Big List of Stuff I Did
(as of February 2023)

YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdKGudla3GId9rIRz4Ht1vw

Education

Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1984. Minor in Musicology.
Composition: “Magnificat”
Thesis: “The New Quotation: Its Origins and Functions”
Adviser: Ben Johnston

 Master of Music in Composition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, August 1981.

 Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, Brigham Young University, August 1980.

Teaching Positions

Brigham Young University:

Professor Emeritus of Music, 2020-Present

Professor of Music, 1996-2020

Associate Professor of Music, 1991-1996

Assistant Professor of Music, 1985-1991

Editorial Position

Editor, American Music (University of Illinois Press), 2007-2010, vols. 25-28.  (Winner of ASCAP-Deems Taylor Publishers Award, 2010.) Photo.

Scholarly Books

Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection: Essays on Mormon Music. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2020. Reviewed in Association for Mormon Letters Newsletter (3 reviews in 2020).

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2015. (Paperback edition issued August 2017.) Lead title in the press’ Spring 2015 catalogue. Featured book signing at BookExpo, New York City, 28 May 2015. Reviewed in Mormon Studies Review 3 (2016): 179-83. Wall Street Journal, 10  April 2015; Kirkus Reviews, 15 January 2015; By Common Consent, December 2014; Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, December 2014.

  Christian Wolff (co-authored with Christian Asplund). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2012. Reviewed in Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 70 (November 2013): 127-28.

  Henry Cowell, Bohemian. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2002. Winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, 2003. Chosen as the featured book for NewMusicBox (the online monthly of the American Music Center), July 2003, including an interview with the author: http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=3742. Reviewed in American Music 21 (Summer 2003): 246-48; Journal of Musicological Research 21 (2003): 167-70; Choice 40 (February 2003): 992-93; Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 60 (September 2003): 176-78; Wind Works 7 (Winter 2002): 12; Rain Taxi 8 (Spring 2003): 14-15.

  Sixties Rock: Garage, Psychedelic, and Other Satisfactions. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1999 (paperback edition issued 2000). Recipient of an H. Earle Johnson Book Publication Subvention Award, Society for American Music, 1999. Chapter 2 reprinted in Richard G. King, comp. and ed., A Rock Reader (Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt, 2003), 77-86. Discussed at length in Jeffrey H. Jackson and Stanley C Pelkey, eds., Music and History: Bridging the Disciplines (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2005), 223-227. Reviewed in Ethnomusicology 44 (Fall 2000): 524-26; ARSC Journal 32 (Spring 2001): 98-99; Australasian Journal of American Studies 20 (July 2001): 107-109; Labour/Le Travail (Fall 1999): 277-79; Goldmine 16 (16 July 1999): 60; Discoveries 139 (December 1999): 52; Communications Booknotes Quarterly 30 (Summer 1999): 186-86; Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 58 (September 2001): 106-107.

Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989. Paperback edition with new preface, 2003. Winner of Francis M. and Emily S. Chipman Award, Mormon History Association, 1990, and Award for Criticism, Association for Mormon Letters, 1990. Reviewed in Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 47 (December 1990): 401; Brigham Young University Studies 30 (Fall 1990): 100-103; John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 10 (1990): 99-101; Sunstone 14 (August 1990) 57-58; Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 24 (Fall 1991): 144-45; Western Historical Quarterly 22 (May 1991): 230-31; American Music 11 (Spring 1993): 119-21; Mid-America Folklore 19 (Fall 1991): 165-67; Journal of Arizona History 32 (Winter 1991): 443-44; Pacific Historical Review 60 (May 1991): 257-58.

Book-Length Memoirs
Brave New Worldliness: My Mormon Avant-Garde, 1980-1984. (In progress.)

Wineskin: Freakin' Jesus in the '60s and '70s. Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2022. Winner for Best Memoir, Mormon History Association, 2023.

Do Clouds Rest? Dementiadventures with Mom. Createspace, 2017.  Notable Mention in Creative Non-Fiction, Association for Mormon Letters, 2018

Selected Articles

"Psychedelic Rock."  Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World ​(forthcoming 2024). 

“Sam Taylor’s Ghost.” Dawning of a Brighter Day (Association for Mormon Letters Newsletter),
https://www.associationmormonletters.org/2022/10/sam-taylors-ghost/ [2022]

Introductory article​​​ on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's 1959 recording of Messiah. National Recording Registry, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Messiah.pdf [2019]

“Mass Marketing the American Avant-Garde, 1967-1971.” American Music 35, no. 3 (Fall 2017): 281-302.

“The Second Coming of Mormon Music.” Richard Bushman and Glen Nelson, eds. The Kimball Challenge at Fifty: Mormon Arts Center Essays. Mormon Arts Center, 2017.

“Music and Heaven in Mormon Thought.” Philip Barlow and Terryl Givens, eds. The Oxford Handbook to Mormonism. New York: Oxford, 2015.

“’Tonalities which are big & broad like the prairie’: Helen Taylor and the Mormon Moderne.” Hymns Today 8 (Spring 2015): 34-41.

“Mormons and the Music Industry.” J. Michael Hunter, ed. Mormons and American Popular Culture, vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2013.

“Garage Rock.” Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Genres: North America. London and New York: Continuum, 2012.

“Emma Smith's 1841 Hymnbook.” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 21, no. 1 (2012), 12-27.

