Kleppinger elected to Society for Music Theory office
calendar icon14 Jan 2013
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Associate Professor of Music Theory Stanley Kleppinger was recently elected to a four-year term as secretary of the Society for Music Theory after being nominated by its Executive Board.
“Being nominated, much less elected, to a position of leadership in the Society for Music Theory is a unique honor,” Kleppinger said. “It's an exciting chance to give back to an organization that has done much to aid my developing career over many years. After being elected, I discovered that I am only the seventh person to serve as secretary since the society's founding in 1977. This new responsibility is truly humbling."
SMT is the premier music theory association in the world with more than 1,200 individual members and nearly 400 institutional members. It was established to promote music theory as both a scholarly and a pedagogical discipline. SMT organizes an annual conference, publishes two top-flight, peer-reviewed journals (Music Theory Spectrum and Music Theory Online) and promotes the discipline through a wide range of grants, awards, workshops and interest groups.
Kleppinger joined UNL’s School of Music in 2007. He holds a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in music theory from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Drake University.
Kleppinger oversees the second year of UNL’s undergraduate sequence in music theory and aural skills. His research interests focus on pitch-centric music of the 20th century. He is the 2003 recipient of the Irving Lowens Article Award, which is presented annually by the Society for American Music in recognition of an article that “makes an outstanding contribution to the study of American music.” He has also served as a reader for the College Board’s Advanced Placement exam in music theory since 2006.
Prior to his election as secretary of the SMT in October 2012, he was elected to consecutive terms as secretary for Music Theory Midwest and hosted the organization’s annual conference in Lincoln in 2011. He is a member of SMT, the Society for American Music, the College Music Society, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Pi Kappa Lambda.