While PARMA artists are consistently making great music and sharing it with the world, some are simultaneously connecting their creative musical endeavors with other elements of their careers.
Some artists link the performative and educational sides of music by passing on their knowledge to the next generation while actively composing and recording. At the collegiate level, university professors have presented their published music to receive tenure, worked with their universities to generate funding for commercial releases, and compiled their compositions to showcase as academic achievements.
For Hong Kong Baptist University music professors Patrick Yim and John Winzenburg, for example, their respective 2020 releases were used to fulfill their tenure-track duties. Similarly, composer Kevin Wilt utilized his relationship with PARMA when he was up for tenure, and is now an Associate Professor, Composer-in-Residence, and Chair of the Department of Music at Florida Atlantic University.
Read on to discover more artists and the bridges they’ve built between composing and their academic careers in music.
Daniel Perttu
Composer
With his own music appearing on multiple albums, Daniel Perttu has found notable success as a composer. While his current roles of Professor of Music Theory and Composition and Music Department Chair at Westminster College came from his hard work as an educator, Perttu cites his compositions as a key factor in his academic success.
“My college accepts my recordings as being equivalent to a published article or book, so they have helped me tremendously get both tenure and promotion not only to associate but also to full professor.”
Daniel Perttu
Sarah Wallin Huff
Composer
As a music lecturer at California Polytechnic University of Pomona, Sarah Wallin Huff has a long history as an educator. With numerous releases and original compositions performed around the world, Huff says her career as a composer informs her work in the academic field.
“Having these releases grants legitimacy to my contributions to the academic sphere. As I specifically teach about the relationships between music and technology within the context of a long historical perspective, I am able to better illustrate what otherwise might be complicated concepts and make them more relatable by sharing my own experiences with students.”
Sarah Wallin Huff
Michael Wittgraf
Composer
Michael Wittgraf is quite the unique composer, with electronic infused works that explore live manipulation of feedback, interactive improvisation, and time as data. As a music technology, composition, theory, and bassoon instructor, Wittgraf holds the title of Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor and Music Department Chair at the University of North Dakota.
“There have been a number of other recordings of my music along my career path that were included on performer and ensemble releases on a variety of labels, but these releases represent a kind of retrospective of my career. Working with PARMA and the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava has been an excellent experience. The remote technology worked flawlessly, and was completely transparent, efficient, and easy to use. I am grateful to the University of North Dakota for providing that opportunity.”
Michael Wittgraf
Dave Camwell
Saxophonist
Currently a Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Professor of Music, saxophonist Dave Camwell received tenure within his first three years at Troy University. It was his teaching, service, and 2019 release, SECOND WIND, from Navona Records he believes put him on the fast track.
“My release of Second Wind was both artistically satisfying, and helpful towards the tenure and promotion process for me at Troy University. I came into the position having given up tenure at my previous institution when I moved to Alabama in 2017. My teaching, service, and scholarly work (of which Second Wind was a major part, along with the grants to produce and finance the album) enabled me to gain my current tenured status of Associate Professor after just three years. I am appreciative of the team for all of their work to bring my album to fruition, and look forward to a long future with this talented team.”
Dave Camwell