Emmett O’Leary
Associate Professor of Music Education
Biography
Professor Emmett O’Leary is an associate professor of music education in the Natlie L. Haslam College of Music at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville where he teachers courses in music teacher education and instrumental music education. Prior to the University of Tennessee, O’Leary served on the faculty of the School of Performing Arts at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and before that, as an associate professor of music education at the Crane School of Music, SUNY-Potsdam. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho (B.M. Music Education), Washington State University (M.A. Music), Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (M.S. Music Technology), and Arizona State University (PhD Music Education).
O’Leary specializes in instrumental music education, secondary general music, and music technology. Prior to his work in teacher education, he served as an Assistant Band Director at the University of Notre Dame where he taught courses in instrumental conducting and brass techniques, and worked with ensembles such as the Notre Dame Symphonic Winds, Brass Ensemble, and the Band of the Fighting Irish (Notre Dame’s marching band). O’Leary’s public school music teaching experience includes work as a high school band director in the Lake Havasu City (AZ) and Meridian (ID) school districts.
His research interests include competition in music education, instrumental music pedagogy, popular music pedagogy, phenomenology, technology in music instruction, and creativity. His research has appeared in the International Journal of Music Education; Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education; the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education; Journal of Music Teacher Education, Journal of Band Research, Journal of Popular Music Education, and College Music Society Symposium. He is a member of the advisory committee for the Music Educators Journal, and on the editorial boards for Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education; Visions of Research in Music Education; the Journal of Music, Technology, and Education; and the Journal of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction.
Education
- PhD, Music Education – Arizona State University (2016)
- MS, Music Technology – Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis (2011)
- MA, Music – Washington State University (2004)
- BM, Music Education, University of Idaho (2000)
