David J. Nelson
 Professor
Music Education
Phone: (319) 335-1732
Office: 2079 VMB
david-j-nelson@uiowa.edu

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David J. Nelson

David Nelson is currently Professor of Music Education at The University of Iowa. He is the Founding Director of the University of Iowa Division of Performing Arts (2000-2005), former Director of the School of Music (1991-2000) and former Interim Chair of the Department of Dance (2002-2003). He continues to serve as an Affiliated Professor in the Interdisciplinary Program in Literature, Science and the Arts.

From 1981-1991 he served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he was Director of the School of Music (1989-1991), Director of String Development, Chair of the String Department, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Director of Summer Music Clinics as well as Director of the Wisconsin Pre-College Institute. Nelson has also served on the faculties of McGill University, Montreal (1978-1981) and Murray State University (1975-1978).

Nelson holds a B.M.E and M.M. (violin) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Texas-Austin.

His research interests include psychological modeling of music intelligence, string pedagogy and aesthetic responsiveness. He is widely published in national and international journals that include the Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, and Design for Arts in Education. For many years he served as editor for the journal Dialogue in Instrumental Music Education.

As a violinist and conductor, he performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Austin (TX) Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, the Quad-City (IA) Symphony Orchestra, the Madison (WI) Symphony Orchestra, and served as Associate Concert Master of the Owensboro (KY) Symphony. He is the founding violinist for L’Ensemble MusicArte in Montreal.

For many years he served on the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Music and reviewed numerous arts programs for national, regional, university, and state agencies.

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Last updated 21-aug-06