Photograph of Joelle Welling wearing a black cardigan over a striped t-shirt.

Dr. Joelle Welling

PhD
Pronouns: she/her

Contact information

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 220-2456

Location

Office: CHF218

For media enquiries, contact

mediarequests@ucalgary.ca

Background

Educational Background

PhD Music Theory, University of Texas, 2001

M.M. Music Theory, Wisconsin - Madison, 1995

B.M. Voice Performance, University of Colorado, 1992

Biography

I am the Interim Director of the School of Creative and Performing Arts and a Professor (Teaching) of Music at the University of Calgary. Three times the recipient of a U of C Teaching Excellence Award, I hold a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Texas at Austin, where I also sang in the Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble. In addition, I hold degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Music Theory), and the University of Colorado-Boulder (Voice Performance). My principal voice teachers include Dr. Robert Harrison, Dr. Carol Anderson, Dr. Walter Foster and Bettina Bjorksten. I

 have taught music theory at both McGill University and the University of Texas and voice and choir at the Medicine Hat College Conservatory. In addition I have published articles in College Music Symposium and GAMUT and presented papers at conferences throughout Canada and the United States. 

My research interests include the relations between analysis and performance, text-music relations, late 19th/early 20th-century song, and music theory pedagogy. 

A former Associate Dean (Students) for the Faculty of Arts, Interim Head of the Department of Art & Art History, Associate Director of the School of Creative and Performing Arts, and Chair of the Division of Music, I am also a Past-President of the Canadian University Music Society.

Research

Areas of Research

Music Theory, Pedagogy Analysis and Performance, Text-Music Relations, Late 19th/Early 20th-Century Song

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
MUSI 213 Diatonic Harmony Fall 2024
MUSI 214 Chromatic Harmony Winter 2025
MUSI 417 Advanced Harmonic Analysis Fall 2024
MUSI 225A Musicianship I Fall 2024
MUSI 105 Music Listening Fall 2024 / Winter 2025

Awards

  • Risk Shining Star, University of Calgary. 2018
  • U of C Teaching Excellence Award, UCalgary Students Union. 2017
  • Taylor Institute Student Assessment, Taylor Institute. 2017
  • U of C Teaching Excellence Award, Honorable Mention, UCalgary Students Union. 2004
  • U of C Teaching Excellence Award, UCalgary Students Union. 2002
  • Herbert Colvin Award, Texas Society for Music Theory. 1998

Publications

  • The Music Theory Job Market. Cynthia Gonzales & Joelle Welling. College Music Symposium. (1999)
  • Wold's Mignon I: Dramatic Occasions for Analysis. Joelle Welling. GAMUT, Journal of the Georgia Association of Music Theorists. (1999)
  • Irony and the Composer's Voice in Wolf's Mignon II. Joelle Welling. College Music Society, 49th Annual Meeting; West Coast Conference for Music Theory and Analysis; Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory. (2006)
  • Words and Music: Contradictory Messages in Strauss' Capriccio. Joelle Welling. College Music Society, 47th Annual Meeting; College Music Society, Rocky Mountain Chapter. (2004)
  • Contextualizing Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Joelle Welling. Grand Opera Club of Calgary. (2002)
  • Text and Music: Ironic Relations in Opera. Joelle Welling. American Musicological Society, Pacific Northwest Chapter. (2001)
  • Wolf's Mignon I: Dramatic Occasions for Analysis. Joelle Welling. Georgia Association of Music Theorist & Music Theory SouthEast; Texas Society for Music Theory. (1998)