“Elder Price Superstar.” [A review-essay on the Broadway production The Book of Mormon.] Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 44 (Winter 2011): 226-36.

“How to Make (and Unmake) a Mormon Hymnbook.” A Firm Foundation: Administrative and Organizational History of the Church. Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 2011.

"’Our Webern’: Cage and Feldman’s Devotion to Christian Wolff.” Stephen Chase and Philip Thomas, eds. Changing the System: The Music of Christian Wolff. London, Ashgate, 2010.

Ongoing untitled “From the Editor” columns and other colloquies for American Music, 2006-2010, especially the final column, entitled “The Threshing Floor,” American Music 28 (Winter 2010): 397-401. 

“What Hymns Early Mormons Sang and How They Sang Them.” Brigham Young University Studies 47 (2008): 95-118.

“Improvisation, Heterophony, Politics, Composition.” Panel Discussion with Christian Wolff, Larry Polansky, Kui Dong, Christian Asplund, and Michael Hicks. (Discussion moderated and transcript edited by Hicks.) Perspectives of New Music 45 (Summer 2007): 133-49.

Introduction to “Historians’ Corner: John Cage’s Letter to Peter Yates, December 24, 1940.” American Music 25 (Winter 2007): 507-510.

Introduction to Lil Hardin Armstrong, “Satchmo and Me.” American Music 25 (Spring 2007): 106-107.

Introduction Clarissa Dixon, Janet and Her Dear Phebe (1909), Frog Peak Music, http://frogpeak.org/dixon/index.html, 2005.

“Salt Lake City.” Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Vol. 4: North America. London and New York: Continuum, 2005.

“Toward (and Away From) The Mormonistic.” Mormoniana. New York: Mormon Artists Group Press, 2004.

“Noble Savages.” Eric Eliason, ed. Mormons and Mormonism: An Introduction to an American World Religion. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000.

“Richard P. Condie,” “Crawford Gates,” “Hymns and Hymnbooks,” “Mormon Creed,” and “The Spirit of God.” Arnold K. Garr, Donald Q. Cannon, and Richard O. Cowan, eds. Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000.

“‘O My Father’: The Musical Settings.” Brigham Young University Studies 36 (1996- 1997): 32-57.

“The Performing Arts and Mormonism: An Introductory Guide.” David J. Whittaker, ed., Mormon Americana, 538-58. Provo: BYU Studies, 1995.

“Joseph Smith, W.W. Phelps, and the Poetic Paraphase of ‘The Vision.’” Journal of Mormon History 20 (Fall 1994): 63-84.

“‘A Decent Kingdom’: Notes on Pioneer Music” Pioneer 41 (January-February 1994): 20- 22.

“Music.” The Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan, 1991. Reprinted in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., The Church and Society: Selections from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995).

“Interval and Form in Ligeti’s Continuum and Coulée.” Perspectives of New Music 31 (Winter 1993): 172-90 

"Cowell’s Clusters.” Musical Quarterly 77 (Fall 1993): 428-58. Winner of the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award, 1994.

“Serialism and Comprehensibility: A Guide for the Teacher.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 25 (Winter 1991): 75-85.

“The Imprisonment of Henry Cowell.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 44 (Spring 1991): 92-119.

“Ministering Minstrels: Blackface Entertainment in Pioneer Utah.” Utah Historical Quarterly 58 (Winter 1990): 49-63. Winner of the Morris S. Rosenblatt Award, Utah State Historical Society, 1991.

“John Cage’s Studies with Schoenberg.” American Music 8 (Summer 1990): 125-40.

“Exorcism and Epiphany: Luciano Berio’s Nones.” Perspectives of New Music 27 (Summer 1989): 252-68.

“The Priesthood of Wagner.” In Wagner in Retrospect: A Centennial Reappraisal, ed. Leroy Shaw, et al., 23-35. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1987.

“Energeia and ‘The Work Itself.’” Journal of Aesthetic Education 21 (Fall 1987): 69-75.

“Minding Business: A Note on ‘The Mormon Creed.’” Brigham Young University Studies 26 (Fall 1986): 125-32.

“B9, WR, and MTV: Notes on Devalued Heritage.” Wagner News 13 (January 1986): 14- 19.

“The Beautiful and the Darned: A Meditation on Lex de Azevedo’s Pop Music and Morality.” Sunstone 10, no.10 (Fall 1985): 12-17.

“Poetic Borrowing in Early Mormonism.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Spring 1985): 47-55.

“Soothing the Savage Beast: A Note on Animals and Music.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 18 (Winter 1984): 47-55.

“Brave New Arts Festival, 1984–Urbana Illinois: A Diary.” Perspectives of New Music 22 (1983-1984): 464-70.

"Eternity, Capacity, and the Will: Three Puzzles for a Mormon Aesthetics.” Sunstone 8 (January-April 1983): 8-12 

“Notes on Brigham Young’s Aesthetics.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 16 (Winter 1983): 124-30.

“‘Strains Which Will Not Soon Be Allowed to Die’: ‘The Stranger’ and Carthage Jail.” Brigham Young University Studies 23 (Fall 1983): 389-400.

“Do You Preach the Orthodox Religion? Thoughts on the Idea of Heresy in the Church.” Sunstone 6, no.4
(September-October 1981): 29-34.

“Text, Music, and Meaning in the Third Movement of Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia.” Perspectives of New Music 20 (1981-1982): 199-224.

