Christopher Segall, PhD

Associate Professor of Music Theory

College-Conservatory of Music

University of Cincinnati

EDUCATION

2013 PhD, CUNY Graduate Center, Music Theory.

2006 BMus, University of Toronto, Music Theory, Honors.

2003 ARCT, Royal Conservatory of Music, Piano Performance, First Class Honors with Distinction.

FACULTY POSITIONS

2013– Associate Professor (2019–), Assistant Professor (2013–19) of Music Theory, University of Cincinnati.

2011–13 Instructor of Music Theory, University of Alabama.

2007–10 Adjunct Lecturer, City College of New York.

ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION

2023–24 Interim Head, Division of Composition, Musicology, and Theory, University of Cincinnati.

PUBLICATIONS

Book

2021 Inessa Bazayev and Christopher Segall (eds.), Analytical Approaches to 20th-Century Russian Music: Tonality, Modernism, Serialism. New York: Routledge.

Reviews: Anne Delfín in Music Research Forum 35 (2021): 31–33; Simon Morrison in Russian Review 80/4 (2021): 720–21; Marián Štúň in Musicologica Slovaca 11/2 (2020): 307–9.

Feature-Length Essays

2021 “Monogram, Theme, and Large-Scale Form in Alfred Schnittke’s Viola Concerto,” in Analytical Approaches to 20th-Century Russian Music: Tonality, Modernism, Serialism, ed. Inessa Bazayev and Christopher Segall, 243–63. New York: Routledge.

2020 “Expanding Harmonic Function: Yuri Kholopov’s Twelve-Step System,” Theoria 26: 113–40.

2020 “Yuri Kholopov and Twelve-Toneness,” Music and Politics 14/2 [link].

2018 “Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 2, Yuri Kholopov, and the Theory of Twelve-Tone Chords,” Music Theory Online 24/2 [link].

2017 “Alfred Schnittke’s Triadic Practice,” Journal of Music Theory 61/2: 243–87.

2013 “Klingende Buchstaben: Principles of Alfred Schnittke’s Monogram Technique,” Journal of Musicology 30/2: 252–86.

2010 “K-Nets, Inversion, and Gravitational Balance,” Theory and Practice 35: 119–45.

Winner: Patricia Carpenter Emerging Scholar Award, Music Theory Society of New York State.

Short Essays

2023 “Franz Liszt’s Bagatelle ohne Tonart (in B Minor),” Intégral 36: 263–71 [link].

2019 “Prolongational Analysis Without Beams and Slurs: A View from Russian Music Theory,” Journal of Schenkerian Studies 12: 183–88.

2018 “Rondo⇒Sonata Conversion: The Finale of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 No. 4,” Music Theory and Analysis 5/2: 203–15.

2015 “You, Y’all, We: A Framework for Cooperative Learning,” Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy 3 [link].

2014 Review of Complete String Quartets, vols. 1–3, by Sergey Taneyev, with Carpe Diem String Quartet, Nineteenth-Century Music Review 11/2: 375–77.

2014 “Sergei Taneev’s Vertical-Shifting Counterpoint: An Introduction,” Music Theory Online 20/3 [link].

PRESENTATIONS

2025 “Sound Clouds: The Shapes of Sonorism,” Symposium in Honor of Miguel Roig-Francolí, Cincinnati, OH, April 12.

2024 “Sofia Gubaidulina’s Shadow Tuning and Post-Soviet Hauntology,” Society for Music Theory, Jacksonville, FL, November 7–10.

2024 “Post-Soviet Hauntology and the Music of Sofia Gubaidulina,” Music in Difficult Times: Global—Plural Temporalities, Montréal, QC, May 3–5.

2024 “Sofia Gubaidulina’s Shadow Tuning and Post-Soviet Hauntology,” Women in Music: An Interdisciplinary Conference, Geneva, NY, March 9.

2023 “Soviet Ghosts: Polystylism and Hauntology in the Late USSR,” Eastman School of Music (invited), December 8.

2023 “Specters of Bach: Hauntology in the Music of Sofia Gubaidulina,” Society for Music Theory, Denver, CO, November 9–12.

2023 “Specters of Bach: Hauntology in the Music of Sofia Gubaidulina,” Music Theory Midwest, Winnipeg, MB, May 5–6.

2021 “Teaching Twelve-Tone Technique Without Set Theory,” Russian Music Theory Interest Group and Music Theory Pedagogy Interest Group (joint meeting), Society for Music Theory (online), November 4–7.

2021 “Sonata Form Without Main Theme,” Society for Music Theory (online poster session), November 4–7.

2021 “Sonata Form Without Main Theme,” Bowling Green State University (invited), April 9.

2020 “Attingent Harmonic Function in Zara Levina’s Poem for Viola and Piano,” Russian Music Theory Interest Group, Society for Music Theory (online), November 7–15.

2020 “Twelve-Toneness: How Russian Music Theory Can Help Us Better Understand Twelve-Tone Technique,” University of Toronto (invited), February 6.

2018 “Form-Functional Modification in Prokofiev’s Variation Movements,” Society for Music Theory, San Antonio, TX, November 1–4.

2018 “Yuri Kholopov and the Invention of Twelve-Tone Technique,” American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory (joint session), San Antonio, TX, November 1–4.

2018 “Form-Functional Modification in Prokofiev’s Variation Movements,” New England Conference of Music Theorists, Waltham, MA, April 6–7.

2017 “Alfred Schnittke’s String Quartet No. 3 and the Uses of Quotation,” European Music Analysis Conference, Strasbourg, France, June 28–July 1.

2017 “Can I Borrow a Feeling? Modal Mixture Reconsidered,” Pedagogy into Practice: Teaching Music Theory in the Twenty-First Century, Cleveland, TN, June 1–3.

