CONTACT: Ellen Schantz at eschantz@northwestern.edu

FOR RELEASE: November 3, 2009

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Robert Gjerdingen Receives Society of
Music Theory's Wallace Berry Award

Evanston— Robert Gjerdingen, professor of music theory and cognition, has received the Society of Music Theory’s Wallace Berry Award for his book Music in the Galant Style (Oxford University Press, 2007).  Named for one of the founders of the Society, the award is granted annually for a book making a significant contribution to music theory, analysis, or history of theory and is widely considered the highest award for scholarship in the field of music theory.  Gjerdingen received the prize at the Society’s annual convention in Montreal, Canada that took place October 28 to November 1. 

Robert Gjerdingen is the author of numerous books, articles, and reviews in the fields of music theory, music perception, and 18th-century musical style.  In addition to the Berry award, his honors include two National Endowment for the Humanities Scholarly Editions Grants, three Northwestern University Research Grants, and an appointment as Theorist in Residence at the Dutch-Flemish Society for Music Theory.  Currently on the editorial boards of Music Theory Spectrum and the Journal of Music Theory, Gjerdingen is a former editor of Music Perception and has served on the executive board of the Society for Music Theory and the editorial board of the Journal of the American Musicological Society.  At the peak of the Internet revolution he was vice president for Music Taxonomy at MoodLogic, Inc., an on-line music company in Silicon Valley

Founded in 1977, the Society for Music Theory encourages scholarly excellence through awards granted annually for outstanding publications in music theory.  The awards include the Berry, the Outstanding Publication Award for a distinguished article, and the Emerging Scholar Award for a book or article published within five years of the author’s receipt of a PhD.  The Society also works to promote fruitful exchanges between music theorists, musicologists, performers, and scholars in other fields, and publishes the journals Music Theory Spectrum and Music Theory Online. 

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