Selected Scholarly Papers

“The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and FDR.” Annual Meeting of the Music Library Association (invited), Salt Lake City,
March 4, 2022 (online). Viewable at 24:42 here.

"Magical Mystery Tourist: An Avant-Pop Memoir."  9th Annual UVU Humanities Program Symposium (invited), 26 February 2019.

“The Second Coming of Mormon Music.” Mormon Arts Center Festival, 29 June 2017, Riverside Church, New York City (invited). Viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7r1yepiQqs

“The Sonic Garage Barrage.” Revisiting the Summer of Love, Rethinking the Counterculture (sponsored by Northwestern University for the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love), 28 July 2017, San Francisco. Viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaLBDo916kM&feature=youtu.be

“Making Columbia’s Mormon Pioneers,” Utah Historical Quarterly Lecture Series (invited), 10 November 2016, Rio Grande Building, Salt Lake City.

“Inventing ‘Mormon Music.’” Keynote Address, Association for Mormon Letters Annual Conference, 12 April 2014, Utah Valley University (invited). Viewable at http://youtu.be/nYDxwdHhn4k

“How to Make (and Unmake) a Mormon Hymnbook.” Religious Studies Center Church History Symposium, 26 February 2010, BYU.

“Mass Marketing the American Avant-Garde, 1968-1971.” Society for American Music 35th Annual Conference, 24 March 2009, Denver. Expanded version presented at Open Space New Music Festival, 26 March 2010, University of Northern Colorado (invited).

“Correcting (a.k.a Revising) ‘Light My Fire.’” Society for American Music 34th Annual Conference, 28 February 2008, San Antonio. Cited and discussed in producer Bruce Botnick’s liner notes for the reissue recording of The Doors Elektra R2 101184.

“‘Our Webern’: Cage and Feldman’s Devotion to Christian Wolff.” American Musicological Society Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, November 2006. Also at The Music of Christian Wolff: A Symposium, BYU School of Music, 8 March 2006.

“What Hymns Early Mormons Sang and How They Sang Them.” Mormon History Association Annual Conference, 22 May 2004.

“The Mono Mix of Sgt. Pepper.” West Coast Conference for Music Theory and Analysis, 18 April 1999. American Musicological Society, Rocky Mountain Chapter, 9 March 2001.

“Cowell’s ‘String Piano.’” Henry Cowell’s Musical Worlds: A Centennial Conference, 15 March 1997, New York (invited).

“What ‘Psychedelic’ Means.” Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory, 22 April 1995 (invited).

“Cowell’s Clusters.” Colloquium, University of California at Berkeley, 28 February 1992 (invited); Ron Alexander Memorial Musicology Lecture Series, Stanford University, 2 March 1992 (invited).

“Henry Cowell and the Boundaries of Difference.” Eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Sonneck Society, 16 February 1992, Baton Rouge. 

“Serialism and Comprehensibility.” Brigham Young University Department of Music Lecture Series, 18 October 1990.

“The Imprisonment of Henry Cowell.” American Musicological Society Annual Meeting, 29 October 1989, Austin.

Response to “We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus and a Lot Less Rock and Roll: Visions of the Afterlife in American Traditional Music,” by Paul Swenson. Sunstone Theological Symposium, 20 August 1989, Salt Lake City.

“Ministering Minstrels: Blackface Entertainment in Pioneer Utah.” Sunstone Theological Symposium, 20 August 1988, Salt Lake City.

“Twentieth Century Mormon Hymnody and The Church Music Committee.” Sunstone Theological Symposium, 20 August 1987, Salt Lake City.

“‘To Remove the Prejudice’: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.” Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the American Musicological Society, 26 March 1987, Provo, Utah.

“Serialism and Structures in Berio’s Nones.” Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the American Musicological Society, 25 April 1986, Tempe, Arizona.

“Brigham Young as Musical Entrepreneur.” 1986 Annual Meeting of the Sonneck Society, 19 April 1986, Boulder, Colorado.

“Energeia and ‘The Work Itself.’” Region IX meeting of the American Society of University Composers, 2 February 1986, San Jose State University.

“Silence After Cage.” Annual Festival-Conference of the American Society of University Composers, 9 April 1984, Columbus, Ohio.

“The Priesthood of Wagner.” Wagner Centennial Conference, 10 November 1983, University of Illinois at Chicago.

“Poetic Borrowing in Early Mormonism.” Mormon History Association Annual Meeting, May 1983, Omaha.

“Some Aspects of Musical Quotation in the Avant Garde.” Central Midwest Theory Society Annual Meeting, 4 April 1982, Urbana.

Scriptural Paraphrase and Commentary

The Street-Legal Version of Mormon’s Book. Provo, Utah: Tame Olive Press [Michael Hicks] 2012.

Winner of the Award in Adaptation, Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting, 2012. See: http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/aml-awards/aml-awards-2012/

For an introduction, see www.facebook.com/TheStreetLegalVersionOfMormonsBook

For a podcast/roundtable, see: http://mormonstories.org/street-legal-version-mormons-book/ (also features links to other media on this book)

On the Beatitudes found in this book, see http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2013/04/a-street-legal-version-of-the-beatitudes/

Guest Editorship

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 48, no.4 (Winter 2015). Issue devoted to music in Mormon culture.

Poetry

“Psalm 560.” Sunstone 189 (Spring 2022): 53.

“Psalm 602.” Sunstone 189 (Spring 2022): 51.

