Gordon Root

Gordon Root is an Associate Professor of Music Theory in the School of Music at the State University of New York at Fredonia, where he has taught since 2006. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

His research focuses on:

• The music of Arnold Schoenberg
• Text-music interaction
• Music and metaphor
• Late 19th and early 20th century music
• Popular music analysis

Dr. Root has published essays in Indiana Theory Review and Current Musicology, edited Schoenberg's Models for Beginners in Composition (Oxford University Press, 2016), and presented extensively on Schoenberg's pedagogy, harmonic theories, and programmatic aspects of Twelve-Tone works. His scholarship reveals consistent engagement with analytical frameworks bridging historical and contemporary musical practices.

His honors include:

• Poummit Faculty Recognition Award from Fredonia School of Music (2018)
• Avenir Grant from Arnold Schönberg Center and The Avenir Foundation (2009)

As an educator, he specializes in music theory, analysis, model composition, and popular music pedagogy within the Department of Music Theory.