The University of South Dakota

Dr. Nolan Stolz is Assistant Professor of Music (Theory and Composition) at the University of South Dakota. His previous academic positions include University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Three Rivers Community College, and Naugatuck Valley Community College. In May 2011, he lectured on his music as part of the Visiting Composers Series at the University of Arizona, and was Artist-In-Residence (guest composer) at California State University-Bakersfield in April 2011. Stolz's compositions have been performed throughout the United States, Canada, South America, and across Europe, including festivals such as the Academie Internationale d'Ete de Nice (FRANCE), Suolahti International Summer Music Festival (FINLAND), Belvedere Chamber Music Festival, Electroacoustic Juke Joint, eXtensible Electric Guitar Festival, Las Vegas International New Music Festival, Las Vegas Music Festival, Music Today Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival. He has been commissioned by the Alturas Duo, CCSU Chamber Players, Synchronix, LVA Jazz Ensemble, Las Vegas Music Festival Orchestra, SUNY-Stony Brook, Aaron Larget-Caplan, Leslie Ann Leytham, Robert Plotkin and Peter Scuderi. Stolz was awarded the Max DiJulio Composition Prize, second prize in the New Zealand Association of Organists International Competition, and the Most Outstanding Student Composition Award at the 2009 College Music Society Northeast Conference. His "Lullaby for Sam" was recently released on Aaron Larget-Caplan's "New Lullaby" CD from the Six Strings Sounds label. Other commercial releases are forthcoming. As a music theorist, Stolz has given lectures at Queen's University (Canada), The Hartt School, MACRO Musicians' Workshop, and at Society of Composers Inc.'s regional and national conferences. He presented his "Fractional Set Theory: a system of the analysis of microtonal music" at College Music Society's regional and national conferences. His article on Schoenberg's fourth string quartet is available online. As artistic director of New Music Hartford, Stolz curates concerts featuring works by living composers. Stolz is also a drum set performer in both the rock and jazz idioms, working with notable bands such as Swinging Popsicle and Art Rock Circus. He appears on the 2011 album "Zafra Ct." from Halloween Town, an "indie" rock band that includes the guitarist, the bassist and the saxophonist from The Killers. He appears on several other commercial recordings, one of which includes jazz greats Ron Carter, Phil Woods, Monty Alexander, Kenny Burrell and several others.

Music Theory, Ear Training, Orchestration and Arranging, Forms and Analysis, Contemporary Music Theory Techniques, Composition

Composition; microtonal music; macro analysis; Music Since 1967: contemporary classical music analysis, jazz and popular music analysis; Hawaiian culture and history

• DMA, Composition, The Hartt School, 2010
• MM, Composition, University of Oregon, 2007
• BM, Composition, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2004
• BM, Jazz Studies, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2004

• Artist Residency Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, (2009 - 2010)

• Jackpot Grant, Nevada Arts Council, (2011 - 2011)
• Artistic Grant, Evelyn W. Preston Memorial Fund, (2010 - 2010)

• Stolz, N., "Lullaby for Sam".
• Stolz, N., Contrapuntal Techniques in Schoenberg’s Fourth String Quartet, Eunomios.
• Stolz, N., Catharsis II (piano quartet no. 2), Ablaze Records, vol. 3.
• Stolz, N., (2011), "Heart So Fine".
• Stolz, N., (2011), Nolan Stolz Rock Orchestra, Tributary Music.

• Most Outstanding Student Composition Award, College Music Society Northeast Meeting, 2009
• Second Prize (International Composition Competition), New Zealand Association of Organists , 2007
• Max Di Julio Composition Award, Las Vegas Music Festival, 2004
• Youth In America Award, Milwuakee Concert Band, 2000

• Stolz, N. (2011, February). Fractional Set Theory: A System for the Analysis of Microtonal Music. Presented at the College Music Society- Pacific Southwest Conference, Malibu, CA.
• Stolz, N. (2010, September). Fractional Set Theory: A System for the Analysis of Microtonal Music. Presented at the College Music Society National Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
• Stolz, N. (2010, June). Filling in the Blanks: A creative macro assignment for theory and composition. Presented at the Macro Musician's Workshop, Madison, WI.
• Stolz, N. (2009, June). Macro Analysis Applied to Jazz Education. Presented at the Macro Musician's Workshop, Madison, WI.
• Stolz, N. (2009, April). “Macro Analysis of Jazz as a Compositional Tool. Presented at the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, Santa Fe, NM.
• Stolz, N. (2009, March). Fractional Set Theory: A System for the Analysis of Microtonal Music. Presented at the College Music Society Northeast Meeting, Quincy, MA.
• Stolz, N. (2009, February). Macro Analysis of Jazz as a Compositional Tool. Presented at the Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference, Oklahoma City, OK.