IU Musicology Scholars Receive AMS Teaching Award

At the 2020 annual business meeting of the American Musicological Society, it was announced that the AMS Teaching Award for 2020 was awarded to The Norton Guide to Teaching Music History, edited by IU Musicology Ph.D. graduate and friend of the department, C. Matthew Balensuela.

Dr. Balensuela  is currently Professor of Music at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Balensuela’s research interests include early music theory, pedagogy, and popular music in the early twentieth century. He is the co-author of Music Theory from Boethius to Zarlino: A Bibliography and Guide (Pendragon Press, 2007), which won the Duckles Award from the Music Library Association, and is the editor and English translator of the fourteenth-century treatise Ars cantus mensurabilis mensurata per modos iuris (Nebraska, 1994). Balensuela has taught a variety of classes for both music majors and students in the College of Liberal Arts, and was named a Distinguished Professor for 2003-2005 in recognition of sustained excellence in teaching effectiveness and service.

Several other scholars associated with IU Jacobs School of Music contributed to The Norton Guide to Teaching Music History. J. Peter Burkholder, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Musicology, wrote the lead article “Renewing the Survey”; Misti Shaw, Associate Librarian and Head of Public Services and Outreach at the Cook Music Library, contributed a chapter on “Information Literacy in Music: Opportunities for Integration in Music History Assignments and Curricula,” which she presented at our colloquium a few years ago; and Stephen C. Meyer, former visiting faculty member in the Musicology Department, contributed a chapter on “Teaching Across Difference: Music History Pedagogy in an Era of Polarization.”

In his email announcement, W.W. Norton Music Editor Christopher Freitag added that “Collectively, you have made an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about music history’s place in the curriculum with essays of astonishing breadth, creativity, and timeliness.”

To see a full list of nominations for the award, visit the AMS website here.

Congratulations to all involved!