A faculty member since Fall 2001, Stephen Slottow received a bachelor's degree from Cleveland State University, a master's from Queens College, and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York, where he wrote a dissertation on pitch organization in the music of Carl Ruggles. He has taught at City College, Queens College, Temple University, and Hofstra University. A former professional fiddler and banjo player, his interests include American traditional music, the American ultramodernists, atonal theory, and Schenkerian analysis. He was awarded the 2000 Emerging Scholar Award by the Music Theory Society of New York and has published in such journals as Music Theory Spectrum, Integral, Theory and Practice, the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, Journal of the Society for American Music, and the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy.

His book, The Music of Carl Ruggles (Pendragon Press), was published in 2009.

View Dr. Slottow's profile on the UNT Faculty Information System

Awards and Fellowships

Emerging Scholar Award (2000)

Given by the Music Theory Society of New York State

Graduate Teaching Fellowship (1994-97): A competitive fellowship awarded on a limited basis to ABDs for a three-yearperiod. Each Fellow is selected by the faculty of the college in which he or she teaches.

University Fellowship (1992-93)

Education

Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York
Ph.D. in Music Theory, June 6, 2001
Dissertation: "A Vast Simplicity: Pitch Organization in the Music of Carl Ruggles"
Advisor: Joseph Straus
Second reader: Philip Lambert
Other major professors: Carl Schachter, Charles Burkhart
Queens College, City University of New York
M.A. in Music Theory, February, 1998

Cleveland State University
B. Music, 1989
Senior project: "Cape Breton Fiddling and its Scottish Antecedents"

Papers Read

"'It's Against Nature': Cadential Straight Lines in the Music of Carl Ruggles." Music Now Series, University of North Texas, Denton, March 10, 2002.

"Thoughts on Schenkerian Analytic Process." THE Lecture Series, Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology, University of North Texas, Denton, March 5, 2002.

"Voice Exchange in Ruggles." South Central Society for Music Theory annual meeting, Baton Rouge, February 22-23, 2002.

"Fifths and Semitones: A Ruggles Compositional Model and its Unfoldings." Music Theory Society of New York State annual meeting, New York University, April 9, 2000; also at the Georgia Association of Music Theorists, Georgia State University, April 24, 1999; and at South Central Society for Music Theory annual meeting, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, March 13, 1999.

"‘It’s Against Nature’: Straight Lines, Sequences, and Whole Tone Collections in the Music of Carl Ruggles." Society for Music Theory National Convention, Phoenix, Arizona, November 2,1997; also at New England Conference of Music Theorists, Yale University, New Haven, April 6, 1997.

"Modeling Pitch Relations in the Music of Carl Ruggles: Voice-Leading Implications." Music Theory Society of New York State, New York City, October 10, 1993.

"Some Aspects of Traditional Cape Breton Fiddling." Sonneck Society, Toronto, April 22, 1990 and Society for Ethnomusicology, Niagara Chapter, Cleveland, April 28, 1989.

Performance Experience

Professional fiddler (bluegrass, old-time, swing), 1973-1990

The Hotfoot Quintet/Cleveland, Ohio/1980-90

Album: Barbecue on Broadway

The Falls City Ramblers/Louisville, Kentucky/1975-1980

The Swamp Root String Band/Rochester, New York/1970-74

The New Bethel Tabernacle Drive-In Church/Urbana, Illinois/1966-69

Harpsichordist (University solo appearances and chamber ensembles), 1985-89

Teaching Experience

Graduate Courses

University of North Texas:
Graduate Aural Skills

Esther Boyer College of Music, Temple University:
Schenkerian Analysis (Fall, 1997)
Atonal Analysis Seminar: Ives, Ruggles, and Seeger (Spring, 1998)

Undergraduate Courses

University of North Texas
Atonal Theory
Schenkerian Analysis
Eighteenth Century Counterpoint
Sixteenth Century Counterpoint
Sight Singing and Ear Training V

Hofstra University (1998-2001)
Rudiments and Two-Part Species Counterpoint
Sight Singing and Ear Training I, II, III, and IV
Music Theory for Non-Music Majors
Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College (1993-97)
Harmony, Counterpoint, and Keyboard Skills I
Harmony, Counterpoint, and Keyboard Skills II
Theory Fundamentals
Remedial Sight Singing and Ear Training
Sight Singing and Ear Training I

City College (1992-93)
Music in Education (nonmajors)