Six University of Miami Frost School of Music faculty members received 2016 Provost’s Research Grant Awards, out of 15 total awards granted at the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus this year.
Announced by Thomas J. LeBlanc, Executive Vice President and Provost, the Provost’s Research Awards are designed to foster excellence in research and creative scholarship at the University of Miami. The Provost’s Research Awards provide both salary support and support for direct research costs.
Three professors from the Music Theory & Composition department were among the recipients, Assistant Professor Juan Chattach was awarded for research on a book titled A Theory in Film Music. Professor Charles Mason was awarded for a project titled American Prisoner: a set of five vignettes to be performed as telematics works and Professor Lansing McLoskey was awarded for a project titled Zealot Canticles: A Concert-Length Oratorio.
In regard to Mason’s American Prisoner project, Mason quoted, “The objective [of my project] is to create works that will bring focus to feelings of isolation and lack of connectedness by Americans who are incarcerated.”
Associate Professor of Vocal Performance Alan Johnson, who serves as Program Director of the Frost Opera Theater, received a Provost Research Grant Award for a project Music With Words – A Philip Glass Concert and Recording Project.
Program Director and Associate Professor of Music Therapy Teresa Lesiuk, was awarded for a research project titled The Impact of Piano Training on Cognitive, Motor, and Psychosocial Outcomes in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease.
Professor of Musicology Deborah Schwartz-Kates, was awarded for a research project titled The Film Music of Alberto Ginastera During the Perόn Years.
Roughly 150 applications were evaluated based on their scholarly, scientific, and creative merit. In addition, they were assessed on the likelihood the work will lead to major publications or externally reviewed scholarly activity. Applicants are reviewed by faculty subcommittees of the Research Council representing the arts, business, humanities, natural science and engineering, and social science.
The awards are classified into three categories based on discipline: the Max Orovitz Research Awards in the Arts and Humanities, the James W. McLamore Research Awards in Business and the Social Sciences, and the Research Awards in the Natural Sciences and Engineering.
The award reception will take place on April 21st, 2016.
