Jayson Smith

Adjunct Instructor of Music

Academic Area: Theory

Contact

Phone: (940)-898-2500
Email: jsmith95@twu.edu 

Degrees

PhD (ABD) in Music Theory with related field in Composition, University of North Texas
MM in Music Theory, Florida State University
BME (instrumental), University of Central Arkansas

Profile

Jayson “Jay” Smith is a PhD candidate in music theory with a related field in composition at the University of North Texas. He has taught and assisted with a wide range of theory courses at UNT, and he received the “2016 Most Outstanding Teaching Fellow in Music Theory.”

Jay’s research interests include rhythm and meter, tonality and expectation, and recontextualization in Debussy’s music. He has presented his research at numerous conferences in the US and internationally, including Texas Society for Music Theory, Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory, Music Theory Southeast, Canadian University Music Society Annual Conference, Pacific Northwest Graduate Music Conference, Indiana University Symposium, and Florida State University Music Theory Forum. His paper, “The Metric Battle in Holst’s Mars, the Bringer of War” won the “Colvin Award” for best student paper at the 38th Annual Texas Society for Music Theory Conference. He also published an article in the UNT College of Music graduate theory journal, Harmonia: “Memory, Repetition, and Recontextualization in Debussy’s ‘Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir.’” For this article, Jay received the “Graham H. Phipps Paper Award.”

In addition to his research and teaching experiences, Jay has served as treasurer, webmaster, and president for UNT’s Graduate Association of Musicologists und Theorists (GAMuT); as a senator representing the College of Music’s Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology in the UNT Graduate Student Council; and as a member of the UNT Fine Arts Series Committee.