The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Marie-Ève Piché will join the Department of Music Theory as an assistant professor this fall. Piché’s primary research interests include chromaticism, 18th- and 19th-century music, late-tonal harmony, and historical perspectives on music theory and analysis. She has a specific interest in unusual and neglected harmonic progressions.
“I am thrilled to join the vibrant community at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Renowned for its excellence in the performing arts and research, the school offers a stimulating environment to which I am eager to contribute,” shared Piché. “I look forward to collaborating with the faculty, who are not only accomplished scholars but also exceptionally kind and generous. I am eager to meet students from SMTD’s various programs and support their growth. I’m also excited to explore Ann Arbor and its surrounding areas.”
Piché’s current projects include a study of sequences in Medtner’s music, which features an abundance of atypical sequences that resist traditional classification, as well as research on chromatic wedge progressions in late-Romantic repertoires. She has presented her work at the annual meetings of the Society for Music Theory (SMT), the Canadian University Music Society (MusCan), Music Theory Midwest (MTMW), and the New England Conference of Music Theorists (NECMT). Piché’s article on sequences in J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier was published in the Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique.
“We are delighted to welcome Marie-Ève Piché to the Department of Music Theory this fall,” said René Rusch, associate professor and chair of the Department of Music Theory. “Her research expertise, combined with her dynamic teaching and musicianship, will be a valuable addition to our SMTD community.”
Piché previously taught music theory and aural skills at the University of Montréal, McGill University, and the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy. She earned her PhD from McGill University, where her research was funded by a grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in musicology from the University of Montréal.