Laura Emmery appointed as new faculty to the School of Music

The ASU School of Music is proud to announce the hire of Laura Emmery as the assistant professor of music theory, effective fall 2015. Emmery is currently visiting assistant professor of music theory at Emory University in Atlanta.

In her new position at ASU, Emmery will teach undergraduate and graduate courses, mentor students, collaborate to recruit students and develop curriculum at the graduate level, and produce high-level research and publications.

“Dr. Emmery is a rising scholar in 20th- and 21st-century music theory whose interdisciplinary approach to research draws on philosophy, literary criticism, critical theory and performance studies to derive thoughtful and novel conclusions,” says Heather Landes, director of the ASU School of Music. “Dr. Emmery’s presence at ASU will enhance the curricular offerings and research collaborations of our school.”

Emmery is pleased to have been selected for this position in the School of Music. “ASU was my first choice for several reasons: ASU School of Music is one of the top music programs in the country, so I will be able to form intellectually vibrant relationships with fellow faculty and talented students,” says Emmery. “Further, ASU is a home to world-renowned remarkable faculty; I am quite pleased and humbled to have the opportunity to become a part of this team. Also, ASU is a Research I category university, offering support for my research.”

Emmery’s research focuses on American Modernist composers, and her dissertation was on Elliott Carter’s evolution and process while composing his string quartets. She received the Paul Sacher Stiftung Scholarship and spent eight months in Basel, Switzerland, studying Carter’s original manuscripts.

She has also received numerous other fellowships and awards, including the UCSB Affiliates Graduate Dissertation Fellowship, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, Albert and Elaine Borchard European Studies Fellowship and the Roger Chapman Award in Music Theory.

She has presented her work at myriad national and international conferences, including Society for Music Theory, Music Theory Society of New York State, West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis, European Music Analysis Conference, Paul Sacher Stiftung Colloquium in Basel, Cardiff University conference on Sacher Perspectives, CSU Long Beach conference on Temporality: Issues of Change and Stasis in Music, SUNY Buffalo Music Lecture Series, UC Santa Barbara Musicology/Theory and Composition forums, and at Chestnut Hill College. Prior teaching experience includes as an associate instructor of record at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Emmery received rigorous music training from a young age, and completed conservatory training in piano performance. She was a featured soloist with the El Camino College Symphony and a selected participant in master classes with André Watts and Santiago Rodriguez, and has performed with numerous chamber groups and ensembles.

Emmery grew up surrounded by music, thanks to family members who had attended the Paris Conservatory. “Where my story departs from the usual is that having had music theory since I was seven, counterpoint since age 11 and Schenkerian analysis since age 16, I knew, without doubt, even as a young child, that I wanted to study music theory,” says Emmery. “While I always enjoyed performing and participating in piano competitions, I equally enjoyed taking part in regional and national solfège and music theory competitions.”

Emmery has a PhD in Music Theory from University of California, Santa Barbara; a Master of Music in Theoretical Studies from New England Conservatory; and a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and Piano Performance from California State University Northridge.

Public Contact: 
Heather Beaman
Communications Liaison
480.727.6222
Heather.M.Beaman@asu.edu

Media Contact:
Heather Beaman
Communications Liaison
480.727.6222
Heather.M.Beaman@asu.edu