Music Faculty Member Joshua S. Duchan to Co-Host Symposium on Billy Joel

Detroit (August 23, 2016) - Joshua S. Duchan, Assistant Professor of Music History in the Department of Music at Wayne State University, will co-host "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me: The Music and Lyrics of Billy Joel," October 7 and 8 at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The first scholarly symposium on the music and lyrics of Billy Joel, Dr. Duchan believes there is much to be learned from the study of Joel's music. "Billy Joel's music has been the soundtrack to so many people's lives, yet music scholars haven't paid it much attention until now. This conference will help us understand the music, how and why it was made, and its lasting influence." The symposium features over 30 events, including presentations, exhibitions, roundtable discussions, and a film screening. The keynote is a live phone interview with Mr. Joel, conducted by Dr. Duchan and co-host Ryan Bañagale, Assistant Professor of Music at Colorado College.

Dr. Duchan's forthcoming monograph, Billy Joel: America's Piano Man (Rownman & Littlefield, 2017), is one of the first scholarly books focusing on Billy Joel's music. Dr. Duchan has also been invited by the American Musicological Society to lecture about Joel's music at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2018.

At Wayne State, Duchan is the Department of Music's Interim Graduate Officer and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music history, world music, popular music, and ethnomusicology.

For more information on "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me: The Music and Lyrics of Billy Joel,", visit:
http://www.billyjoel.com/news/colorado-college-host-first-ever-scholarly-symposium-billy-joels-music/

For more information on Dr. Joshua Duchan, visit: http://music.wayne.edu/profile/ev1450

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Founded in 1918, Wayne State University's Department of Music has earned a reputation for excellence in the US and abroad. Many members of the music faculty, including musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and some of the area's finest jazz and vocal artists, have toured throughout the world as performers, clinicians, conductors and composers. Likewise, students in the department's ensembles have won international competitions, toured Europe and Asia, and enjoyed repeated invitations to perform at major festivals and conferences. The department also is known for its preparation of music educators.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 380 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 27,000 students.

Contact: Danny DeRose, Academic Services Officer II
e: danny.derose@wayne.edu
p: 313-577-1783