Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Research, Desautels Faculty of Music
Room 425 Taché Hall
150 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry Campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2
James Maiello
James V. Maiello is Associate Dean for Graduate Programs & Research and Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Manitoba, where he also directs the university’s Collegium Musicum. In addition to his work as Associate Dean, Dr. Maiello teaches many musicology and music history courses in the Desautels Faculty of Music.
-
In the faculty
- Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Research
- Associate Professor, Musicology
- Director, Collegium Musicum
- Medieval Music History (MUSC 3034)
- Music History Seminar (MUSC 7000)
Education
- BMus, SUNY Fredonia
- MMus, Bowling Green State University
- PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara
I love teaching and I take the art and craft of teaching very seriously. I really enjoy working with students every day, and you need to know that so you’re comfortable seeking me out for help. You’re always welcome in my office. It’s your education, I’m here to help you make it a great one.
The core of my teaching philosophy is this: I aim to make myself useless. If I do my job right, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to be successful without a teacher. This might entail specific professional knowledge about music that is directly relevant to your intended career, but more important, you’ll develop a variety of transferrable skills—critical thinking, research, and writing skills, problem-solving strategies, modes of thought—that will be useful in whatever you do in life. I’m pretty demanding academically, but I’ve worked hard to design courses that move you toward independence, and each assignment, activity, and class experience and their places in the curriculum are carefully considered. Being in a university is a wonderful, kaleidoscopic opportunity, and we should all make it a point to enjoy the ride.
The core of my teaching philosophy is this: I aim to make myself useless. If I do my job right, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to be successful without a teacher. This might entail specific professional knowledge about music that is directly relevant to your intended career, but more important, you’ll develop a variety of transferrable skills—critical thinking, research, and writing skills, problem-solving strategies, modes of thought—that will be useful in whatever you do in life. I’m pretty demanding academically, but I’ve worked hard to design courses that move you toward independence, and each assignment, activity, and class experience and their places in the curriculum are carefully considered. Being in a university is a wonderful, kaleidoscopic opportunity, and we should all make it a point to enjoy the ride.
James Maiello
Associate Professor, Desautels Faculty of Music
Academic work
Dr. Maiello holds a Ph.D. with emphases in Musicology and European Medieval Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; he served on the faculty at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN (USA) from 2008-2013. Dr. Maiello also taught music at the middle school level in the Pine Plains CSD (NY, USA) and maintains teacher certification (Music K-12) in New York State.
Dr. Maiello’s research focuses primarily on western plainchant and liturgy; his current work examines music, liturgy, and identity in medieval Italy. Research and reviews have appeared in Plainsong & Medieval Music, Notes, Symposium, the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, and Fontes Artis Musicae. He also authored the survey of medieval music for the A-R Editions Online Music Anthology’s online textbook module. Another article, “Updating the Alleluia at Pistoia,” appears in “Qui musicam in se habet:” Studies in Honor of Alejandro Planchart. Middleton, WI: American Institute of Musicology, 2015. Research in progress includes a book, Music, Liturgy, & Identity in Medieval Pistoia, as well as an edition and commentary of the 12th-century sequence repertory of Pistoia; he is also working on a project that examines music and ceremony for the Feast of St. James the Greater in Pistoia in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Dr. Maiello serves on the Board of Directors for the Gregorian Institute of Canada and on the Advisory Board of the Canadian Society of Medievalists; he writes regularly for Fanfare magazine.
Ongoing research and creative works
Dr. Maiello’s research focuses primarily on western plainchant and liturgy. His current work examines music, liturgy, and identity in medieval Italy. Other research interests include music and semiotics, music history pedagogy, and educational philosophy. Dr. Maiello’s research and reviews have appeared in Plainsong & Medieval Music, Notes, Symposium, the Journal of Music History Pedagogy, and Fontes Artis Musicae. He also authored the survey of medieval music for the A-R Editions Online Music Anthology’s online textbook module. Another article, “Updating the Alleluia at Pistoia,” appears in “Qui musicam in se habet,” Studies in Honor of Alejandro Planchart. Middleton, WI: American Institute of Musicology, 2015. He also writes regularly for Fanfare magazine.
Research in progress includes a book, Music, Liturgy, & Identity in Medieval Pistoia, and an edition and commentary of the 12th-century sequence repertory of Pistoia. He is also working on a project that examines music and ceremony for the Feast of St. James the Greater in Pistoia in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Dr. Maiello is also collaborating with Dr. David Watt (Dept. of English, Film, & Theatre) and other colleagues at the University of Manitoba on a project titled “Maple Leaves,” which aims to identify, preserve, and facilitate access to manuscripts in Western Canadian archives and libraries.