Professional Summary
Nathaniel Mitchell, PhD, will join CCM's faculty as Assistant Professor of Music Theory on Aug. 15, 2025.
Mitchell is a music theorist whose research investigates the cognitive, cultural and structural dimensions of musical creativity in genres ranging from eighteenth-century opera to bluegrass and video games.
Mitchell holds a PhD in Music from Princeton University and has previously held faculty positions at Wesleyan University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he helped to redesign the theory curriculum to emphasize student choice and hands-on experience with a wide range of music. His work on Italian opera seria has been recognized by the Holmes/D’Accone Dissertation Fellowship and the Roland Jackson Prize from the American Musicological Society. His additional research on public music theory, ludomusicology, musical narrative and improvisation has appeared in Music Theory Online, the Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory, SMT-V and SMT-Pod.