Biography
Brent Yorgason is an Associate Professor at the BYU School of Music, where he specializes in music theory, aural skills, and film music studies. He received his Ph.D. in music theory from Indiana University in 2009 with a dissertation on expressive timing and meter. He has presented his research in numerous regional, national, and international conferences, including the Society for Music Theory, Music and the Moving Image, the Max Steiner Symposium, the International Conference on Nineteenth-Century Music, the Congress of the International Association of Music Libraries, Beethoven 2020: Analytical and Performative Perspectives, Performing Brahms in the Twenty-First Century, Music Theory Midwest, the Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory, and the West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis. His work has been published in several prestigious journals, including Music Theory Spectrum, Music Theory Online, Journal of Film Music, Engaging Students, and Music Theory Pedagogy Online.
With his colleague, Jeff Lyon, Brent directs the activities of the Max Steiner Institute, which includes a ground-breaking film music corpus study called the Max Steiner Digital Thematic Catalog (https://maxsteinerinstitute.org). Other projects have included guest-editing a special issue of the Journal of Film Music on the music of Max Steiner, and the BYU Philharmonic's recreation of Steiner's historic score for King Kong (1933), which was performed live to film in 2019. In addition to his work with Max Steiner and Classic Hollywood film scoring practices, Brent’s research interests include such diverse topics as Schenkerian analysis, meter and performance, machine metaphors in music, minimalism, technology in music pedagogy, and hymnology.
Brent is the Managing Editor of Music Theory Online, the official online journal of the Society for Music Theory—a position he has held since 2003—and serves on the SMT Networking Committee. He has also worked extensively as a computer programmer, developing music pedagogical software such as the Audio Timeliner (https://audiotimeliner.singanewsong.org), an audio annotation tool used extensively in the formal analysis of recorded music. Brent is the author of InQuizitive for Aural Skills, an online resource published by W.W. Norton with two leading aural skills textbooks. He has also helped to develop online music fundamentals courses for Indiana University and Connect4Education.
Before joining the faculty at BYU, Brent taught at Marietta College, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Indiana University, where he had the opportunity to teach a variety of subjects ranging from music theory and aural skills to music history, jazz history, world music, orchestration, counterpoint, and composition.
Research Interests
film music studies, rhythm and meter, expressive asynchrony in piano performance, machine imagery in music, hymnology, music theory pedagogy, aural skillsTeaching Interests
music theory, aural skills, film music, music history, jazz history, hymnologyEducation
- Ph.D., Music Theory , music history and literature, music information technology, Indiana University (2009)
- M.M., Music Theory , music history and literature, Indiana University (1999)
- B.A. , Music , Computer Science, Utah State University (1997)
- A.A.S., Music , Ricks College (1995)
Honors and Awards
- Research and Creative Activity Grant, College of Fine Arts and Communications (2023 - 2023)
- Research and Creative Activity Grant, College of Fine Arts and Communications (2023 - 2023)
- Professional Development Grant, College of Fine Arts and Communications (2019 - 2019)
- Research and Creative Activity Grant, College of Fine Arts and Communications (2016 - 2017)
- Academic Excellence in Teaching Award, Alpha Lambda Delta, Marietta College (2011 - 2012)
- Innovative Teaching Award, Marietta College (2011 - 2012)
Memberships
- Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (2016 - Present)
- Hymn Society of the United States and Canada (2015 - Present)
- Society for Music Theory (2005 - Present)
Professional Citizenship
- Committee/Council Member, Attributions Subcommittee, LDS Hymnbook Committee (2021 - Present)
- Editorial Review Board Member, Journal of Film Music (2018 - Present)
- Editor, Associate Editor, Music Theory Online (2003 - Present)
- Committee/Council Member, SMT Networking Committee (2003 - Present)
- Media Interview, Y Magazine (Brigham Young University) (2023 - 2023)
- Conference-Related Role, Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (2023 - 2023)
- Media Participation, Talking Music with Olga Jegunova (2022 - 2022)
- Editor, Associate Editor, Journal of Film Music (2021 - 2022)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Contemporary Music Review (2022 - 2022)
- Conference-Related Role, The Society for Minimalist Music (2022 - 2022)
- Conference-Related Role, Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (2022 - 2022)
- Other, Society for Music Theory (2014 - 2021)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Quodlibet: Revista de Especialización Musical, (2021 - 2021)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Journal of Film Music (2021 - 2021)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Music Theory Online (2021 - 2021)
- Conference-Related Role, Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (2020 - 2021)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Music Theory Spectrum (2019 - 2020)
- Conference-Related Role, Max Steiner Symposium (2019 - 2019)
- Media Interview, Brigham Young University (2019 - 2019)
- Conference-Related Role, Max Steiner Symposium (2019 - 2019)
- Media Interview, BYU Radio (2018 - 2018)
- Other, BYU Philharmonic (2018 - 2018)
- Media Interview, HBLL Special Collections (2018 - 2018)
- Other, Oscarson Lecture Series (2018 - 2018)
- Conference-Related Role, Rocky Mountain Society of Music Theory (2017 - 2017)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Oxford University Press (2017 - 2017)
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, W. W. Norton (2015 - 2015)
- Committee/Council Chair, Music Theory Midwest Technology Committee (2012 - 2015)