Professor Dr. Seth Monahan

Biography

Seth Monahan is an Associate Professor Adjunct at the Yale School of Music, where he has been since 2019. His research focuses on issues related to musical meaning, interpretation, and epistemology. He has published extensively on the intersection of narrative design and form in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler, addressing topics such as rhetoric in music analysis, harmony, and voice-leading in Wagner's late style, as well as musical energetics and embodiment studies. Monahan was awarded the Society for Music Theory's Emerging Scholar Award twice for his significant contributions to the field, including his works "Action Agency Revisited" (Journal of Music Theory, 2013) and "Mahler's Symphonic Sonatas" (Oxford University Press, 2015). He co-edited the collection "Musical Meaning and Interpretation: Perspectives, Reflection, Critique" (Oxford University Press, 2025), dedicated to Professor James Hepokoski. Monahan is also deeply involved in pedagogy, having published several essays on undergraduate theory instruction and created an ongoing YouTube series, "Basics of Classical Harmony and Counterpoint," which has accrued a million views since 2016. His teaching has earned him numerous accolades, including the University of Rochester's Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Additionally, he teaches core musicianship classes and seminars in music analysis.

Research Interests

Awards