Robert Gauldin, professor emeritus of music theory at Eastman, received a bachelor’s degree in composition from North Texas State University in 1953, and a master’s degree and doctorate in theory from Eastman in 1955 and 1958. Born in 1931, Dr. Gauldin began teaching at Eastman in 1963. His other faculty appointments include a professorship of theory at William Carey College (1958-1963), which awarded him an honorary doctorate of music in 1988, and a position as the R.T. French Visiting Professor at Oxford University’s Worchester College. As a composer, Dr. Gauldin has received the BMI Award (1953) and the Berkshire String Quartet Prize (1964). His compositions include works for wind ensemble, chamber orchestra, and chorus. He also received a Ford Foundation Grant for the Contemporary Music Project pilot program at Eastman from 1966 to 1968. As a theorist, Dr. Gauldin has published a number of articles and three widely used textbooks, and has presented numerous papers at conventions and universities in the United States and England. He has served as reviewer and adviser for several publishers, including the Yale University Press and Prentice-Hall, and has served on various boards and committees for music theory societies, including a federal committee chosen to select summer seminars in music for the National Endowment for the Humanities (1981-1982). He was a charter member of the Society for Music Theory and served as its vice president and president (1988-1992). Dr. Gauldin retired in 1997 after 34 years of service to the School, but continues to be an active member of the Eastman community. In recognition of his accomplishments and contributions, the theory department established the Gauldin Acquisition Fund for Rare Books in Music Theory for the Sibley Music Library, with an initial focus on counterpoint treatises and Wagnerian studies.
Eastman School of Music
