David
Kushner
School of Music
Professor Emeritus
Specialization: Musicology
T: (352)
392-6674
F: (352)
392-0461
E:
dkushner@ufl.edu
Address:
301 AUD P.O. Box 117900
Gainesville, Fl 32611-7900
David Z. Kushner, Professor of Music Emeritus in the University of Florida School of Music, holds the degrees B.M (Boston University), M.M. (College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati), and Ph.D. (University of Michigan). He directed graduate seminars in American Music, Nationalism in Music, Music Criticism, 19th-Century Music, 20th-Century Music, Piano Literature, Chamber Music Literature, Symphonic Literature, and Opera History, and continues to supervise doctoral dissertations.
Professor Kushner is a recipient of the MTNA’s Master Teacher Certificate in Music History, the International Biographical Centre’s Award of Excellence, the American Biographical Institute’s Most Noted Speaker Award, the State of Florida’s TIP (Teaching Incentive Program), PEP (Professorial Excellence Program), and Superior Achievement Awards, and The College of Fine Arts’ International Educator of the Year and Teacher of the Year Awards. He has published in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The International Dictionary of Opera, The Encyclopedia of American Jewish History, and in such journals as American Music, American Music Teacher, College Music Symposium, Journal of Musicological Research, Journal of Synagogue Music, Opera Journal, and Min-Ad (the journal of the Israel Musicological Society). His book, Ernest Bloch: A Guide to Research (Garland), has been described as “a reference work that is enjoyable to read” (Notes) and one that “provides well-written evaluative annotations that easily stimulate a researcher’s interest in examining the sources” (Choice). A subsequent book,The Ernest Bloch Companion (Greenwood), integrates the composer’s life and works, treats the influence of religion on his creative efforts, and encourages a rethinking of his place in the history of 20th-century music. “Kushner is today’s foremost specialist on Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)” (Choice). This book is “the most informative publication on the composer’s life and works currently in general circulation...The book contains much interesting andprovocative information” (Fanfare). It is “an excellent survey of the relationship between the life of Ernest Bloch and his compositions...A fine book for admirers of Bloch (Opera Journal). Dr. Kushner’s articles, “Religious Ambiguity in the Life and Works of Ernest Bloch,” “John Powell: His Racial and Cultural Ideologies,” “Reflections on the State Songs of Florida,” and “Ernest Bloch: The Cleveland Years (1920-1925)” appear in Min-Ad, the online journal of the Israel Musicological Society.
Professor Kushner has lectured and performed throughout the United States, and in Canada, Israel, Kenya, Australia, and in eastern and western Europe. He has been Visiting Professor of Musicology at the Florence (Italy) Study Center of the State University System of Florida, the Conservatorio di musica “A. Steffani” (Castelfranco-Veneto, Italy), and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem via a Lady Davis Fellowship. While in Israel he lectured at Tel-Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University, and the National Library. He has presented papers before the International Musicological Society, International Jewish Music Conference, ‘Locating the Victorians’ International Conference, International Congress on the Arts and Communications (Nairobi, Edinburgh, Oxford), Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences, Nineteenth-Century Studies Association, Society for American Music, and College Music Society.
Dr. Kushner, who was the first president of the American Musicological Society Southern Chapter and a Charter Member and former president of the College Music Society Southern Chapter, is a co-founder and charter life member of the American Liszt Society, a life member of the Music Teachers’ National Association, a life member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota, a member of the Senior Advisory Council of the Nineteenth-Century Studies Association, and a member of the Society of Pi Kappa Lambda (charter member and first president, Gamma Zeta Chapter). He has also been recognized for his “Recitals in the Schools” program, which brings art music to students in the elementary, middle, and high schools. This unique enhancement to music education has received acclaim from students, parents, teachers, administrators, and civic and political leaders.
Professor Kushner’s biography appears in The International Who’s Who in Music, The Dictionary of International Biography, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, and The International Who’s Who in Education.