After earning his PhD in musicology from Columbia University (and coaching high school basketball and working at FIAT USA), Aaron taught music history and appreciation at Lewis & Clark College for 29 years. He published broadly on medieval Italian music and literature, including his most recent essay “‘Miriam’s Timbrel’” in Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy. In addition, he wrote program notes for the Philadelphia Orchestra and concert reviews for the Oregonian newspaper. Aaron received numerous teaching awards during his career, including Lewis & Clark College Professor of the Year and Master Teacher of the American Musicological Society. An English major and student of Kenneth Koch and Robert Phelps in New York, Aaron publishes fiction and poetry, completing the prose for a melodrama called SMEOPS for reciter and jazz trio with music by LC graduate Jude Abare, which will have its premiere at Lewis & Clark College, April 4, 2025. Click here for more details on this performance. Inspired by Dante and Hildegard of Bingen, the melodrama explores a life’s journey with music as a companion. He is currently working on a longer collection of poetry.
Academic Credentials
PhD 1993, M.Phil. 1991, MA 1989 Columbia University