Alexandrea Jonker is an an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. She received a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) before going on to complete a Master of Music in Music Theory at Michigan State University. She completed a PhD in Music Theory at McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2024. Her dissertation proposes an analytical methodology for Johanna Beyer’s four earliest compositions that intertwines aspects of transformational theory and queer theory. Her main research interests are in aural skills pedagogy and the music of female ultramodernist composers, specifically Beyer and her contemporary, Vivian Fine. Alexandrea has presented research at the Society for Music Theory annual conference, the American Musicological Society annual meeting, the Society for American Music, the Canadian University Music Society, the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, the International Music by Women Festival in Columbus, Mississippi, as well as several regional and graduate student conferences around North America. Her research has been published in the conference proceedings from the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, and the Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy. Alexandrea is a two-time winner of the Innovative Teaching and Learning in Music award at McGill University, and her doctoral research was funded by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her research on inclusive aural skills pedagogy has been recognized with a Best Student Paper award from the Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (2021) and the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic (2021).
Download Alexandrea’s full CV here (PDF)
EDUCATION
McGill University
Ph.D. in Music Theory
2018—2024
Dissertation: “Melodic Transformations in Johanna Beyer’s Early Compositions: A Gendered Interpretation”
Michigan State University
Master of Music in Music Theory
2016—2018
Wilfrid Laurier University
Bachelor of Music in Music Theory
Minors in History and German
2011—2016
PUBLICATIONS
- Jonker, Alexandrea. 2025. “Peer-led Melodic Dictation in the Aural Skills Curriculum.” (Accepted to Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy).
- Jonker, Alexandrea and Peter Schubert. 2025. “Idiomatic Improvisation: Where Theory Meets Aural Skills.” SMT-Pod, Season 4.
- Jonker, Alexandrea. 2018. “Human Perception of Melodic Similarity in Theme and Variation Pieces.” Proceedings of the ICMPC-ESCOM 15 (Montreal, Canada). 227-232.
- Jonker, Alexandrea. 2020. “Error Detection in the Undergraduate Aural Skills Curriculum.” In The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy. Leigh VanHandel (ed). New York: Routledge Publishing Inc.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Double-voicedness as Feminist Agency in Johanna Beyer’s “The Federal Music Project” (1936) and “The Composer’s Forum Laboratory” (1937)
- Canadian University Music Society (May 2025)
- American Musicological Society national meeting (forthcoming – November 2025)
Melodic Transformation and Levenshtein Distance in Johanna Beyer’s Early Music
- Music Theory Midwest (May 2025)
The “Queer Ethos” of Dissonant Counterpoint
- Society for American Music (March 2025)
Peer-Led Melodic Dictation in the Aural Skills Curriculum
- Pedagogy into Practice (June 2024)
Consonance, Dissonance, and Gender: A Queer-Theoretical Approach to Johanna Beyer’s Clarinet Suites (1932)
- Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting (November 2023)
Presentation Slides (PDF)
Presentation Handout (PDF)
Notation-Free Dictation: A Case Study in “Blind Hearing”
- Pedagogy into Practice (June 2022)
Melodic Transformations in Johanna Beyer’s Clarinet Suites (1932)
- Music Theory Midwest (May 2022)
- Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting (November 2022)
Keeping the “Ear” in “Ear Training”: Incorporating “Blind Hearing” for Improved Aural Skills Pedagogy
- Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory Regional Conference (April 2021)
- Best Student Paper Award
- Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference (July 2021)
- Dorothy Payne Best Student Paper Award
- Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting (November 2021)
Presentation Video
Presentation Slides
“Dissonation” of Tonal Materials in Vivian Fine’s Ultra-Modernist Compositions
- Music Theory Midwest (May 2020)
- Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting (November 2020)
Presentation Video
Presentation Slides
Presentation Handout
Gamifying the Music Theory Curriculum
- College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference (April 2021)
- College Music Society International Conference (June 2021 – Canceled due to COVID-19)
- The Canadian University Music Society (MusCan) Annual Conference (June 2021)
Presentation Video
Presentation Slides
An Argument for Error Detection: Why and How It Should be Taught in the Undergraduate Aural Skills Curriculum
- THEMUS Temple University Graduate Student Conference Pedagogy Symposium (April 2018)
- College Music Society Great Lakes Regional Conference (April 2018)
- University of Arizona Graduate Student Music Conference (February 2018)
Presentation Video
Presentation Slides
Presentation Handout
The Ego and the Id: A Psychoanalysis of Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major, D. 956, Scherzo and Trio
- THEMUS Temple University Graduate Student Conference (April 2018)
- Western University Graduate Student Symposium on Music (August 2018)
Presentation Slides
Presentation Handout
Human Perception of Melodic Similarity in Theme and Variation Pieces
- International Conference on Music Cognition and Perception – Poster Session (July 2018)
Internal Conflict in Vivian Fine’s ‘The Lover in Winter Plaineth for the Spring’ from Four Songs
- International Music by Women Festival (March 2019)
Presentation Slides
Presentation Handout
Read the Research@Schulich press release on this presentation!
