Bass, Wisconsin State Honors Choir, 1997.
Baritone/Bass, La Crosse Central High School Robed Choir, 1995-1997.
Trumpet, La Crosse Central High School Orchestra, 1996-1997.
Trumpet, La Crosse Central High School Wind Ensemble, 1994-1997.
Trumpet, La Crosse Central High School Jazz Ensemble, 1994-1997.
ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT
Editor/Research Assistant. Brad BASO EXPERIENCE management. 2009-present.
Disc Jockey. Instant Request Digital Entertainment. Bloomington, MN. 2008-present.
Assistant to Director of International Visitor Leadership Program.
Minnesota International Center, Minneapolis, MN. 2006.
• Assisted in development and coordination of individualized programs facilitating conversation between international and local leaders in diverse academic, policy, and social services fields.
• Composed detailed itineraries for visitors.
Music Hall Staff. Sundin Music Hall, Hamline Univerity, St. Paul, MN. 2006.
• Provided direct support and assistance to musicians.
• Responsible for various logistics, including ticket sales, ushering, and backstage coordination.
Program Assistant/Facilitator. Historic Deerfield’s Family History Workshop,
Deerfield, MA. 2003-2005.
• Planned and implemented activities involving Colonial History for children aged 5-15.
• Facilitated monthly “Hands-On History” events.
Long-Term Substitute Music Teacher. Frontier Regional School,
South Deerfield, MA. 2002-2003.
• Taught 7th Grade General Music, Middle School Chorus, High School Chorus, Piano, Voice, Guitar; conducted Winter and Spring concerts.
Program Staff/Lead Aide. “Arts, etc.,” Summer Arts Program.
Friends School of Minnesota. 2002.
• Worked with local artists and teachers to develop curricula in music, visual arts, and dance.
• Implemented culturally-diverse lesson plans.
Before- and After-School Program Staff. Friends School of Minnesota. 2002.
Teacher’s Aide. Friends School of Minnesota. 2002.
Assistant Debate Coach. Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley, MN. 1999-2001.
Assistant Teacher. A Chance To Grow/New Visions School. Minneapolis, MN. 1999.
Assistant Teacher. Building Blocks Children’s Learning Center. Rosemount, MN. 1999.
SERVICE
President, UJive (Musicology/Ethnomusicology Graduate Student Organization). 2006-2008. Served in leadership capacity during the organization’s first-ever Graduate Student Symposium (2007).
Musicology Division Representative, Graduate Advisory Committee, University of Minnesota School of Music. 2007-2008.
Officer, University of Minnesota’s Queer Graduate and Professional Student Association. 2006-2008.
Program Coordinator, UJive. 2005-2006.
Co-organizer, Student Composition Recital. University of Massachusetts. 2005.
CURRENT RESEARCH AREAS
Identity formation in American musical traditions.
Music reception and critical listening positions.
Queer and feminist theories in music.
Twentieth-century opera.
Interactions between “classical” and “popular” musics.
MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP)
American Musicological Society
International Association for the Study of Popular Music—United States Branch