معرفی
Steven Rings serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Music and Director of Professional Development at the University of Chicago. His scholarship centers on popular music analysis, vocal studies, and transformational theory frameworks, with significant contributions to understanding Bob Dylan's work and Black experimental music traditions.
Education:
- PhD in Music, Yale University (2006)
Rings' research explores the intersection of musical cognition, cultural context, and performance practice. His work bridges theoretical musicology with vernacular traditions, examining vocal expression across genres from Dylan's protest songs to Albert Ayler's free jazz. Current projects investigate tonal hearing models and the relationship between song structures and recorded performances.
His publications reveal consistent focus on analytical frameworks for popular music, particularly transformational approaches to vocal delivery and historical performance practices. Rings frequently connects technical music theory with broader cultural narratives, especially regarding racial identity in experimental music.
Scientific Awards:
- 2014 Outstanding Publication Award (SMT Popular Music Interest Group)
- Society for Music Theory Award for 'Tonality and Transformation'
- Society for Music Theory Award for 'Oxford Handbook of Critical Concepts in Music Theory'
Rings secured Mellon Foundation funding for a collaborative project with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, reimagining musical categories of voice and groove. He chairs the University of Chicago Society of Fellows and co-founded City Elementary, a therapeutic school in Hyde Park. His teaching spans undergraduate theory courses, graduate seminars on Black experimental music, and College Core musical interpretation classes.
Additional roles include series editor for Oxford Studies in Music Theory and former Professor of Guitar at Portugal's Conservatório Regional de Angra do Heroísmo, where he performed extensively as a classical guitarist prior to his music theory career.
