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Instrumental Translation in Music

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Speakers/Lectures Academic Cultural/Arts Free Food Music Research

Fri, Oct 2, 2026

12:30 PM – 2 PM EDT (GMT-4)

HUB Meeting Room 1

Fairfax, Virginia, United States

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Joti Rockwell, Professor of Music Theory at Pomona College, investigates how music changes according to which instruments are playing it. Do musical instruments have a voice, and if so, how do they speak? Do they communicate to listeners via different languages? What makes music “idiomatic” for one instrument but not another, and how do performers use different instruments to express equivalent musical ideas? Drawing from recent scholarship on instrument-oriented music theory, along with longstanding research on the connections between music and language, Rockwell focuses on analyzing stringed instruments as played in American roots music recordings. Rockwell traces how performers adapt and adopt melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, and ergonomic patterns across a variety of instrumental contexts.

Food Provided (Panera sandwiches)

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Joti Rockwell's profile photo

Joti Rockwell

Associate Professor of Music (Music Theory)

Pomona College

In his scholarship, Joti Rockwell explores the possibilities afforded by musical sound and performance. Much of his research thus far has involved historical forms of American popular music, and he continues to pursue questions about how the specifics of musical organization connect to broader notions of genre, meaning and expression.

He is also interested in mathematical models of music, particularly with regard to voice-leading and rhythm. As a performer on mandolin and guitar, he works primarily in the realms of bluegrass and roots music, and he has additional interests in contemporary concert music and Balinese gamelan.


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