Mark J. Butler
Harrington Fellow, Music Theory

Mark Butler (Associate Professor of Music Theory and Cognition, Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University) will be a Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellow in the Butler School of Music during the 2009–2010 academic year. He has previously been a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a PhD in music theory from Indiana University. He has received fellowships from the American Academy in Berlin and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as the Wiley Housewright Dissertation Award from the Society for American Music. Butler’s research interests include popular music, rhythm and meter, music and sexuality, and technologically mediated performance. In his work he integrates theoretical, historical, and anthropological approaches to music, with particular emphasis on the use of ethnographic methodology to address music-theoretical questions. Butler’s book Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music (Indiana University Press, 2006) explores the rhythmic and metrical organization of electronic dance music from the measure to the complete DJ set, drawing upon field research with audiences and creators of electronic dance music as well as musical analysis. While in Austin he will be completing a book focusing on relationships between technology, improvisation, and composition in electronic-music performance. Entitled Playing with Something That Runs, it has been contracted for publication by Oxford University Press. Other publications have appeared in such journals as Music Theory Online, Twentieth-Century Music, Theoria, and Popular Music.

James Lowe
Assistant Professor, Opera Conducting

James Lowe joins the faculty of the Butler School of Music as the new conductor of the Butler Opera Center. Lowe’s long list of accolades reflects his eclectic musical tastes and versatile skills. He has received acclaim across the country in virtually every musical style, from his work with The Houston Grand Opera, to performances with Randy Newman and Sir Elton John. Most recently, Lowe conducted the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of Gyypsy, starring Patti LuPone. He has also conducted for the national tours of My Fair Lady, and The Light in The Piazza. His work with the Houston Grand Opera, includes productions of the Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, and The Abduction from Sergalio. Among his other conducting credits are productions with The Pittsburgh Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Dayton Opera, Opera San Diego, and the Ash Lawn Opera Festival, where he served as resident conductor.

Lowe has held professional positions with Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Virginia Opera, American Institute of Music Studies, and Blackfriars Theater in Rochester New York. He has served on the faculty of Hochstein Music School and Syracuse University. Lowe Received his Masters of Music from University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s from the Eastman School of Music.

Anne Akiko Meyers
Assistant Professor, Violin

Internationally renowned violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is one of the most celebrated violinists of our time, earning worldwide recognition as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. Audiences in Austin know Meyers from her recent solo appearance at the Butler School of Music’s Starling Distinguished Violin Series and from her multiple performances with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
Meyers’ portfolio includes multiple premieres of works by composers such as David Baker, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Wynton Marsalis, Olivier Messiaen and Somei Satoh among others. She has recorded more than 20 albums, brings a commitment to teaching and new music, and remains a participant in community outreach programs around the world. She was recently the first violinist to be named Regent’s Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles.
In her concert career, Meyers has been a regular guest at some of the most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall. She has also performed with some of the world’s most recognized orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, l’Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony and the Vienna Symphony.

Daniel Tembras
Assistant to the Director of Bands

Mr. Tembras received the Master of Music degree in Wind Conducting from Michigan State University. Mr. Tembras has served as director in the Mason Public Schools in Mason, MI where he conducted the sixth through eighth grade bands, and middle school jazz band, as well assisting the high school symphonic, concert, and marching band. He also held the position of Associate Director of Bands in the Kearsley Community Schools in Flint, MI. A native of Lansing, Michigan, Mr. Tembras holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University.

Mr. Tembras is a member of the College Band Directors National Association, the Michigan State Band and Orchestra Association, and the International Trumpet Guild and is a frequent clinician in the state of Michigan. He has also served as guest conductor of the East Lansing Kiwanis Band as well as the Michigan State University Community Music School summer music camp band.