SCHMUCKAL, Colleen

Colleen Schmuckal graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2008 with a bachelor of music in composition and bassoon performance and first began her shamisen studies under the auspices of a Monbukagakusho grant from the Japanese embassy in Chicago in 2009. In 2013 she received her master's in teacher education from Yokohama National University. She is currently pursuing her PhD in musicology at Tokyo National University of the Arts, focusing on developing new analytical methods and compositional techniques for traditional Japanese music and musical instruments. She currently works as a lecturer at Tokyo National University of the Arts and Rikkyo University and is a member of the Hōgaku Composers Alliance 2010,2 an organization dedicated to supporting new music for traditional Japanese instruments. Her works are frequently performed at new music concerts in Tokyo.