The UBC School of Music is thrilled to welcome two new faculty members to its Music Theory Division: Dr. Anabel Maler who will join as Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Dr. Robert Komaniecki, who will join the faculty as a Lecturer, Music Theory. Both will start their positions on July 1, 2023.
“I’m excited to welcome Dr. Maler and Dr. Komaniecki to UBC’s Music Theory Division. Their diverse research interests, teaching experience, and passion for music will enrich the music theory program at all levels, as well as the School of Music as a whole. I look forward to their contributions to our scholarly community and to having them as colleagues.”
Dr. Anabel Maler is a scholar of music theory with interests in music and disability studies, music in Deaf culture, music perception, embodiment and gesture, post-tonal form, and the intersections of music theory, musicology, and ethnomusicology. Dr. Maler was born outside of Ottawa, Ontario, and received her BMus and MA in music theory from McGill University. Dr. Maler holds a doctorate in music theory and history from the University of Chicago, where she completed a dissertation titled Hearing Form in Post-Tonal Music.
Dr. Maler’s current research project is titled Seeing Voices: Analyzing Sign Language Music. This book, which is forthcoming with Oxford University Press, provides the first monograph-length analytical methodology for engaging with sign language music, a central musical output of Deaf culture. Seeing Voices argues for taking signed music seriously as an object of analytical inquiry and builds a theoretical foundation for engaging with this music as music, by exploring the history, cultural contexts, and principal musical parameters of sign language music. It reveals that sign language music, rather than being peripheral to music studies, can teach us a great deal about how, when, and why movement becomes musical in a cultural context.
Dr. Robert Komaniecki is a passionate musician, communicator, and educator. Born and raised in Minnesota, USA, Dr. Komaniecki earned his BA and MA in music theory from the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Komaniecki holds a doctorate in music theory with a minor in music history from Indiana University.
Dr. Komaniecki’s scholarly interests include popular music, film music, video game music, and hip hop. His 2019 dissertation, Analyzing the Parameters of Flow in Hip Hop, is an analysis of vocal deliveries in rap music from the standpoint of rhyme, rhythm, and vocal pitch. His scholarly writing appears in various publications, including Music Theory Online and Intégral: The Journal of Applied Musical Thought.
Welcome to UBC, Dr. Maler and Dr. Komaniecki!
