Bio and Résumé
“…while he worked beautifully with the good voices we had in the principal roles, his work with our indifferently voiced chorus was little short of miraculous. I do not mean simply in terms of energy and precision (which are usually the best one can hope for) but in richness of tone, variety of texture, flexibility of dynamics and all round excellent musicianship…”
— Wandalie Henshaw, Director of the Clarence Brown Company
Education and Professional Experience
Timothy W. Duncan completed a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the University of Tennessee under the tutelage of Edward Zambara. While he was an undergraduate student he composed original incidental music for the Clarence Brown Theater (for productions directed by Ralph G. Allen and Dr. Wandalie Henshaw) as well as conducted their productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas The Mikado and Ruddygore. He also conducted Paul Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück and Maurya, a one act opera by Gregory Kosteck, for the University of Tennessee Opera Theater.
Dr. Duncan completed a masters degree in music composition from the University of Memphis, where his principal teacher was Don Freund, and a doctorate in music composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where his principal teacher was Jonathan Kramer. Subsequent to the completion of his doctorate he studied vocal improvisation with David Moss at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, computer music with Charles Dodge at Brooklyn College, and Digital Signal Processing with Perry Cook at Stanford University.
Dr. Duncan’s compositional work has received awards and grants from a number of organizations including the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs, the Southeast Interdisciplinary Fund, the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Music Teachers Association, the Greater Jackson Arts Council (MS), the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County, and Meet the Composer, Inc. He was an instructor of classical voice and music theory at Copiah-Lincoln Community College from 1984 - 1990 and the Department Director of Audio & Music Technology at Cogswell College in San Jose, CA from 1998 - 2018.
His work over many decades has collaboratively embraced music, theater, and dance, and reflects a deep engagement with all aspects of the performing arts, poetry, and philosophy.