Dr. Daniel Perttu, Westminster College assistant professor of music and composer, will speak on "An Excessive Musical Representation of Percy Shelley's 'Mont Blanc': Neo-Romanticism Derived from the Hybridization of Modernism with Romanticism and from the Violent Distention of Romantic Theory" at Faires Faculty Forum Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 11:40 a.m. in the Sebastian Mueller Theater in the McKelvey Campus Center.

After a brief overview of how traditional Romantic harmonies might progress and the ways in which they were rejected, Perttu will discuss how his piece uses these structures as a foundation, but transforms them into "unheard-of" musical ideas. This transformation occurs not only by hybridizing Romantic structures with modernist approaches, but also by distending the logic of music theory used by Romantic composers to an excessive degree.

Perttu, who joined the Westminster faculty in August, is the music theory program coordinator. He earned an undergraduate degree from Williams College, two master's from Kent State University, and doctorate from Ohio State University. His compositions have been performed in 19 states and China, and he was recently commissioned by the Johnstone Fund for New Music at the Columbus Foundation to compose for the Johnstone Woodwind Master Series at Ohio State University.

Faculty Forum was established in 1990 by Dr. Barbara Faires, Westminster professor of mathematics, during her term as Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Faculty members from all disciplines volunteer to present lectures on their current research, artistic productions, and/or scholarship of teaching and learning. Each forum presents new ideas with innovative lecture techniques.

Contact Perttu at (724) 946-7024 or e-mail perttude@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Daniel Perttu