“Psalm 601.” Sunstone 189 (Spring 2022): 49.

"Psalm 572.” Sunstone 189 (Spring 2022): 36.

“Psalm 500.” Sunstone 189 (Spring 2022): 9.

"On Paul's Letter to the Romans." Psaltery and Lyre, https://psalteryandlyre.org/2019/09/30/on-pauls-letter-to-the-romans

"True Religion, By James." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 52, no. 3, (Fall 2019): 115.

"The Agreement." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 52, no. 3, (Fall 2019): 144. 

"The Four Stanzas of the Apocalypse."   Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 52, no. 3, (Fall 2019): 113. 

"Symptoms and Pathology of Swallowing a Foreign Object: A Symposium." Psaltery and Lyre https://psalteryandlyre.org/2019/03/18/symptoms-and-pathology-of-swallowing-a-foreign-object-a-symposium

“Joseph’s Song.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 86 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2013/12/86-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-josephs-song

“Singing in the Easter Choir Beside My Enemy.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 46 (Summer 2013): 103.

“Skin Dive.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 43 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2013/01/43-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-skin-dive/ Also: Psaltery and Lyre, Volume 1: A Collection of Poetry from Doves and Serpents (n.p.: Doves & Serpents, 2013), 67-68.

“To a Black Velvet Jesus.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 39 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2013/01/39-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-to-a-black-velvet-jesus/ Also: Psaltery and Lyre, Volume 1: A Collection of Poetry from Doves and Serpents (n.p.: Doves & Serpents, 2013), 63-64.

“We Gather Together.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 35 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2012/12/35-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-we-gather-together/ Also: Psaltery and Lyre, Volume 1: A Collection of Poetry from Doves and Serpents (n.p.: Doves & Serpents, 2013), 58.

“Aesthetics Seminar as the Last Supper.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 33 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2012/12/33-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-aesthetics-seminar-as-the-last-supper/ Also: Psaltery and Lyre, Volume 1: A Collection of Poetry from Doves and Serpents (n.p.: Doves & Serpents, 2013), 57.

“Jesus Is Coming Back.” Doves & Serpents: Psaltery & Lyre 31 http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2012/12/31-psaltery-lyre-michael-hicks-jesus-is-coming-back/ Also: Psaltery and Lyre, Volume 1: A Collection of Poetry from Doves and Serpents (n.p.: Doves & Serpents, 2013), 52.

“Benediction.” Literature and Belief 31, no. 1 (2011): 110.

"Whaling." New Poets of the American West, 372. Kalispell, Montana: Many Voices Press, 2010.

            “The Question of Remarkability.” Susan Jantz, ed. Cadence of Hooves: A Celebration of Horses. Igo, CA: Yarroway Mountain Press, 2008.

“Jesus’ Final Oration at the Last Supper.” Literature and Belief 26 (2006): 128-29. Tyler Chadwick, ed. Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-First Century Mormon Poets. Salt Lake City: Peculiar Pages, 2011.

“Day Seven.” Brigham Young University Studies 45 (2006) [no. 3]: 38. Winner of First Place in BYU Studies Poetry Competition, 2006.

“Faith Healing.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 38 (Winter 2005): 204-205. Tyler Chadwick, ed. Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-First Century Mormon Poets. Salt Lake City: Peculiar Pages, 2011.

“Family Tree.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 38 (Winter 2005): 206-207. Tyler Chadwick, ed. Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-First Century Mormon Poets. Salt Lake City: Peculiar Pages, 2011

“Museum of Ancient Life.” Brigham Young University Studies 43 (2004) [no. 2]: 102. Winner of First Place in BYU Studies Poetry Competition, 2003. Tyler Chadwick, ed. Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-First Century Mormon Poets. Salt Lake City: Peculiar Pages, 2011

“Exodus.” Brigham Young University Studies 41 (2002) [no. 4]: 74. Winner of Third Place in BYU Studies Poetry Competition, 2001.

“Deluge.” Brigham Young University Studies 41 (2002) [no. 2]: 148. Winner of First Prize in BYU Studies Poetry Competition, 2001. Tyler Chadwick, ed. Fire in the Pasture:

Twenty-First Century Mormon Poets. Salt Lake City: Peculiar Pages, 2011

“Moroni.” Brigham Young University Studies 41 (2002) [no. 2]: 148. Winner of Honorable Mention in BYU Studies Poetry Competition, 2001.

“Two or Three Witnesses.” Brigham Young University Studies 37 (1997-98) [no. 4]: 110.

“The Statue of Brigham Young at South Temple and Main, Salt Lake City.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28 (Fall 1995): xii. 

“Altarpiece.” Brigham Young University Studies 35 (1995): 144-45. Co-winner of First Prize in Poetry, BYU Studies Writing Competition, 1995.

“Advent.” Brigham Young University Studies 34 (1994): 42.

“Stone: A Symposium.” Brigham Young University Studies 33 (1993): 466-67. Winner of First Prize in Poetry, BYU Studies Writing Competition, 1993.

“Fall.” Brigham Young University Studies 32 (Summer 1992): 26. 

"The Lord’s Supper.” Sunstone 15 (September 1991): 40.

“First Vision.” Sunstone 13 (April 1989): 6.

“Joseph Smith, Senior, Dreams of His Namesake.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 19 (Spring 1986): 105.

“Rebaptism: A Manual.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 19 (Spring 1986): 40.

