Faculty Profile
Amanda Johnston
Associate Professor of Music
Phone Number: (662)915-6962
Email: ajjohnst@olemiss.edu
www.amandajohnston.ca
Key Words: Music, Languages, Diction, Performance, Piano
Research Description: Canadian collaborative pianist Amanda Johnston is Associate Professor of Music at UM where she acts as Music Director/Vocal Coach for the Opera Theatre; teaches courses in Advanced Diction, Song Literature; and Collaborative Piano and coaches students at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is also on faculty at Musiktheater Bavaria (Oberaudorf, Germany) and the Druid City Opera Workshop (Tuscaloosa, AL). She is author of English and German Diction for Singers: A Comparative Approach (Scarecrow Press, 2011), highly praised in the Journal of Singing for "enlivening the study of diction". In 2012, she released her debut CD with MSR Classics entitled Mahler: Rückert-Lieder in collaboration with mezzo-soprano Julia Morgan.
Johnston's research interests include comparative diction and lesser-known composers of German lied. Current research projects include a second edition of her diction book, a companion e-workbook, and a video podcast series.
Honors Theses:
Bruening, Elizabeth Brooks (2013) "Thematic Transformation in the Operas of Francis Poulenc: Gender, Spiritual, and Psychological"
Available Research Projects:
Marketing and Promotion of Lyric Diction Book
Project Description: I am embarking on a massive marketing and promotion project related to my book: English and German Diction for Singers: A Comparative Approach. I am targeting universities, community colleges, and conservatories across the USA and Canada, as well as select schools in the United Kingdom and Asia. It is my goal that the book be used as a standard textbook for courses in English and German lyric diction. The project encompasses maintaining a Business Facebook Page, compiling a database of email addresses of professors at targeted institutions, creating print materials for mass distribution, researching schools in Asia and the UK, and much more.
Desired Student Qualifications: The ideal student has an interest in music and marketing. He/she must be computer savvy and capable of launching a massive email campaign to promote this book. Ideally, the student is adept at photoshop or something similar to create cool posters and print materials for mass distribution. Familiarity with Facebook and all of its marketing capabilities would also be a plus.
Project Timeline: Oct 2015 to May 2015 OR Jan 2016 to May 2016 Jan 2014 to May 2015
Duties of Student Researcher: Work would include: 1) Computer research into institutions across the USA, Canada, UK, and Asia, 2) Developing an email database for all professors who teach courses that could potentially use this book, 3) Launching a mass email campaign to promote the book and find new users, 4) Designing cool print materials, 5) Regularly updating existing Facebook page and finding new "followers", 6) Develop promotional templates on Mail Chimp for mass distribution of information
Last Updated on 2015-09-30 14:08:43