10/31/2023
I recall assisting Dr. Cho on site in Taiwan with his 3-week UNT College of Music summer extension program in May, 2001. It was an unforgettable trip. He was a valuable member of the faculty for all my years of graduate study and administrative work.
IN MEMORIAM: A member of the faculty from 1972 to 2016, University of North Texas Regents Professor of Music Theory, Gene Jinsiong Cho, died October 27. He received his PhD in music theory from Northwestern University and was a guest professor in Hong Kong and Taiwan. At UNT he taught pedagogy of theory, music theory analysis and aural skills. Gene was a charter editorial board member of the "Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy" and an editorial board member of the "Journal of Music in China" (Los Angeles). His compositions and arrangements for voice, piano, ensemble and orchestra have been performed in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was commissioned to write incidental music for a stage play, "Confucius," and a musical setting of a literary tone poem, "Abraham Lincoln: The Whole Heart, for orchestra, chorus, soli and narrators." His publications include theory pedagogy manuals and monographs in music theory and historical ethnomusicology, including "Theories and Practice of Harmonic Analysis" (Mellen, 1992) and "The Discovery of Musical Equal Temperament in China and Europe in the Sixteenth Century" (Melen, 2003). One of his monographs, "The Replica of the Ark of the Covenant in Japan: The Mystery of MiFune-Shiro," fused religion studies with Japanese cultural history for a glimpse into the interplay of new and old traditions. Dr. Cho presented lectures, clinics and workshops in theory, conducting and composition in six countries outside the United States. In addition, he taught a sequence of courses in music and culture of China and Japan and directed field study programs to Asia. Northwestern Alumni Association Bienen School of Music Society for Music Theory (SMT) Texas Society for Music Theory - TSMT Music Theory Online American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP)
