Miguel A. Roig-Francolí, Professor of Music Theory and Composition, is a music theorist and composer whose research interests include Renaissance instrumental music and history of theory, twentieth-century music, and music theory pedagogy. At CCM, he regularly teaches history of theory, sixteenth-century counterpoint, post-tonal theory, music theory pedagogy, and a Rhythm and Meter seminar. He is the author of Harmony in Context (McGraw-Hill, 2nd edn., 2011) and Understanding Post-Tonal Music (McGraw-Hill, 2007). His numerous articles and reviews have been published in Music Theory Spectrum, Journal of Music Theory, Early Music, Revista de Musicología, Notes, Indiana Theory Review, Journal of Musicological Research, College Music Symposium, Analisi: Rivista de Teoria e Pedagogia Musicale, New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and the Diccionario de la música española e hispanoamericana. He has presented papers at numerous conferences, including several annual meetings of the Society for Music Theory, American Musicological Society, and Music Theory Midwest. In 1997 he was appointed artistic advisor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Manuel de Falla festival, and in 1998 he was invited to teach at a summer course of the Universidad Complutense of Madrid (El Escorial). Dr. Roig-Francolí has also taught at the Eastman School of Music, Northern Illinois University, Indiana University, and Ithaca College. He is currently on the editorial board for the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy.
Dr. Roig-Francolí’s compositions have been widely performed in Spain, England, Germany, Mexico, and the U.S., and he has held commissions from the National Orchestra and Chorus of Spain, Spanish National Radio, Fundación Juan March, and the Foundation for Iberian Music (CUNY). His compositions are published by EMEC, Piles, Fundación Juan March (Madrid), and Rising Sun Music Publishing. Among his many honors are first prize at the National Composition Competition of the Spanish Jeunesses Musicales (1981) and second prize at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (Paris, 1982), both for Five Pieces for Orchestra; the Dean’s Dissertation Prize, Indiana University (1991); the Dana Research Fellow Award, Ithaca College (1992); grants from the US-Spain Joint Committee for Cultural and Educational Affairs, Spanish Ministry of Culture, Ithaca College, and Northern Illinois University; and the Medal of Honor from the Superior Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands (2004), the University of Cincinnati’s A.B. "Dolly" Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching (2007) and George Rieveschl Jr. Award for Creative and/or Scholarly Work (2009), and the 2010 Ramón Llull Prize of the Government of the Balearic Islands (Spain).
Ph.D. Indiana University; CCM since 2000.
For more information on Dr. Roig-Francolí, see his personal website.
Publications
Textbooks
Harmony in Context (2nd edn., McGraw-Hill, 2011). [1st edn. reviewed by Ken Stephenson, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 15 (2001 [published 2004]): 103–12.]
Understanding Post-Tonal Music (McGraw-Hill, 2007). To be published in China (in Chinese translation) in 2010.
Anthology of Post-Tonal Music (McGraw-Hill, 2007).
Articles and Reviews
“Semblanzas de Compositores Españoles: Antonio de Cabezón (1510–1566).” Revista de la Fundación Juan March 393, Madrid (March 2010): 2–7 (a commissioned article).
“Reply to Ryan McClelland’s article ‘Teaching Phrase Rhyhtm through Minuets from Haydn’s String Quartets,’ vol. 20, 2006.” Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy 21 (2007): 179–82.
“Procesos compositivos y estructura musical: Teoría y práctica en Antonio de Cabezón y Tomás de Santa María.” In Políticas y prácticas musicales en el mundo de Felipe II (Madrid: Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, 2004): 393–414.
“A Theory of Pitch-Class-Set Extension in Atonal Music.” College Music Symposium 41 (Fall 2001): 57–90.
“Santa María, Tomás de.” New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 7th ed.
Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana (Dictionary of Spanish and Latin-American Music, Madrid). Articles on “Tañer a consonancias” (“Playing in consonances”) and “Tañer fantasía” (“Playing fantasía”).
“Paradigms and Contrast in Sixteenth-Century Modal Structure: Commixture in the tientos of Antonio de Cabezón.” Journal of Musicological Research 19 (2000):1–47.
Review of the Italian book Canone infinito (540 pp.), by Loris Azzaroni. Analisi: Rivista di teoria e pedagogia musicale 30 (1999): 24–31.
“Dos tientos de Cabezón basados en tonos del Magnificat.” Revista de Musicología 21 (1998): 1–19.
“Teoría, análisis, crítica: Reflexiones en torno a ciertas lagunas en la musicología española.” Revista de Musicología 18 (1995): 11–25.
“Harmonic and Formal Processes in Ligeti's Net-Structure Compositions.” Music Theory Spectrum 17/2 (Fall 1995): 242–67.
Review of Historical Organ Techniques and Repertoires: An Historical Survey of Organ Performance Practices and Repertoires. Vol. 1: Spain, 1550-1830. MLA Notes (September 1995): 297–99.
“Playing in Consonances: A Spanish Renaissance Technique of Chordal Improvisation.” Early Music (August 1995): 93–103.
“Modal Paradigms in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Composition: Theory and Practice in Antonio de Cabezón and Tomás de Santa María.” Journal of Music Theory 38/2 (Fall 1994): 247–89.
Review of Apparitions and Macabre Collage, by György Ligeti. MLA Notes 51/1 (1994): 421–23.
“En torno a la figura y la obra de Tomás de Santa María: Aclaraciones, evaluaciones, y relación con la música de Cabezón.” Revista de Musicología (Madrid) 15/1 (Spring 1992): 55–85.
