Gene Cho
Music Theory
/ (940) 565-3723
Gene Cho, Regents Professor of Music, has been on the UNT faculty since 1972. He received his Ph.D. degree (music theory) from Northwestern University. His earlier education included science and economics, as well as theology, church music, conducting and composition.
Among his more recent publication is The Replica of The Ark of the Covenant in Japan: The Mystery of Mi-fune-Shiro (iUniverse; winter 2008), that presents a bold reinterpretation of the history of the missing articles from the Ark of the Covenant. The book holds that these most sacred items (or their replica) in monotheistic Judaism are preserved to this day within the Great Ise Shrine of Japan. His other notable publication, The Discovery of Musical Equal Temperament in China and Europe in the Sixteenth Century(Edwin Mellen Press; spring 2003) presents the history of the formulation of the world's first mathematical theory for equal temperament by a late Ming dynasty scholar, and its possible transmission to Europe in the early seventeenth century by Jesuit priests. For this landmark work, the International Biographical Center (Cambridge, England) awarded Gene Cho with one of the International Musician of the Year awards (2004). His most recent publication is Dong-Xi Fang Wenhua Shiye Zhong de Zhu Zaiyu ji qi Xueshu Chengjiu (The Scholarship and Contribution of Zhu Zaiyu in the Cultural History, East and West. Beijing, China: The Central Conservatory Press; May, 2009), and Passage to Music Literacy (Kendall/Hunt; September 2009). Earlier publications include two monographs, three music theory pedagogical manuals, and a number of journal articles. His compositions—including several commissioned works—and arrangements have also been published and performed in the U.S. and European and Asian countries. Most recently, he has composed a commissioned work for the dedication of Zhu Zaiyu Memorial Concert Hall in Qingyang (Henan Province), China, in spring, 2010.
In previous years, Dr. Cho had served as a charter editorial board member of Journal of Music in China, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, and two terms as president of the Texas Society for Music Theory. He was appointed an honorary member of China's Society of Research in Lüü, the Advisor to Society for (study in) the Western Music, and honorary permanent professor of Xinghai Conservatory (Guangzhou), Yunnan Conservatory, and Shandong Arts College, China. He was a guest professor in Taiwan (1986) and Hong Kong (1994-96). He has presented numerous lectures and clinics in six countries, and leads field study in China and Taiwan. Presently, he is a member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, and an advisor to ASMDC (Asian Schools of Music Director’s Conference).