“David.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Winter 1985): 23. 

Short Story

“A Man at the Bar.” Sunstone 4 (January-February 1979): 17-19.

Personal Essays

“Spencer Kimball’s Record Collection.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 48, no. 4 (Winter 2015): 141-49.

“My Mother Tongues.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 45, no. 4 (Winter 2012): 55-64.

Interviews

“(Heart-)Felt Hammers: The Piano Music of Michael Hicks.” Interview with David Deboor Canfield. Fanfare 38, no. 6 (November-December 2015): 104-106.

Published Book Reviews

"Understudies for Angels," review of Megan Sanborn Jones, Contemporary Mormon Pageantry: Seeking After the Dead (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2018), in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 52, no. 2, (Summer 2019): 182-84.

Review of Paco, by Nathan Thatcher.  Mormon Studies Review 4 (2017): 125-29. 

Review of Chance and Circumstance: Twenty Years with Cage and Cunningham, by Carolyn Brown. Journal of the Society for American Music 2 (February 2008): 109-111.

Review of America’s Choir: A Commemorative History of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, by Heidi S. Swinton. Journal of Mormon History 32 (Spring 2006): 249-52.

Review of Berio, by David Osmond-Smith. Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association 49 (September 1992): 130-31.

Review of Abravanel! By Lowell Durham. Sonneck Society Bulletin 17 (Spring 1991): 37.

Review of Frontier Fiddler: The Life of a Northern Arizona Pioneer, by Kenner C. Kartchner, ed. Larry V. Shumway. Brigham Young University Studies 30 (Fall 1990): 96- 99. 

Review of Our Latter-Day Hymns: The Stories and the Messages, by Karen Lynn Davidson. Brigham Young University Studies 28 (Spring 1988): 120-23.

Compact Discs

Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM (2014). Reviewed in Fanfare 38, no. 6 (November-December 2015): 106-108; The Whole Note (November 1-December 7, 2015), 65.

Valentine St. Tantara TCD 0306VST (2007). A singer-songwriter collection. 

Ritual Grounds. Tantara TCD 0103BRG (2003). Chamber music.

(See also other compact discs mentioned below under “Selected Compositions.”)

Selected Radio Programs

“Roots and Rockin’” (on Dean Duncan’s BYU Radio show This’ll Take Awhile), first broadcast 11 September 2013. One hour program discussing rock essentials.

Praise to the Man. One hour program of performances and commentary (with Truman Madsen, et al.), performed live 22 and 23 September 2005, Madsen Recital Hall, BYU, broadcast multiple times thereafter on KBYU-FM and BYU Television.

Saints Bound for Heaven: Sacred Singing in Joseph Smith’s Day. One-hour program of performances and commentary (with Lisa Despain, et al.), KBYU-FM radio broadcast, first aired August 2005, broadcast multiple times thereafter.

Eliza R. Snow: Pioneer, Poet, Oracle. One-hour program of performances and commentary (with Jill Mulvay Derr), KBYU-FM radio broadcast, first aired 24 July 2005, broadcast multiple times thereafter.

Virtuosity in ‘60s Rock ‘n’ Roll. Number 10 in the thirteen-part series About Music produced by KBYU-FM; episode first aired on 6 June 2003.

Pioneering Utah with Mormon Music. KBYU-FM radio broadcast, first aired 24 July 1997, broadcast multiple times thereafter.

Television Programs

Interview segments in The History of the Saints (KJZZ, syndicated, first aired 2013).

Interview segments in The Joseph Smith Papers (KJZZ, syndicated), season 2, episodes 14-15.

Podcasts

“Mormon Music and Novels. Dialogue Book Report #11 (6 August 2021).

Guest on “Virtuosos” episode of Let the Music Be Your Master (podcast), 5 July 2022.

Guest on “A Brighter and a Better Day,” episode 1 podcast for Saints (vol. 3), April 2022.

Guest on "Emma Smith and the First Mormon Hymn Book," podcast for Saints (vol. 1), 2018.

One-hour interview on the book Mormonism and Music: A History, Mormon Channel, May 2011.

Liner Notes

Notes to Steven Ricks, Assemblage Chamber. New Focus Recordings FCR 328.

Notes to Neil Thornock, Cosmology. Albany Records TROY 1694.

Notes to Benjamin Sabey, Winter Shore. Albany Records TROY 1560.

Notes to Lansing McCloskey, Specific Gravity. Albany Records TROY 1443.

Notes to Beyond Vernon Duke: Piano Works by Vladimir Dukelsky, performed by Scott Holden. Tantara TCD 0212BVD.

Notes to The Simeon Bellison Clarinet Legacy, Tantara TCD 0110BLM-HS.

Notes to Merrill Bradshaw, The Restoration. Tantara TCD 0705RST.

Notes to Two Pianos, Eight Hands, American Piano Quartet. Tantara TCD 0303APQ.

“Family Donates Helen Taylor Papers.” In Notes to Discovering Helen Taylor 2. Tantara TCD  0507DHT2-HS.

“Song and Dance” (Michael Hicks interview with Murray Boren), The Book of Gold (New York: Mormon Artists Group, 2007), 42 pages of the box set booklet.

Notes to Kabalevsky Piano Preludes, performed by Ivar Gotkovsky. Pyramid CD 13513.

Notes to Moscheles Piano Duos, performed by Torchon d’Avat Medina Duo. Pyramid CD 13512.

