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Dorian Bandy

Academic title(s): 

Professor, Area Coordinator

Dorian Bandy
Department: 
Music Research
Music Performance
Area(s): 
Early Music
Music History/Musicology
Contact Information
Phone: 
+1 (514) 398-1266
Email address: 
dorian.bandy [at] mcgill.ca
Instrument(s): 
Violin
Group: 
Area Coordinator
Faculty
Office: 
C-306A, Strathcona Music Building
Degree(s): 

BA,ÌýCornell University
MMus, Royal Academy of Music (London)
PhD, University of Glasgow

Areas of expertise: 

Musicology; historical performance practice; philosophy of music

Biography: 

Dorian Bandy is a musicologist and performer specializing in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. He is the author of , which proposes a model for Mozart interpretation based on historical studies of Mozart's activities as a pianist and improviser and analytic accounts of his sonatas, concertos, symphonies, and operas. Dorian's research interests also include Beethoven,ÌýGerman instrumental music c.1660-1720, and Lieder c.1780-1840, as well as various issues in aesthetics and the philosophy of music (including the work concept, meme theory, musical meaning, and the philosophy of historical performance), and philosophical artworks more broadly (especially Stephen Sondheim's musicals). His writings on these and related topics have appeared in publications ranging from leading academic journals to blogs such as violinist.com and aestheticsforbirds.com. He is a member of the Re:Enlightenment collective.

In addition, Dorian maintains a career as a conductor, baroque violinist, and historical keyboardist. His repertoire spans four centuries, and his performances — acclaimed for their vitality, drama, and warmth — have taken him to venues across Europe and North America, including London’s Wigmore and Cadogan Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and New York’s Symphony Space.

Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

William Dawson Scholar

Courses: 

MUHL 286 (Critical Thinking About Music)
MUHL 366 (Era of the Fortepiano)
MUHL 383 (Classical Music)
MUPP 381 (Topics in Historical Performance)

Graduate seminars: Music and the solitary; Mozart in the marketplace; Adventures in musical subjectivity; Philosophy of historical performance; Approaches to musical meaning; Research methods in music

Performance: Baroque orchestra, chamber music coaching, private lessons, vocal coaching, etc.

Selected publications: 

Monograph:

 (University of Chicago Press, 2023)

Articles:

"Donna Elvira and the dark places of the heart." Journal of the Royal Musical Association (forthcoming)

"Beethoven's rhetoric of embellishment." 19th-Century MusicÌý46/2

"Mozart's operatic embellishments." Cambridge Opera JournalÌý33/1-2

"Thema da capo: another look at Mozart's embellishments." Eighteenth-Century MusicÌý19/1

"Violin technique and the contrapuntal imagination in 17th-century German lands." Early MusicÌý49/2

Book chapters:

"Variation at the intersection of performance and composition in the 17th and 18th centuries," in The Oxford Handbook of Variation and Melodic TechniquesÌý(´Ú´Ç°ù³Ù³ó³¦´Ç³¾¾±²Ô²µ)

Reviews:

Review essays in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,ÌýThe Beethoven Journal, and the Newsletter of the Mozart Society of America

Discography: 

Mozart: String Duos and Arrangements, including two premieres (forthcoming, 2024)

Lovers and Mourners: Sonatas and Variations by Becker, Biber, Pisendel, Schenck, and Walther (2023)

Telemann: 1715 Violin Sonatas,Ìýincluding one premiere (2018)

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