Sam Reenan

Update: still cute, this is now a kitten account

Macaroni (aka Big Mac) wants to know how handsome he is

New job new cat

Check out this must-read article by @garrt.bsky.social on the 150th birthday of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor!

(And, as always, support NPR and public media!)

Really happy to see this video article published. Thanks to @theorymeg.bsky.social for her incredible feedback and encouragement throughout!

This is public-facing scholarship but I still wanted to raise some serious questions about the way jazz theory is done. I hope you enjoy it!

Since the Duke UP faculty board approved the final MS for Good Vibes Only for publication earlier this week, here’s the final(?) version of the book’s intro

Tl;dr - new form of biopower: no meat, just vibes

www.its-her-factory.com/2025/07/good...

YouTube video by Spektral Quartet Anna Thorvaldsdottir: ENIGMA - Mvt 3

Enigma (2019), movement 3, performed by Spektral Quartet in 2020

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cojb...

YouTube video by Josh Modney - Topic Spectra

Spectra (2017) performed by International Contemporary Ensemble in 2018

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlJG...

And I encourage you to check out Thorvaldsdottir's composer website! My paper considers two of her string chamber works:

Spectra, for string trio (2017) and Enigma, for string quartet (2019)

www.annathorvalds.com

This paper analyzes string chamber works of the last half century to examine contemporary relationships
between chamber music and the natural world.

I focus on the music of Anna Thorvaldsdottir, who describes much of her recent music as "as an ecosystem of materials."

Read the abstract here:

Heading to Manchester, UK tomorrow for the Manchester Music Analysis conference hosted by the Society for Music Analysis.

If you'll be there, I invite you to check out my paper on Monday morning, titled "Chamber Music Ecosystems."

View the program and register here: www.sma.ac.uk/mcrmac2025/

Can’t wait for this!!

Who are the musicologists recently/currently working on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor?

The chapter relies heavily on scholarship by Jeffrey Green (a biographer of SCT) and doctoral dissertations by Catherine Carr (Durham U) and Jewel Taylor Thompson (U of Rochester).

Also, Benedict Taylor's book on the Hiawatha trilogy in the Oxford Keynotes series comes out later this summer!

Repetition and Spectatorship in Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast Abstract. Conceived as a symphonic cantata, Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast (the first work in the trilogy The Song of Hiawatha, op. 30) fuses the cantata’s tradi

Here's a direct link to that chapter: academic.oup.com/book/59824/c...

Happy to share a PDF, if you're interested!

Thanks Erin!

My chapter on Hiawatha's Wedding Feast considers how different views of the work's form allow for shifts in interpretive perspective. By analyzing the symphonic form-functional qualities of the work, I propose that it can be read as an interracial critique of the act of spectatorship.

cover image of the novello score of the Song of Hiawatha, op. 30

This chapter establishes a theoretical foundation for considering the book's repertoire by critically examining three framing concepts:

Structure, Spectacle, and the Symphony

The chapter begins with a vignette concerning the 1953 performances of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Song of Hiawatha, op. 30

Interested in trying Symphonic Spectacles before you buy?

You can read Chapter 1, "Structure, Spectacle, Symphony," for FREE on Oxford Academic now until July 21.

Follow this link: academic.oup.com/book/59824/c...

And remember that you can purchase your own discounted copy with code

AUFLY30

I have been a Graeter's evangelist since grade school, thanks to a family trip to Cincinnati and well-stocked Connecticut freezer aisles!

Thank you! It's a dream opportunity. I got to know Steve during the process!

CCM welcomes new music theory faculty member Sam Reenan UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Pete Jutras has announced the appointment of Sam Reenan, PhD, as CCM's new Assistant Professor of Music Theory. His faculty appointment officially begins on Aug. ...

www.uc.edu/news/article...

It is also bittersweet news.

I’m so grateful for all I’ve learned from my friends, colleagues, and students at Miami, where I’ve been fortunate to develop lasting friendships and to be inspired by the brilliant students that set a high standard for musical artistry, engagement, & thought.

Geno, our golden retriever, looking at Nippert Stadium

Geno on the UC campus, wearing a bearcats bandana

Geno outside CCM's main entrance

Life update! 📣

This fall I will begin a new position as Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the vibrant community of faculty and students at CCM over the past few months. Excited for this next opportunity!

HACK! Replace 15 minutes of doom scrolling with 15 minutes of reading a book from a university press 📖

If you’re interested in Symphonic Spectacles, you can now use the discount code AUFLY30 for 30% off global.oup.com/academic!

You can also read the book online if your institution provides access to Oxford Academic:

academic.oup.com/book/59824

Shout out to @leahbroad.bsky.social and @hannahmillington.bsky.social for their influential scholarship on Smyth, which was invaluable to me in writing this chapter!

Many thanks for your interest!

The analysis explores how Smyth combines symphonic and operatic elements to create a transgressive retelling of Brewster’s story.

Smyth splits the main character in Brewster’s tale, a Prisoner, into two characters, the Prisoner and his Soul, who interact in a variety of dialogues across the work.

I might be most excited about the chapter on Ethel Smyth’s late work The Prison. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the work.

Smyth adapts a metaphysical story from her close friend Henry Brewster.

Thanks for promoting!

Theorists can look for a new framework for thinking about hybridity in musical form.

The book also presents complete analytical studies of several large symphonic works, which should be of interest to performers, ensembles, conductors, and musicologists in symphonic spaces