Benjamin M. Korstvedt

Benjamin M. Korstvedt is the George N. and Selma U. Jeppson Professor of Music at Clark University, where he has taught since 2002 after previous appointments at the University of St. Thomas, Ball State University, and the University of Iowa. He serves in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and holds affiliations with Clark's programs in German Studies, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and Media, Culture, and the Arts. Korstvedt earned his B.A. in Music summa cum laude from Clark University (1987) and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (1995).

His research focuses on Central European musical culture with specialization in Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler, examining intersections of music, politics, and cultural history. Key areas include:

• Symphonic aesthetics and performance practice
• Textual criticism and editorial methodologies
• Reception history, particularly during the Nazi era
• Music and identity in fin-de-siècle Vienna
• Critical theory applied to musical philosophy

Korstvedt's publications demonstrate sustained engagement with Bruckner's symphonies, especially the Fourth and Eighth, through critical editions, analytical studies, and reception histories. Recent work explores performance traditions, editorial challenges, and sociopolitical dimensions of Austro-German music.

Awards recognizing his scholarship include:

• Claude V. Palisca Award (2019) for outstanding scholarly edition
• Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor (2010) from Bruckner Society of America
• Fellowships from National Endowment for the Humanities and Internationale Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften

His leadership roles include:

• President of Bruckner Society of America (since 2011)
• Editorial Board member for New Anton Bruckner Complete Edition
• Editorial Board member for Nineteenth-Century Music Review

Current projects include the monograph Bruckner's Fourth: The Biography of a Symphony (Oxford, 2024) and research on Bruckner/Mahler reception funded by the Botstiber Institute (2024).