WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Oct. 5, 2015 — Music students in the College of Arts and Communication are gaining insight into the international world of musical academics thanks to the recent experience of Dr. Anna Stephan-Robinson, associate professor of music.
Stephan-Robinson was selected to participate in the prestigious College Music Society’s 2015 International Conference held in Stockholm and Helsinki from June 17 – 24. She attended the competitive bi-annual gathering of music scholars and performers from around the world as she presented her research, which looked at female composer Marion Bauer (1882- 1955).
In her presentation, “‘I should hate to have you miss that sale …’ A Female Composer’s Efforts at Self-Promotion in the Early Twentieth Century,” Dr. Stephan-Robinson examined original correspondence, archived in the Library of Congress, between Bauer and the music publishing company of Arthur P. Schmidt.
Bauer was a writer, composer and music teacher at both New York University and the Juilliard School along with several other colleges and conservatories during her career.
According to Stephan-Robinson, she found that “although those of us working today feel pressure to be highly entrepreneurial, things were very similar back then. As faculty, we’re always stressing entrepreneurship skills to our students, but she had to do the same thing.”
Stephan-Robinsons is pleased to have participated in the scholarly conference and is continuing her research on women composers. She has been a member of the WLU faculty since the fall of 2011.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to share my research with colleagues at this international gathering. Hearing other professors present was beneficial and I found the pedagogical research methods used by other researchers especially interesting,” she said. Her research was supported by the West Liberty University Faculty Development Research Grants Committee. Also the director of music theory and ear training, Stephan-Robinson sees most music students in her classes and believes this experience strengthens her knowledge of contemporary music in an active way.
The conference program included scholarly discourse and the presentation of new music by College Music Society members, interaction with Scandinavian scholars and performers, and guided sightseeing and cultural opportunities. The conference also included activities at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Stephan-Robinson holds Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., a Master of Music degree in Horn Performance from the University of Georgia (Athens), and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education from the Aaron Copland School of Music, City University of New York.
Prior to her appointment at WLU, she taught at Ithaca College, NYU, Wagner College, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Georgia, as well as in public schools in Long Island, N.Y.