Notes to Ginastera String Quartets, performed by the Miami String Quartet. Pyramid CD 13511.

Notes to Chopin and Shostakovich Piano Preludes, performed by Adrienne Krausz. Pyramid CD 13510.

Notes to Bartók Songs, performed by Klára Csordás and Adrienne Krausz. Pyramid CD 13509.

Notes to Chopin and Debussy Piano Works, performed by Sviatoslov Richter. Pyramid CD 13507.

Notes to Martinu, Kódály, Hindemith and Weill Works for Cello and Piano, Roger Drinkall and Dian Baker. Pyramid CD 13505.

Program Notes
Notes to Todd Coleman, Having Seen Afar Off (2022)

Magazine Columns

“Poetics/Noetics,” column for Sunstone, 1983-1991. Titles of columns in this series: “Nietzsche’s Stomach,” “Right Brain, Wrong Brain,” “The Tongue of the Dumb,” “The All Hearing Ear,” “Suitable for Framing,” “Sweet Savor,” “The Possessed,” “The Salt Lake Temple,” and “To The Souls of All Those Who Drink of It.” Also, an installment of the column “This Side of the Tracts,” entitled “A Quorum Memoir” (1992). (Complete citations upon request.) 

Selected Performances*

Although a frequent performer and conductor on recitals of BYU’s Group for New Music (founded by Michael Hicks in 1987) and other recitals, I consider the following the five most notable events :

Mike Hicks in Folk Recital, 22 November 2013, Madsen Recital Hall (for the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy).

Jesusongs, 8 January 2011, Madsen Recital Hall.

Mike Hicks in Folk Recital, 4 April 2008, Madsen Recital Hall (for the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), and subsequent performances at BYU and elsewhere in Provo in the following months; Open Space New Music Festival, 26 March 2010.

Morton Feldman, Palais de Mari (solo piano), Utah premiere performed by Michael Hicks, 17 February 2006, Madsen Recital Hall, BYU.

Personal Effects: a recital of fourteen original songs in popular idioms performed (solo) in Madsen Recital Hall, BYU, 18 September 2004. Eleven of these were subsequently recorded in studio and released under the title Valentine St. on Tantara label, 2006.

*I do not include here various poetry readings for events at BYU, Utah Valley University, and elsewhere 2009-2018.

Selected Workshops and Lecture-Demonstrations

“Why I Do What I Do.” Happenings in Humanities Series, Utah Valley University, 16 February 2023 (invited).

"What Rock Owes Country."  KUED/Osher Lifelong Learning series, Salt Lake City Public Library, 11 September 2019 (invited).

Poetry Workshop, Utah State Poetry Society, Farmington, UT, 21 April 2017 (invited).

“Mormonism and Music.” A two-part workshop given at the Far West and Pacific Northwest Regional Convention of the American Guild of Organists, Salt Lake City, 16-17 June 2003 (invited).

“Everyday Music.” Conference on “Everyday Life in Pioneer Utah,” 29 March 1997, BYU (invited).

“Treasures & Trinkets: Little-Known 19th Century Hymns.” Interfaith Devotional, Mormon History Association Annual Meeting, 19 May 1996, Snowbird, Utah (invited).

“Other Voices: ‘New Music’ by LDS Women Composers.” BYU Women’s Conference, 5 April 1990 (invited).

“A Trunkful of Homemade Music.” Opening Banquet of the Utah State Historical Society (Utah County Chapter), 13 October 1988, Provo, Utah (invited).

“Songs of Mormon Nauvoo, 1839-1845.” Numerous presentations in Illinois, California, Utah, and Washington, CD, 1982-1996 (all invited).

“The Sacred Avant Garde: Manifesto and Music.” Sunstone Theological Symposium, 31 May 1986, Washington, DC (invited).

“A Musical Day in the Life of a Nineteenth-Century Mormon.” Twenty-First Annual Meeting of the Mormon History Association, 2 May 1986, Salt Lake City (invited).

“New Sacred Music from the Mormon Avant-Garde.” Sunstone Theological Symposium, 23 August 1985, Salt Lake City.

Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Mormon Letters, 2023

Featured as one of the annual "Fab 40," Utah Valley Magazine March/April 2020

Award for Criticism (for "The Second Coming of Mormon Music"), Association for Mormon Letters, 2017.

Notable Mention in Creative Non-Fiction for Do Clouds Rest?: Dementiadventures with Mom, Association for Mormon Letters, 2018

Finalist in Non-Fiction, Utah Book Award, for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography, 2016.

Honorable Mention in Biography for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir: A Biography, Mormon History Association, 2016.

Award in Adaptation for The Street-Legal Version of Mormon’s Book, Association for Mormon Letters, 2013.

ASCAP-Deems Taylor Publishers Award (as editor of American Music), 2010.

Utah Arts Council, Original Writing Competition, Poetry Division, 2nd place, 2005

ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award (for Henry Cowell, Bohemian), 2003.

ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award (for “Cowell’s Clusters”), 1994.

BYU Studies Writing Competition, First Prize in Poetry, 2006, 2003, 2001, 1995, 1993, (Also, other placed awards in 2003, 2001.)

Morris S. Rosenblatt Award (for Best General Interest Article in Utah Historical Quarterly), Utah State Historical Society, 1991.

Award for Excellence in Teaching, Alumni Association, BYU, 1991.