The Expectancy/Infinity Trope in ‘Molasses’ by Hiatus Kaiyote
- McGill Graduate Student Symposium (March 2019)
- University of Toronto Graduate Student Conference (March 2019)
- New England Conference of Music Theorists (April 2019)
Presentation Slides
Presentation Handout
WORKSHOPS & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Shark!: A Dive into Film Music Analysis
SMT Peer Learning Program (SMT Annual Meeting 2025)
Online Pedagogy: Design for Online Learning
SUNY Potsdam (Online Workshop series, January–February 2025)
College Music Society “Inclusive Pedagogy in Music” Cohort
Online Workshop series (November 2024-May 2025)
Inclusive Pedagogies
McGill University (Workshop series, April-May 2023)
Liberatory Praxis in Music Education
McGill University (Monthly workshops, September 2022-May 2023)
SMT Graduate Student Workshop with Daphne Leong “Twentieth-Century Music in Analysis and Performance”
Columbus, OH (November 2019)
SMT Graduate Student Workshop with Dmitri Tymoskzo “Code Shifting, Chromaticism, and Modality
San Antonio, TX (November 2018)
University of Arizona Graduate Student Music Conference Workshop with Suzannah Clark
Tucson, AZ (February 2018)
SMT Graduate Student Workshop with Frank Samarotto “The Craft of Musical Analysis”
Arlington, VA (November 2017)
OTHER PRESENTATIONS
Internal Conflict in Vivian Fine’s ‘The Lover in Winter Plaineth for the Spring’ from Four Songs
Bradley University College of Fine Arts — Atonal Music Theories Guest Lecture (February 2019)
The Expectancy/Infinity Trope in ‘Molasses’ by Hiatus Kaiyote
Bradley University College of Fine Arts — Sophomore Theory Guest Lecture (April 2019)
MSU Alumni Panel
Michigan State University College of Music — Music Theory Colloquium Guest Presentation (March 2019)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Download Alexandrea’s Statement of Teaching Philosophy here (PDF)
Alexandrea has been an instructor of record for the following classes:
- Integrated Theory and Aural Skills I and II
- Theory and Analysis of Tonal Music
- Musicianship/Ear Training I
- Musicianship/Ear Training II
- Musicianship/Ear Training III
- Musicianship/Ear Training IV
- Chromatic Harmony Written Theory (Theory IV) (see Syllabus and other course materials here)
- Post-Tonal Analysis (Theory V) (see Syllabus and other course materials here)
Alexandrea has had teaching assistantships for the following classes:
- Written Music Theory I
- Written Music Theory II
- Written Music Theory III
- Written Music Theory IV
- Ear Training I
- Ear Training II
Alexandrea previously served as a Remote Learning Assistant where she co-designed the core musicianship sequence at McGill University for remote delivery and helped coordinate these classes. She also held a Research Assistantship in the musicianship area where she researched and implemented diverse repertoires and teaching approaches in the curriculum.
Teaching Demonstrations
AWARDS, DISTINCTIONS, RECOGNITIONS
- Dorothy Payne Award for the Best Student Paper from the MTSMA (2021)
- Best Student Paper Award from the RMSMT (2021)
- Innovative Learning and Teaching in Music Award (Summer 2020, Winter 2021)
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2020-2023)
- FRQSC Doctoral Award (declined) (2020)
- PGSS Travel Award (2020)
- Graduate Research Enhancement Travel Award (2018-2019)
- Graduate Excellence Fellowship (2018-2019)
- SEMPRE Conference Award (2018)
- Council of Graduate Students Conference Award (2018)
- Research Enhancement Fellowship (2017)
- Canada Graduate Scholarship — Master’s (Declined) (2017-2018)
- William Thompson Scholarship Award (2014-2015)
- Wilfrid Laurier University Theory Award (2013-2014)
- The Budd Family Music Award (2013-2014)
- The Woodstock Strings Association Ellen Kellerman Memorial Scholarship (2013-2014)
- Wilfrid Laurier University In-Course Scholarship (2012-2015)
- Motz Family Entrance Music Award (2011-2012)
- Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty of Music Entrance Scholarship (2011-2012)
- Queen Elizabeth II Aim for the Top Scholarship (2011-2015)
- Woodstock Rotary Festival Gold Award and invitation to Ontario Provincial Music Festival (2011)