“Bass Emancipation in Sixteenth-Century Spanish Instrumental Music: The Arte de tañer fantasía by Tomás de Santa María.” Indiana Theory Review 9 (Fall 1988): 77–97.
Recent Performances
Songs of the Infinite, for violin and piano:
Jennifer Roig-Francolí, violin, and Adam Kent, piano, Weill Hall (Carnegie Hall), New York, October 24, 2010 (premiere);
Pre-premiere previews: Accent10 Recital, CCM. June 12, 2010, Jennifer Roig-Francolí and Mark Tollefsen;
Burgos International Music Festival, Jennifer Roig-Francolí, Adam Kent, Burgos, Spain, July 10, 2010.
Five Gothic Miniatures, for chorus a cappella:
Xavier University Concert Chorus, Tom Merrill, cond., Cincinnati, May 2, 2010 (premiere).
Suite Apócrifa, for piano:
Adam Kent, piano, Weill Hall (Carnegie Hall), New York, October 24, 2010;
Susan Ha, piano, Werner Hall, CCM, March 10, 2010.
Easter Toccata, for organ:
Matthew Phelps, organ, St. Francis Xavier Church, Manhattan, NY. Dedication of new Peragallo organ, October 11, 2010;
Arnau Reynés, organ, Church of San José, Ibiza (Spain), March 13, 2010;
Performance at the presentation of CD “L’orgue de Sant Josep,” which includes Easter Toccata recorded by Reynés;
on April 19, 2009, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains (Cincinnati), by Blake Callahan;
on Easter Sunday, 2006, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains (Cincinnati), by Blake Callahan;
at the Annual Concert of the American Guild of Organists, Cincinnati, 11 April 2005, by Blake Callahan;
on Easter Sunday, 2005, at Saint Margaret of York (Loveland), by Javier Clavere;
on Easter Sunday, 2005, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Chains (Cincinnati), by Blake Callahan.
Five Pieces for Orchestra:
Ballet Wu Xing, by Jiang Qi, on Five Pieces for Orchestra, performed by Dance China NY at the Joyce Soho, NYC, December 10-11, 2010;
Orquesta Sinfónica de las Islas Baleares, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, November 25, 2010, Salvador Brotons, conductor;
Ballet Wu Xing, by Jiang Qi, on Five Pieces for Orchestra, premiered at CCM Fall Dance Concert, Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM, December 4, 2009;
CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Mark Gibson, CCM’s Corbett Auditorium, 14 Oct. 2003;
National Orchestra of Spain, conducted by Jesús López Cobos, National Auditorioum, Madrid, Spain, December 1, 2002.
Missa pro pace, for mixed chorus and strings:
Edgecliff Vocal Ensemble and string ensemble, conducted by Tom Merrill, Xavier University Bellarmine Chapel, October 28, 2009;
Agnus Dei, conducted by Terry Milligan, performed at University of Cincinnati TUC Great Hall (Faculty Awards Ceremony), May 21, 2009;
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the City of Ibiza, Spain, conducted by Adolfo Villalonga, 21 December 2008 (premiere).
Improvisation for Jennifer, for solo violin:
Jennifer Roig-Francolí, University of Cincinnati TUC Great Hall (Faculty Awards Ceremony), May 21, 2009;
Jennifer Roig-Francolí, Can Ventosa Auditorium, Ibiza, Spain, 21 December 2008 (premiere).
Diferencias y Fugas, for string quartet:
ORCAM String Quartet, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, 2 February 2009.
Antiphon and Psalms for the Victims of Genocide, for chorus and orchestra:
Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, conducted by Jordi Casas, 13 October, 2008 (premiere).
Canticles for a Sacred Earth, for symphony orchestra:
Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, conducted by Philippe Bender, 24 January 2008 (premiere).
Dona eis requiem, in memory of the innocent victims of war and terror, for chamber orchestra and chamber chorus:
Wayne State University Orchestra and Concert Chorale, conducted by Kypros Markou, Detroit, MI, on April 21, 2008;
University of North Florida Chorale and Chamber Singers, Orchestra of the Chamber Music Society of the Good Shepherd, conducted by Cara Tasher, Jacksonville, FL, on 28 October 2007;
Symphony Orchestra of the City of Ibiza, conducted by Adolfo Villalonga, Ibiza, Spain, 29 April 2007.
Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands in Menorca, Spain, on 12 April 2006;
Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands, conducted by Philippe Bender, Mallorca, Spain, on 11 April 2006 (premiere).
Sonata for cello and piano:
Jove Ensemble de Música Contemporania de les Illes Balears, 30th Festival Encontre de Compositors 2009, Mallorca, Spain, December 27, 2009;
Evan Jones and May Phang, DePauw University, 23 February 2007;
Evan Jones and May Phang, CCM, 22 February 2007;
José E. Bouché and Bartomeu Jaume, Ibiza, Spain, 12 Nov. 2004 (at presentation of published score).
Canticles for a Sacred Earth, for double quintet and two percussionists:
Ballet Meditation on Design, by Shellie Cash, based on Canticles for a Sacred Earth, with CCM Chamber Players, conducted by Angela Holt, 20 November, 1 and 2 December 2008;
CCM Chamber Players, conducted by Rodney Winther, CCM, January 24, 2007 (premiere).
Partita, for Eight Instruments:
Café MoMus Contemporary Music Ensemble, Mark Gibson, cond., Cohen Family Studio Theater, CCM, 24 Feb. 2010;
Faculty Orchestra of the Superior Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands, at official opening ceremony of the conservatory’s academic year, Ibiza, Spain, 13 Nov. 2004;
CCM Chamber Players, conducted by Rodney Winther, CCM’s Werner Hall, 14 Nov. 2003.