Francis M. and Emily S. Chipman Award (for Best First Book), Mormon History Association, 1990.

Award for Excellence in Research, College of Fine Arts and Communications, BYU, 1990.

Award for Criticism, Association for Mormon Letters, 1990.

College of Fine Arts Research Grants, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1989-90.

Barlow Endowment Composition Prize (for Utah Horn Festival), 1985.

Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Illinois, 1982-1983.

Travel Grants for Scholarly Papers and Performances, University of Illinois, 1983.

Sunstone Foundation Grants for Scholarly Papers, 1982, 1983.

Creative Music Award, Brigham Young University, 1980. Vera H. Mayhew Award for Composition (first prize), 1980.

Theodore Presser Foundation Award, 1980.

Ruth Smith Silver Scholarship, 1979-1980.

Mormon Festival of the Arts Awards in Composition, 1980 (first prize), 1979 (third prize).

Presidential Scholarships, Brigham Young University, 1978-1979, 1980.

Bank of America Fine Arts Award, 1975

Miscellaneous Professional Service

Occasional book proposal and manuscript reviewer for University of Illinois Press (topics: American music and Mormon studies), 2000-present.

Book proposal and manuscript reviewer for Routledge, University of Rochester Press, and University of Utah Press, ad hoc.

            Outside manuscript reviewer for American Music, Brigham Young University Studies,  Journal of the American Musicological Society,
Journal of the Acoustical Society of  America, Journal of Media and Religion, Rock Music Studies, and Utah Historical Quarterly.

Outside reviewer, Division of Research Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1994.

Outside textbook reviewer for Wadsworth Publishing, 1994.

Member of Program Committee and Chair of Session on the Performing Arts in Utah, Utah State Historical Society, 1989.

Miscellaneous Special Training

Auditor, Pierre Boulez Workshop, Carnegie Hall, 9-14 May 2001. (Rehearsal and study of Le Marteau sans Maître with Boulez.)

Selected Compositions

(in reverse order of premieres, with performance data; [*] means the piece can be viewed on my YouTube channel)

All Things* (alto sax, steel drums, percussion). Farewell Recital for Michael Hicks, BYU, 12 March 2020.

Blown Over* (four trombones). Faculty Composers Concert, BYU, 17 October 2017

  of the* (string quartet). Nova Chamber Series (commissioned), Libby Gardner Hall, Salt Lake City, 28 January 2016

L'Épitaphe de Monk* (carillon). Neil Thornock, BYU, 22 October 2015

The Articles of Faith* (for children, piano and voice). Michael Hicks and Ruth Christensen, Group for New Music, BYU, 29 January 2015; Mormon History Association National Meeting, Provo, UT, 7 June 2015.  Also, countless performances across the United States, based on free score and accompaniment recording downloads and shares from 2015-present.

Diode* (two violins, three hands). Alex and Aubrey Woods, Group for New Music, BYU, 9 October 2014; Nova Concert Series, Libby Gardner Hall, Salt Lake City, 26 October 2014. Reviewed in Reichel Recommends http://www.reichelrecommends.com/powerful-season-opener-for-nova-2/

Parenthetical Gothic* (organ). Neil Thornock, Faculty Composers Recital, BYU, 1 February 2013; Barrus Recital Hall, BYU-Idaho, 5 November 2013.

Sophikos* (piano). Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

The Road (accordion and tape). Michael Hicks, Faculty Composers Recital, BYU, 25 January 2012.

L'Épitaphe de Monk* (piano). Scott Holden, Faculty Composers Recital, BYU, 25 January 2012; Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

Stations of the Cross* (piano or two pianos). Christian Asplund and Neil Thornock, Group for New Music, BYU, 9 March 2010; Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

Mystery Train (amplified banjo). Michael Hicks, Group for New Music, BYU, 20 October 2009.

Trio Sonata (viola with toy piano, violin, and offstage piano). Claudine Bigelow, et al., BYU, 30 October 2008.

O Let the Solid Ground (mixed chorus). BYU Concert Choir, BYU, 13 and 15 February 2007; Brevitas, St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Salt Lake City, 7 June 2018; recorded on The West Wind: Choral Music from Utah (Brevitas Records B07HXJ8Z7G).

The Annunciation* (piano). Scott Holden, Group for New Music, BYU, 14 October 2006; Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

Lamentation (baritone and clarinet). Hyrum Weibell and Bryn Huntington, Group for New Music, BYU, 17 February 2006.

The Idea of Domes* (piano). Danielle Reist, Group for New Music, BYU, 4 February 2004; Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

Sweet Is The Work (choral arrangement of the Watts-McClellan hymn). BYU Singers, Music and the Spoken Word, 24 March 2024. BYU Singers, Recital Hall, Music Building, BYU, 10 November 2023. BYU Singers, 15 November 2002 (and subsequent tour dates). Recorded on Brigham Young University Singers, My Redeemer Lives, Tantara TCD 0204MRL (2004).

Rain Tiger* (viola, shadow viola, clarinet, cello, piano, toy piano, steel drum, maracas). Farewell Recital for Michael Hicks, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU, 12 March 2020.  Group for New Music, BYU, 2 November 2002; Available on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG. Added to the PostClassic Radio playlist in 2005 (see https://www.kylegann.com/postclassicradio.html). Added to the music history sequence supplemental listening list at Louisiana State University in 2005.

