David J. Elliott
David J. Elliott is Professor of Music and Music Education at New York University. He was educated at the University of Toronto (B.Mus., B.Ed., M.Mus.) and Case Western University (Ph.D., 1983). During his middle and high school years, he studied jazz trombone with Steve Richards and jazz piano and composition with Vincent Cinanni. While he was an undergraduate and graduate music education major at the University of Toronto, he studied classical trombone with Ralph Sauer (principal trombone of the Toronto Symphony and, subsequently, principal trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). For many years, he played professionally as a jazz trombonist in Toronto. He also studied composition/arranging privately with several classical and jazz composers, including Gordon Delamont and R. Murray Schafer. His first major composition for full jazz ensemble won first prize in the 1976 composition competition of the US National Association of Jazz Educators (subsequently the IAJE). Since then, he has composed and arranged numerous choral and instrumental works, many of which have been published by Boosey & Hawkes/Hal Leonard.
As a secondary school music teacher in Toronto in the early 1970s, he taught band, jazz band, and general music courses. His general music teaching focused on engaging students in composing in a variety of styles, including pop and rock songwriting. Between 1977 and 1989, he was appointed Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor of Music Education at the University of Toronto, where he continued teaching until 2002. At several points during his career at the University of Toronto, he was invited to serve one-year appointments as a Visiting Professor of Music Education at other university music schools, including Northwestern University, Indiana University, the University of North Texas, the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, and the Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing).
In 2002, he was appointed Full Professor of Music and Music Education in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University. In addition to his duties as Director of Doctoral Studies in Music Education at NYU, he teaches MA and PhD courses in music education philosophy, the psychology of music education, community music, music composition in/for secondary schools, music education in cultural contexts, and music curriculum development.
David Elliott is best known as the author of the "praxial philosophy of music education," which is explained most recently in ''Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education, 2nd edition (2015). The first edition, Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education (1995), was titled "new" because it offered an alternative to the longstanding and dominant philosophy (in North America and some other nations) called "music education as aesthetic education," which was first published in 1970 by Elliott’s Ph.D. advisor, Bennett Reimer.
In addition to co-authoring (with Marissa Silverman) Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education (2nd ed.), Elliott is editor of Praxial Music Education: Reflections and Dialogues, and co-editor of Community Music Today" and Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis (in press). He has also authored numerous journal articles and chapters in edited books, including The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Music Education; The Oxford Handbook of Music Education; Music, Health, and Wellbeing; The Oxford Handbook of Musical Identities; and The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development."
Elliott has given more than 300 conference keynote papers and invited university lectures in 46 countries. These universities include: Trinity College-Dublin, Queens University (Belfast), and the Universities of Limerick and Cork in Ireland; the Universities of Cape Town, Durban-Natal, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Stellenbosch, and North-West University in South Africa; the Universities of Auckland, Otago, Christchurch, and Wellington in New Zealand; the Sibelius Academy of Music and the Universities of Oulu and Jyväskylä in Finland; Stockholm University and Orebro University in Sweden; the University of Porto, Portugal; Hong Kong Chinese University; the Universities of Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne, and Brisbane in Australia; and the University of British Columbia, Canada. In the USA, he has lectured at: UCLA, University of Texas (Austin), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Indiana University, University of Illinois-Urbana, University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, Michigan State University, University of South Florida, Temple University, Penn State University, University of Minnesota, University of Maryland-College Park, James Madison University, and the University of Minnesota. He has also given invited presentations in Belgium, China, Denmark, the U.K., Germany, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
Elliott serves on the editorial boards of Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, the International Journal of Community Music," and Somaesthetics.
• See David Elliott’s full CV at: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/faculty_bios/view/David_J._Elliott
Books
• 2015. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education (2nd ed). New York: Oxford University Press.
• 2013. Veblen, K., Silverman, Marissa, and Elliott, D. J. (Eds.). Community Music Today. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
• 2005/2009. Elliott, D. J. (Ed.). Praxial Music Education: Reflections and Dialogues. New York: Oxford University Press.
• 1995. Elliott, D. J. Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education. New York: Oxford University Press.
• In press. Elliott, D. J., Silverman, M., and Bowman, W. (Eds.) Artistic Citizenship: Artistry, Social Responsibility, and Ethical Praxis. New York: Oxford University Press.
Selected Journal Articles and Book Chapters
• 2016. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. Felt Experiences of Popular Musics. In The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development" (ed. Gary McPherson), pp. 244-264. New York: Oxford University Press.
• 2015. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. A Response to Commentaries on Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education, 2nd ed. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 14(3), 106-130.
• 2015. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. Music, Personhood, and Eudaimonia. The Journal of Transdisciplinary Research in South Africa: Special Edition on Music and Well-Being, 10(2), 59-74.
• 2014. Silverman, M., Davis, S., & Elliott, D. J. Praxial Music Education: A Critical Analysis of Critical Commentaries. International Journal of Music Education, 32(1), 53-69.
• 2012. Elliott, D. J. Music as/for Artistic Citizenship. Music Educators Journal, 99(1), 21-27.
• 2012. Elliott, D. J. Music Education Philosophy. In The Oxford Handbook of Music Education (ed. Gary McPherson & Graham Welch), pp. 63–86. New York: Oxford University Press.
• 2012. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. Why Music Matters: Philosophical and Cultural Foundations. In Music, Health, and Wellbeing (ed. Raymond MacDonald), pp. 25–39. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• 2012. Elliott, D. J., & Silverman, M. Re-Thinking Philosophy, Re-Viewing Musical Affective Experience. In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Music Education (ed. Wayne Bowman & Ana Lucia Frega), pp. 37–62. New York: Oxford University Press.
• 2007. Elliott, D. J. “Socializing” Music Education. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 6(4), 60-95. http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Elliott6_4.pdf
• 2007. Elliott, D. J. Puerto Rico: A Site of Critical Performative Pedagogy. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 6 (1), 2-24. http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Elliott6_1.pdf
• 2005. Elliott, D. J. Musical Understanding, Musical Works, and Emotional Expression: Implications for Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(1), 93-103.
• 2004. Elliott, D. J. 50 Years of ISME: Four Honorary Presidents. International Journal of Music Education: Research, 22, 93-101.
• 2001. Elliott, D. J. Modernity, Postmodernity, and Music Education Philosophy. Research Studies in Music Education, 17, 17-41.
• 2000. Elliott, D. J. Music and Affect: The Praxial View. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 8(2), 79-88.
• 2000. Integration: For or Against? General Music Today, 14(1), 4-8.
External links[edit]
• Elliott’s NYU Biography: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty/David_J._Elliott
• Music Matters Blog: www.musicmatters2.com
