John E. Myers
Education: Ph.D., University of Maryland 1987
M.M., Howard University 1979
B.A. Music, Towson
State University 1977
B.A. Philosophy, Towson
State University 1974
With graduate training in ethnomusicolgy and theory-composition, and a parallel career as a guitarist, Dr. Myers is also interested in "new computer-based art forms and their realtionship with traditional art forms, including
implications for representing and defending cultural diversity."
His book, Way of the
Pipa: Structure and Aesthetics in Chinese Lute Music was published by Kent
State University Press in 1992. He has published articles in Yinyue Yishu
(Journal of the Shanghai Conservatory), Soundboard (Journal of the Guitar
Foundation of America), Indian and World Arts and Crafts (New Delhi, India),
Jazz Research Papers, 1994 (International Association of Jazz Educators),
and other journals. He has provided entries for the Asian American Encyclopedia, African American Encyclopedia,
and the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. He is the leader/guitarist
for jazz and chamber music groups, and has performed several times for
National Public Radio. His
compositions appear on several CDs, including Look
In, Jazz at the Rock,
Volumes I, - IV and in various multimedia productions.
John also did the Lingo programming for Tabla:
A Journey into Eastern Percussion,
an instructional CD-ROM program exploring rhythmic
techniques and form in the classical music of North
India, (AIM Records,
2003) and for The
Virtual Jury (1997), an online interactive role-playing
program based on the circumstances of the Unabomber
trial. He
was Assistant Sound Designer and guitarist for Louis Cat Orze: The Mystery
of the Queen's Necklace (an Interactive Adventure in the Court of Versailles);
a CD ROM "edutainment" program based on French history and culture in the 16th
century, distributed by IVI Publishing, Minneapolis, MN, 1995. Dr. Myers currently serves on the editorial board of World Music Reports (West Virginia University),
and as Fine and Performing Arts Editor for the Asia-Pacific Exchange Journal.
His post-graduate work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities,
the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China,
and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities. Recent projects include the
liner notes for a new compact disc of Chinese yangqin music; Tides
And Sand: The Art Of The Chinese Hammered Dulcimer, featuring Sisi Chen, and
for another CD of traditional Chinese chamber music; Jade
Bridge published by Henry Street Records,
a division of Rounder Records. Dr. Myers joined the full-time faculty at Simon's Rock College of Bard in 1987. He teaches courses in music theory, jazz, interactive media, Asian music, and ethnomusicology. Before coming to Simon's Rock, John taught at the Catonsville campus of the University of Maryland,
Towson State University, and Howard Community College.