The Empress of Japan* (violin, piano, offstage cello). Group for New Music, BYU, 29 February 2000; Salty Cricket Composers Collective, University of Utah, 14 December 2011; New York Piano Trio, BYU, 14 February 2012; Daniel Mihai, Alexandra Cont, and Serban Nichifor, Romanian Athenaeum, 27 April 2012; recorded on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG.

Induction Coil* (cello, piano). Roger Drinkall and Dian Baker, BYU, 16 November 1995; Serban Nichifor and Violetta Stefanescu, Romanian Athenaeum, 27 April and 15 October 2012; Recorded on Drinkall- Baker Duo, Late Conversations, Tantara TCD 039606BS.

Sacral Segments* (four clarinets). Group for New Music, 13 April 1993; University of California at Los Angeles, 1 February 1995; Group for New Music, 21 March 2017; Farewell Recital for Michael Hicks, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU, 12 March 2020. Available on Found Horizon: New Music from Brigham Young University, Tantara CD BEG-1 (1994) and Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG.

Strategy of Looms (string quartet). Honors String Quartet, BYU, 11 December 1991; Faculty String Quartet, Group for New Music, BYU, 2 November 2002; Nova Concert Series, Libby Gardner Hall, Salt Lake City, 26 October 2014; available on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG.

Exegesis of Soul (saxophone quintet). Group for New Music, BYU, 9 November 1989; recorded on the brick church 2 (New York, 1990); Black Swamp Saxophone Quartet, 16 February 1991, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center; Group for New Music, BYU, 2 November 2002; available on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG, released in summer 2003.

Blow Over (trombone). Commissioned by Scott Bergeson, performed by him at various recitals, 1988-1989; recorded on the brick church 2 (New York, 1990).

Steel Cage (trumpet, trombone, viola, guitar, piano, harmonium). Group for New Music, BYU, 9 December 1987; “Voices of America” series, KBYU-FM, 9 November 1989.

Akeldama* (chamber orchestra). Brigham Young University Chamber Orchestra, BYU, 21 November 1987; Brigham Young University Chamber Orchestra, BYU, 29 March 2018.

Spell* (flute). David Kern, Group for New Music, BYU, 6 April 1987; Kathie Stewart, Northern Kentucky University, 9 April 1988; recorded on the brick church 2 (New York, 1990); Oregon State University New Music Ensemble, 31 May 2000; April Clayton, Group for New Music, BYU, 2 March 2002, 2 November 2002; April Clayton, “A Celebration of Mormon Music,” 23 September 2010; April Clayton, Group for New Music, BYU, 5 October 2011; Farewell Recital for Michael Hicks, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU, 12 March 2020.  Available on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG.

Suscepit (violin, piano). David Liptak and Catherine Tait, Performing Arts Series, BYU, 27 March 1987.

Gate Thirteen (marimba). Ronald Brough, 18 and 23 February 1987, BYU; Gary Aragon, 22 March and 17 April 1990, Florida International University; Gary Aragon, 14 April 1990, Subtropics Music Festival, Miami; Heather Barringer, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, 14 April 1990; Group for New Music, BYU, 2 November 2002; available on Ritual Grounds, Tantara TCD 0103BRG.

Gate 13a (horn, piano). Jeffery Kirschen (Utah Symphony), Utah Horn Festival, 19 October 1985. Winner of Barlow Award for Composition.

Prolepsis (brass quintet). Menlo Brass Quintet, Menlo Park, California, 17 March 1985, Humboldt College, 6 August 1985; ASUC Region IX Conference, 1 February 1986; Memphis Symphony Brass Quintet, Memphis State New Music Festival, 6 February 1986; Brassworks, BYU, 21 March 1986; Group for New Music, BYU, 22 March 1994.

Remember, O Lord (women’s chorus). University of Illinois Women’s Glee Club, 23 April 1983; BYU Women’s Chorus, 18 March 1997.

Mantikos* (piano). Sever Tipei, 12 March 1983, Urbana, Illinois; Midwestern Composers Symposium, 9 April 1983, Ann Arbor; WEFT-FM, 12 April 1983, Champaign (with discussion); Sunstone Theological Symposium, 23 August 1985, Salt Lake City; Keith Kirchoff, BYU, 26 June 2012.  Recorded on Felt Hammers: The Complete Works for Solo Piano. Tantara TCD 0314FHM.

from the dublin altarpiece (soprano, tenor, two clarinets, guitar, percussion). Commissioned and premiered by Donald and Cynthia Christensen, 6 April 1982, BYU; Group for New Music, BYU, 6 November 2004.

Thomas (narrator, tenor, three baritones, chamber ensemble). University of Illinois Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, ASUC Region V Conference, 8 November 1981; Group for New Music, BYU, 12 December 1990. (Reviewed in Perspectives of New Music 20 [1981-1982]: 607.

Relics (soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion). Brigham Young University, 21 February 1980. First Prize in Composition, Mormon Festival of Arts, 1980. Group for New Music, BYU, 3 March 2001.

Humoresque for Emmett Kelly (choir, piano, three television sets). Brigham Young University, 27 November 1979: 21 February 1980. Published in Century 2 4 (Winter 1980): 28-31.

Sonata in Three Tableaux (two pianos). Commissioned and premiered by Linda Mankin and Judith Mitchell, 31 May 1977, 2 February 1978, Foothill College.

American Essay: 1876 (string quartet). Foothill College, 1976; Group for New Music, BYU, 2 November 2002.