Background
PhD, Eastman School of Music
Gavin Chuck earned degrees in Composition and Theory from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music. His research has focused on the cognitive basis of musical meaning, integrating music theory with recent approaches in linguistics and anthropology. He has presented papers on this interdisciplinary work at meetings of the Society for Music Theory. He was awarded the Belle Gitelman Prize for Composition by the Eastman School in 1996 and the Ball Dissertation Year Fellowship by the University of Rochester in 2003. While at the Eastman School, he co-founded Ossia, a student-run organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary music and to the development of entrepreneurial skills. He remains active as a composer and is the Executive Director of Alarm Will Sound, a chamber orchestra that specializes in new music and related arts.