2017 “Rondo–Sonata Conversion in Beethoven’s op. 18, no. 4,” Music Theory Midwest, Iowa City, IA, May 19–20.

2016 “Mourning and Control in Alfred Schnittke’s Double Concerto,” Symposium on Prokofiev and the Russian Tradition, Baton Rouge, LA, February 25–27.

2015 “Harmonic Function in Shostakovich’s Twelve-Tone Rows,” Russian Music Theory Interest Group, Society for Music Theory, St. Louis, MO, October 29–November 1.

2013 “Taneyev’s Counterpoint in Theory and Practice,” Society for Music Theory, Charlotte, NC, October 31–November 3.

2013 “Alfred Schnittke’s Third String Quartet as a Response to Berio’s Sinfonia,” Music Theory Midwest, Norman, OK, April 26–27.

2013 “Taneyev’s Counterpoint in Theory and Practice,” South Central Society for Music Theory, Tuscaloosa, AL, March 15–16.

2012 “Alfred Schnittke’s Triadic Practice,” Society for Music Theory, New Orleans, LA, November 1–4.

2012 “Alfred Schnittke’s Triadic Practice,” Music Theory Society of New York State, New York, NY, March 31–April 1.

2012 “Principles of Alfred Schnittke’s Monogram Technique,” South Central Society for Music Theory, Lafayette, LA, February 24–25.

2011 “The Common Third Relation in Russian Music Theory,” Society for Music Theory, Minneapolis, MN, October 27–30.

2011 “Polystylism or Monostylism? Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style,” Music Theory Midwest, Lincoln, NE, May 12–14.

2011 “The Common Third Relation in Russian Music Theory,” Music Theory Society of New York State, Amherst, NY, April 9–10.

2009 “Rap and Sprechstimme: Analyzing the Pitch Content of Hip-Hop,” Music Theory Midwest, Minneapolis, MN, May 15–16.

2009 “K-Nets, Inversion, and Gravitational Balance,” Music Theory Society of New York State, Hempstead, NY, April 4–5.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

2025– Editor, Theory and Practice.

2024 Session Chair, “Tragedy, Liturgy, and Myth Across Cultures and Genres,” Society for Music Theory, Jacksonville, FL, November 7–10.

2024– Member, Editorial Board, Music Theory Online.

2024–25 Member, Editorial Board, Theory and Practice.

2024 Session Chair, “Leitmotivs and Thematic Superposition in Video Game Music and Film,” Music Theory Midwest, Muncie, IN, May 10–11.

2023– Chair, Fundraising and Development Committee, Society for Music Theory.

2023– President, Music Theory Midwest.

2022 Reviewer, CV and Cover Letter Review Session, Professional Development Committee, Society for Music Theory, New Orleans, LA, November 10–13.

2022 Session Chair, “Rethinking Familiar Contrapuntal and Formal Patterns,” Music Theory Midwest, Lawrence, KS, May 6–7.

2020–22 Chair (2021–22), Member (2020–21), SMT-40 Dissertation Fellowship Committee, Society for Music Theory.

2020 Panelist, “Roles and Ethics in the Peer Review Process,” Professional Development Committee, Society for Music Theory (online), November 7–15.

2020 Session Chair, “Neo-Riemannian Approaches,” Music Theory Midwest (online), June 22–July 16.

2019 Local Arrangements Chair, Music Theory Midwest, Cincinnati, OH, May 10–11.

2018– Member, Editorial Board, Intégral.

2018–20 Secretary, Music Theory Midwest.

2018 Session Chair, “Cadences and Finales,” Music Theory Midwest, London, ON, May 18–19.

2018 Member, Program Committee, Music Theory Midwest.

2017 Session Chair, “Alternate Classicisms,” Music Theory Midwest, Iowa City, IA, May 19–20.

2016–19 Chair, Russian Music Theory Interest Group, Society for Music Theory.

2016–19 Member, Professional Development Committee, Society for Music Theory.

2016 Session Chair, “(Sonata) Form in 20th-Century Russia,” Music Theory Midwest, Fayetteville, AR, May 6–7.

2016 Session Chair, “Analyzing Prokofiev and Shostakovich,” Symposium on Prokofiev and the Russian Tradition, Baton Rouge, LA, February 25–27.

2015 Panelist, “Navigating Academia from Off Center: Some Topics,” Professional Development Committee, Society for Music Theory, St. Louis, MO, October 29–November 1.

2015 Member, Nominating Committee, Music Theory Midwest.

2014 Session Chair, “Frank Zappa and Pitch in the 21st Century,” Music Theory Midwest, Appleton, WI, April 25–26.

2012–13 Secretary, South Central Society for Music Theory.

PhD DISSERTATION ADVISEES

2024 Anne Delfín, “The Secondary Sonata: Sonata Form in Late-Twentieth-Century Symphonic Repertoire.” Current Position: Instructor of Music Theory, University of Alabama.

2024 Andrew Wittenberg, “The Improvisation and Preservation of Barbershop Harmony: Parsimonious Voice Leading and the Harmonic Highway.”

2023 Abi Seguin, “Genre Experience Maps and Their Use in the Analysis of Post-2000s Popular Music.”

2023 Jacy Pedersen, “Musical Rebellion by Women in the Soviet Union.” Current Position: Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Wichita State University.

GRADUATE SEMINARS

Readings in Music Theory [fall 2014, fall 2016, fall 2018, fall 2020, fall 2022, fall 2024].

Defining Music Russianly [spring 2015].

Analysis of Post-2000 Popular Music [spring 2017].

Twelve-Tone Techniques [fall 2019].

Soviet Ghosts: Polystylism and Hauntology in Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina [spring 2023].

Last updated: April 30, 2025.