Music Theory Faculty
Dr. Fred Hosken is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Butler University, where he is the coordinator of the music theory and aural skills curriculum. His research specializes in the perception and production of groove and focuses on how musicians create and manipulate unique “feels,” such as “laid back” and “tight,” through their performances. This approach to music theory, analysis, and interpretation allows for a deeper understanding of how subtle timing variations contribute to the overall character of musical grooves.
Dr. Hosken earned his Ph.D. in Music Theory & Cognition from Northwestern University. Prior to his doctoral studies, he completed an MSt in Musicology at the University of Oxford and a BMus at King’s College London.
Before joining Butler University, Dr. Hosken taught music theory at SUNY Potsdam and Georgetown University. At these institutions, he taught core curriculum courses as well as a range of liberal arts classes focused on the culturally situated analysis and interpretation of music. Additionally, he expanded his pedagogical reach by teaching pop music analysis as part of a degree-bearing course at the Patuxent Institution, a maximum-security correctional facility in Maryland. This experience underscores his commitment to accessible and diverse music education.
His scholarly work includes a publication in Psychology of Music (2020), where he explored the subjective experience of groove. In 2021, he collaborated with a groove research team in Lucerne, Switzerland to created and publish research datasets of drum performances, capturing precise timing details from professional musicians. Dr. Hosken’s forthcoming articles will further explore the vernacular language of “feel” used by performers, offering new theoretical perspectives on rhythmic performances. He serves on the editorial board of Theory and Practice and is a reviews editor for the IASPM Journal.
Dr. Zachary Cooper is a dedicated performer and educator and he is passionate about cultivating the next generation of musicians. Cooper’s devotion to teaching horn has shaped the careers of numerous students, many of whom have earned scholarships to renowned universities and conservatories across the United States. His guidance has led students to successful careers as both educators and performers, reflecting his commitment to nurturing talent and fostering excellence.
Cooper is newly appointed principal horn of the Carmel Symphony Orchestra and he has recently performed as guest principal with the Richmond (IN) Symphony and Evansville Philharmonic. His orchestral journey commenced at an early age, with notable performances alongside orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra (UK) and the Orlando Philharmonic when he was 16. At the age of 19, he won his first audition as second horn with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, marking the beginning of a flourishing career. His rich orchestral background includes positions as principal horn in the Missoula Symphony, associate principal horn in the Helena Symphony, and a multitude of performances with more than two dozen orchestras, including the Dayton Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Opera, Memphis Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico, to name a few. Highlights of his performance career to date include performing Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the String Orchestra of the Rockies, the Corno Obligato for the Scherzo of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with the Glacier Symphony, and performing alongside musical acts like Mannheim Steamroller.
An avid chamber musician, Cooper is a founding member of several chamber groups, including Entropy, a horn and trombone duo in collaboration with Dr. Nathan Dishman, and Cooper Duo, a horn and flute duo in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Cooper. Most recently, Cooper has focused his scholarly research on commissioning new works to increase the horn repertoire with an emphasis on supporting minority and BIPOC composers, either as the sole commissioner or by joining commissioning consortiums. New works supported by his efforts include Sonata for horn and piano (Anthony Plog), Sure-Fire for horn and wind ensemble (Catherine Likhuta), El Viaje for horn ensemble (Aliyah Danielle), One More Mountain for horn, trombone, and piano (Amy Riebs Mills), Entropy for horn and trombone (Austin Hammonds), Wunlit for solo horn (Shawn Okpebholo), Passages for flute, horn, and piano (Paul Basler), become/decay for flute and horn (Tyler Kline), and The Final Battle Cry for solo horn (Alexis Carrier). Cooper has presented lectures and performances at the International Horn Symposium, International Women’s Brass Conference, National Flute Association Convention, Southeast Horn Workshop, and Northwest Horn Symposium, to name a few.
Cooper’s academic journey has been marked by significant achievements, including being named to his current position as Assistant Professor of Horn and Music Theory and Coordinator of Brass at Butler University. Previously, Cooper was a tenured professor at the University of Montana where he worked for eight years as Chair of Music Theory and Chair of Brass and Percussion and received recognition as a Student Wellness Advocate. He has served in leadership roles for several organizations in the horn world. Cooper was three times elected by the membership to serve on the board of the Northwest Horn Society, as President (2023 until moving away from the region) and twice as Secretary (2023-2020, 2020-2017). He also served the International Horn Society as the State Representative of Montana.
