Gene Biringer is a music theorist and composer educated at Yale University (theory), where his principal teachers included Allen Forte, David Lewin, and Christopher Hasty, and at Rutgers University and the University of Illinois (composition), where he studied with Robert Moevs, Gerald Chenoweth, and John Melby. His research interests include the music of John Adams, Schenkerian analysis, text/music relations, and theory pedagogy. Gene has read papers at numerous regional and national music theory conferences, and his writings have appeared in the Journal of Music Theory, Music Theory Spectrum, Notes, and The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Other projects bring together his interests in music and contemplative practice.
At Lawrence, Gene has taught the full range of core music theory courses as well as many upper-level theory courses, including Schenkerian Analysis, Renaissance Counterpoint, Minimalism and Beyond, and Contemporary American Opera since 1976, of which the latter engage his interest in cross-disciplinary pursuits, as does his course in Music and Mystical Experience. He has taught First-Year Studies many times, receiving in 2014 the Freshman Studies Teaching Award.
In recent years, Gene has focused primarily on composition. Current projects include two song cycles, "Father Songs" (soprano, baritone, and piano) and "Phantom Noise" (baritone and chamber ensemble). Avocationally, he enjoys building musical instruments.
