Portrait image of Joel Hunt
Joel Hunt

Adjunct Instructor of Music

Contact Information

OFFICE: D'Angelo 34
PHONE: 814-824-2394
About Joel Hunt

    Ph.D., Music Theory, University of California at Santa Barbara

    M.A., Music Composition, University of California at Santa Barbara

    B.M., Music Composition & Saxophone Performance, State University of New York at Fredonia

    MUS 384: Orchestration

    Joel Hunt is a music theorist, composer, and performer with interests ranging from jazz and pop to interactive electroacoustic and algorithmic computer music. Dr. Hunt’s research interests include jazz & pop theory, history of electronic music, computational analysis, American modernism, and sketch studies. His scholarship focuses on the evolution of compositional process in the music of Henry Brant, incorporating analysis of Brant’s sketches, text manuscripts, and correspondence. Dr. Hunt’s recent creative output includes computer music, audio-visual installations, music for modular synthesizer, and interactive-electroacoustic music. Dr. Hunt is also an accomplished jazz saxophonist and band leader.

    • Encyclopedia Entry: “Henry Brant.” Komponisten der Gegenwart, Heister, Hanns-Werner, and Walter-Wolfgang Sparrer. München: Edition Text & Kritik, December 2019
    • Performance: Material for Viola and Electronics, Ussachevsky Memorial Festival of Electroacoustic Music, Pomona College, Lyman Hall, Claremont, CA, February 1, 2019
    • Performance: Material for Cello and Electronics, New York City Electronic Music Festival, Abrons Art Center, New York, NY, July 21, 2018
    • Installation: Penn State Erie Interactive Sound and Music Map, Keystone DH, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, July 16, 2018
    • Book Review: Negotiated Moments: Improvisation, Sound, and Subjectivity, Gillian Siddall and Ellen Waterman, Notes, the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, December 2018
    • Book Review: Expanding the Horizon of Electroacoustic Music Analysis, edited by Simon Emmerson and Leigh Landy, Notes, the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association, June 2018
    • Panel Discussion: “Blended Learning and Digital Humanities Research.” Blend DLA, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, May 2018
    • Panel Discussion: “A Conversation with Daniel Armbruster from Joywave.” Penn State Digital Media, Arts, and Technology Festival, Erie, PA, March 2018
    • Performance: Knock for Piano Resonance, New York City Electronic Music Festival, New York, NY, National Sawdust, July 16, 2017
    • Conference Presentation: “From Process to Performance: Text-Based Improvisation in Henry Brant's ‘Instant Music’” EuroMAC 2017, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France, June 2017
    • Conference Presentation: “Spatial Panoramas: Henry Brant's 1980s Compositions on Environmental Themes.” International Musicology Society, Tokyo, March 2017
    • Book Chapter: “‘Prose-Report Composition’ in the Music of Henry Brant.” Texts and Beyond. The Process of Music Composition from 19th to 20th century, ed. Jonathan Goldman. Bologna: Ad Parnassum Studies, Ut Orpheus Edizioni, 2016
    • Performance: Saxophony for Soprano Saxophone, Laptop, and iPhone Controller, TEDxPSU Erie, Pennsylvania State University, Erie, PA , Burke Center, April 16, 2016
    • Conference Presentation: “Henry Brant’s ‘Instant Music’ Toward a Framework for ‘Controlled Improvisation.’” Thirteenth International Music Theory and Analysis Conference, Rimini, Italy, September 2016
    • Installation: R for Strings and Hammers, Society of Composers, Inc., Region III Conference, Marshall University School of Music, Huntington, WV, February 25-27, 2016
    • Book Chapter: “Indeterminacy as a means for practical complexity in Henry Brant's ‘Instant Music.’” Mitteilungen der Paul Sacher Stiftung, Nr. 27, April 2014.           
    • Poster Presentation: “‘Oblique Harmony’ in Henry Brant’s Variations for Four Instruments.” Society for Music Theory,  Milwaukee, WI, November 2014