Dr. Andrew Aziz
Professor of Music, Coordinator of Music Theory
School of Music and Dance
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
SDSU
Bio
Andrew Aziz (b. 1985) currently serves as Professor of Music and Coordinator of Music Theory in SDSU’s School of Music and Dance. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Brown University (2007), earning a double concentration in music and applied mathematics (magna cum laude, with honors in music), and his Ph.D. in music theory at the Eastman School of Music (2013). Before moving to San Diego, he held faculty positions at Brown University, Rhode Island College, and Florida State University. Andrew’s main theoretical interests lie within the investigation of formal issues in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Debussy and Ravel, with the latter serving as the central focus of his dissertation. He has cultivated additional interests in music theory pedagogy, mathematical applications, and popular genres—particularly the discography of Billy Joel and Bernstein’s West Side Story.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Andrew began piano study at age 3, with formal training at the Juilliard School Pre-College (age 8), Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division, and Boston University’s College of Fine Arts; at these institutions, he immersed himself in solo and chamber repertoire and set the stage for his academic career. Since his foray into music theory, Andrew has presented at over thirty regional, national, and international conferences, including at Society for Music Theory, MTSNYS, EuroMAC, SMPC, and topic-themed conferences such as “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me”: The Music and Lyrics of Billy Joel, and Claude Debussy, 1918-2018: A Centenary Celebration. In 2018, he hosted the first-ever regional meeting of the regional West Coast Conference for Music Theory and Analysis in San Diego, serving as Vice President from 2020 until 2024. (Also) in 2018, he was awarded an endowed lectureship—the Steve Larson Distinguished Lecture Series—from the University of Oregon, showcasing the work of an emerging scholar in music research. He has also served as a dedicated blind reviewer for several top journals, as a member of the Society for Music Theory's programming committee (2023), and, currently, as a member of the editorial board for Music Theory Spectrum, the field's flagship journal (2024-2027).
Andrew’s publications may be found in the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy-Online (2015, 2018), Integral (2024), Music Analysis (2021), Music Theory and Analysis (2020), Music Theory Online (2014, 2015, 2022), Music Theory Spectrum (2022), Proceedings of EuroMac IX (2017), and Sonus (2016). He also co-edited, with Jack Boss, a collection of papers based on 2018’s WCCMTA, entitled Musical Waves: West Coast Perspectives of Pitch, Narrative, and Form (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020). Andrew’s interests in music theory pedagogy delve beyond the realm of research and the university setting and into the assessment of the Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam, in which he has participated as a reader for six summers (since 2017). He is currently working on a monograph, tentatively titled A Pianist's Guide to Musical Form, to make music theory more accessible to students and teachers in the piano studio. In his “free” time, Andrew enjoys the Yankees, hole-in-the-wall Chinese food wherever he can find it, one-handed tennis backhands, a good IPA, and a refreshing swim, in no particular order.
Education
- A.B., Music and Applied Mathematics, Brown University (magna cum laude, with honors in music)
- Ph.D., Music Theory, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
