Dr. Michael Chikinda, Theory Area Chair

PhD, University of Buffalo, SUNY
MM, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario
BM, Univeristy of Lethbridge, Alberta

Biography

Michael Chikinda completed his dissertation at the University at Buffalo, SUNY under the direction of Dr. Martha Hyde. His research focused on the early twelve-tone works of the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola and examined the unique compositional practices of this period in the context of the Irredentist movement and the nineteenth-century ideal of the fragment.

His research interests also include the music of Alexandre Scriabin and, most recently, the music of Arvo Pärt. Dr. Chikinda presented his paper "Pärt's Evolving Tintinnabuli Technique' at the 'Arvo Pärt: Soundtrack of an Age' conference in London. Chikinda has taught at the University at Buffalo, the University of Guelph (Guelph, Ontario), Dalhousie University (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario). He is currently Music Theory Area Head and Associate Professor (Lecturer), Music Theory at the University of Utah. He has presented his research at scholarly conferences in both North America and Europe.

Representative Publications & Presentations

“Pärt’s Evolving Tintinnabuli Style.” Perspectives of New Music 49 (Winter 2011): 182-206.
“Vincent Persichetti’s Works for Violin and Piano,” presented at the New Music & the North American Academy Symposium hosted by The Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, April 13, 2012.

“Schubert and the Missing Thematic Reprise: Innovation or Subversion?” presented at the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for Music Theory at the University of Northern Colorado, March 30-31, 2012.

“Discerning Schubert's Innovative Use of Form in the Third Variation of Impromptu Op. 142, No. 3,” at the Thanatos as Muse? Schubert and Concepts of Late Style Symposium hosted by the National University of Ireland Maynooth, October 21-23, 2011.

"Arvo Pärt's Evolving Tintinnabuli Style" presented at the Arvo Pärt: Soundtrack of Age Conference hosted by the Royal Academy of Music at the Southbank Centre in London, September 24-25, 2010 and at the Arvo Pärt and Contemporary Spirituality Conference hosted by Boston University, March 27, 2010.