Cooper holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Florida State University. He studied under the mentorship of esteemed teachers such as Dr. William Capps, Duane Dugger, Randy Gardner, and William C. Robinson, the founder of the International Horn Society.
David Orvek is a Lecturer in Music Theory at Butler University and a PhD candidate in music theory at Indiana University. He holds degrees in music theory from Southern Adventist University and The Ohio State University. The topic of his dissertation is the music of Brian Ferneyhough. His research is published in the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, and he has presented research on pedagogy, the music of Elizabeth Maconchy, and mathematical music theory at regional, national, and international conferences. David serves as an editorial assistant for Music Theory Spectrum and has served as a co-editor for Indiana Theory Review and the chair of the technology committee for Music Theory Midwest. In his free time, he enjoys abstract painting, reading, and programming.
Passionate and communicative, Max Geissler is a versatile cellist whose broad musical interests span multiple genres and disciplines. From performing in international chamber music series alongside distinguished artists, to premiering works by world-renowned composers with the new music ensemble Latitude 49, to historical performances on baroque cello with gut strings, Max’s artistic range is as diverse as it is dynamic. Currently, Max is the Assistant Professor of Cello at Butler University after previously serving on faculty at East Tennessee State University. Max spends his summers teaching and performing at ENCORE Chamber Music Institute and Kalmia Garden Music Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization Max founded and directs in Durham, CT, just celebrated its 12th season.
Maintaining an active presence as a performer, Max has been presented by prestigious international organizations such as La Jolla ChamberFest, Taipei Music Academy & Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Geneva Music Festival. He has shared the stage with celebrated musicians such as Lynn Harrell, Mathieu Herzog, Clive Greensmith, Mihaela Martin, Frans Helmerson, Jon Kimura Parker, Cho-Liang Lin, and Martin Beaver. Eager to expand the scope of the solo cello repertoire, Max enjoys collaborating with and commissioning visionary contemporary composers such as Theo Chandler, Hilary Purrington, Erberk Eryılmaz, Chen Yihan, and Andrew Rindfleisch.
When serving as Co-Artistic Director of Latitude 49, Max premiered works by dozens of composers, bringing to life a diverse range of pieces from inspiring student compositions to collaborations with Juno and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers such as Joan Tower, Juri Seo, Christopher Cerrone, Mark Kilstofte, and Jared Miller. The ensemble continues to perform in major venues each season, including the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival, Constellation Chicago, Princeton Sound Kitchen, Bowling Green State University’s New Music Festival, and New Music Detroit’s Strange Beautiful Music, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s The Cube. With Latitude 49, Max has recorded and released five albums, including publications with New Amsterdam Records. The ensemble’s annual summer festival, Sound Atlas Sound Festival, presented at Contemporary Calgary, has been praised as “one of Calgary’s most exciting festivals to look out for.”
Max is deeply committed to cultivating a studio of young cellists who are engaged collaborators in their communities. In addition to his studio teaching at ETSU, Max regularly teaches at various academies and festivals such as ENCORE Chamber Music Institute’s Summer Academy and the Tennessee Cello Workshop, alongside distinguished colleagues from Northwestern, Rice, Indiana, McGill University, Oberlin, and San Francisco Conservatory. Max is also in high demand for teaching and performing residencies at universities including Princeton University, Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Tennessee, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Colorado State University, Baylor University, and SUNY-Fredonia. Max’s students have been accepted into top-tier festivals and degree programs, and have earned prestigious awards in national and international competitions, including the From The Top audition, the YoungArts Competition, the Stulberg International String Competition, and the Grand Prize Virtuoso Competition (Bonn, Germany).
In 2024, Max received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. During his Master’s and Doctoral studies at Rice, he served as Desmond Hoebig’s teaching assistant and taught the university’s non-major cello studio. Max earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan under the mentorship of Richard Aaron and also spent a year in the Study Abroad program, taking lessons with Michel Strauss from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.