David Aaron Carpenter—visiting assistant professor in instrumental performance
Carpenter, a renowned violist, will fill in for professor Jodi Levitz while she is on sabbatical. A world-class instrumentalist recently profiled in Frost News, Carpenter is the recipient of the 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant and First Prize winner of the Walter E. Naumburg Viola Competition. He has established himself as one of the leading violists of his generation, performing with major orchestras and at renowned venues throughout the United States and Europe, collaborating with artists such as Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Leonidas Kavakos, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yuja Wang, and releasing multiple acclaimed recordings. A former Rolex Arts Initiative protégé of Pinchas Zukerman, Carpenter studied at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music and holds a bachelor’s in Political Science and International Relations from Princeton University.
Christopher Goddard— visiting assistant professor in music theory and composition
A leading contemporary Canadian composer and advocate of new music as well as a pianist, Goddard’s work has been recognized by the MacDowell Foundation, the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers, the Prix Collégien de Musique Contemporaine, the SOCAN Young Composer Awards, and the Robert Avalon Competition for Young Composers. As a composer, Goddard has collaborated with NYO Canada, Esprit Orchestra, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and other ensembles, and has recently received commissions from the Lucerne Festival, the Royal Conservatory/Koerner Hall for the 21C Festival and the City of Reutlingen. Goddard holds a doctorate in composition from McGill University, a master’s in contemporary performance from the Manhattan School of Music as well as a master’s in composition from Rice University and a bachelor’s in composition and theory from McGill University.
David Heinsen—lecturer in music theory and composition
Heinsen’s research sits at the intersection of musical analysis and historical inquiry, and his work examines how listeners in previous eras might have understood the music of their time, with analysis grounded in archival research and contextual understanding. He has presented at national and regional conferences, and published in the international journal Bibliotheca Dantesca. Heinsen holds a Ph.D. in Music Theory from The University of Texas at Austin, a master’s in musicology and another in euphonium performance from the University of Georgia, and a bachelor’s in music education from James Madison University.
Robin Heinsen—assistant professor in music education
Robin Heinsen comes to the Frost School from Miami University of Ohio, where she was the director of graduate studies and an assistant professor of music education. She brings an outstanding blend of research, K-12 teaching, and teacher-education experience to the Frost School. An oboist and Atlanta native, Heinsen spent eight years as a middle school band director in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where she won national recognition for leading highly successful music programs. Her research focuses on teacher cognition, preservice teacher development, and learner-centered pedagogy, and she uses innovative methods, such as eye-tracking technology, to understand better how music teachers think and make decisions in real time. She has published in leading journals, including the Psychology of Music and the Journal of Research in Music Education. Heinsen holds a bachelor’s and a master’s in music education from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in music and human learning from the University of Texas at Austin.
Cibele Moura—assistant professor of musicology
Moura comes to the Frost School from Cornell University, where she served as a visiting lecturer this past year and received her doctorate in music and sound studies. Her research explores the power struggles at the intersection of vernacular and sacred music-making, listening practices, and knowledge production in Latin America. She has published, or has pieces forthcoming, in Twentieth Century Music, the Journal of Popular Music Studies, and Musicology Now, where she has served on the curatorial team. She is working on a book which examines obscenity as a category of racialized sexuality in Latin American sonic cultures.
Giselle Ruzany—lecturer in dance
As a psychotherapist, dancer, educator, and choreographer, Ruzany’s work bridges dance, psychology, and somatic practice. She has performed and collaborated internationally and taught in the Dance and Theater Department at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Ruzany maintained a private psychotherapy practice in Washington, DC, for more than 20 years, and her clinical work focuses on trauma, depression, anxiety, and relationship challenges. She is a licensed professional counselor, a master’s level mental health professional; and recently earned a Ph.D. in Expressive Arts Therapy, researching embodied digital storytelling and ancestral legacy.
We also congratulate the following faculty members on new roles and promotions:
- Associate professor Shawn Crouch is now interim chair of the Music Theory and Composition department.
- Raina Murnak has been awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor and to chair and director of the Modern Artist Development and Entrepreneurship (M.A.D.E.) program.
- Camilo Rodriguez has been promoted to assistant professor and to chair of the Media Scoring and Production program.
- Brian Russell has been promoted to assistant professor in the M.A.D.E. program.
- Daniel Strange has been awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor in the M.A.D.E. program.
- Professor Stephen Zdzinksi is now interim chair of the Music Education department
- Director of Bands and associate professor Michael Hancock has been awarded tenure in the Instrumental Performance department.
- John Redmond has been promoted to associate professor in the Music Industry program.
