Matthew McDonald

Matthew McDonald is Associate Professor; Coordinator, Music Theory of Music at Northeastern, where he directs the music theory program and teaches courses in music theory and music in film and other visual media. He holds a B.A. in music from Carleton College, an M.A. in music theory and an M.M. in piano performance from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in music theory from Yale University. Prior to Northeastern, he taught at New York University and the University of Exeter (U.K.).

He is the author of numerous articles and essays on music in film and early twentieth-century modernist music. His book Breaking Time’s Arrow: Experiment and Expression in the Music of Charles Ives was published by Indiana University Press in 2014. Currently, he is writing a book on music and sound in the Coen brothers’ films. Other projects include studies of the early sound film and the soundscapes of North American professional sports.