Adam Ricci
Education
Ph.D. in Music Theory, Eastman School of Music
M.A. in Music Theory, Eastman School of Music
B.A. in Music and Psychology, University of Rochester
Biography
Adam Ricci is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He earned the Ph.D. in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music, where his studies were supported by a Jacob K. Javits fellowship.
His current research focuses on rhythm and meter in the music of Tigran Hamasyan; his other research interests include harmonic sequences, jazz harmony, pop music, the music of Gabriel Fauré, and diatonic theory. He has presented at meetings of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) and numerous regional societies in the U.S., as well as at conferences in Belgium and the U.K. He has served as program chair and secretary for Music Theory Southeast, on the program committee for SMT, and as a reviewer for Music Theory Spectrum, Music Theory Online, Music Theory and Analysis, Theory and Practice, and Indiana Theory Review.
He performs as a pianist with the Lorena Guillén Tango Ensemble. Past teaching appointments include Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and Nazareth University in Rochester, NY, where he also worked as a choir and opera accompanist. He served as Music Theory Area Head from 2013 to 2021 and is a Past President of UNCG’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Subjects Taught
- Music Theory
- Aural Skills
Publications
“The Pump-up in Pop Music of the 1970s and 80s.” Music Analysis 36.1 (2017): 94–115.
“Reharmonization as Process in Fauré’s Prelude Op. 103 No. 3.” Dutch Journal of Music Theory 18.1 (2013): 37–42.
“Non-coinciding Sequences.” Music Theory Spectrum 33.2 (Fall 2011): 124–45.
“Maximal Evenness as Conceptual Apparatus for a Course on Post-Tonal Theory and Analysis.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 22 (2008): 21–58.
“The Progress of a Motive in Brahms’s Intermezzo op. 119, no. 3.” Music Theory Online 13.3 (Sept. 2007).
“A Classification Scheme for Harmonic Sequences.” Theory and Practice 27 (2002): 1–36. [Winner of Emerging Scholar Award, Music Theory Society of New York State.]
“A ‘Hard Habit to Break’: The Integration of Harmonic Cycles and Voice-Leading Structure in Two Songs by Chicago.” Indiana Theory Review 21 (2000): 129–46.