Ross W. Duffin

Ross W. Duffin is a Canadian-born scholar, educator, and choral conductor, specializing in historical performance practice of early music. As host of the weekly syndicated radio program, Micrologus: Exploring the World of Early Music, he established a national audience. Duffin held the Fynette H. Kulas Chair in Music at Case Western Reserve University, where he taught for 4 decades and was named Distinguished University Professor. He has published books, music editions, and scholarly articles on music from the 13th century to the 19th, and has won awards for his scholarship and editions.
== Education ==
Ross Duffin earned a BMus in Music History from the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) in 1973, studying with Gordon K. Greene, Philip G. Downs, and Timothy Aarset. He received a scholarship from the Charles H. Ivey Foundation and was Valedictorian for the Faculty of Music. 
As a Canada Council Doctoral Fellow, he enrolled at Stanford University to earn an MA and DMA in Performance Practice of Early Music (1974 and 1977, respectively), working primarily with William P. Mahrt and George Houle. He studied Baroque dance with Wendy Hilton, and also worked with Leland Smith to develop the “Early Music Package” of SCORE_(software), the pioneering software for music printing.
== Academic History ==
* Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio: Distinguished University Professor Emeritus (2018–); Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music Emeritus (2018–); Distinguished University Professor (2017– ); Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music (July 1995–2018); Fynette H. Kulas Associate Professor of Music (July 1986–1995); Assistant Professor of Music (July 1978–June 1986)
* Clare Hall, Cambridge University, UK: Life Member (2014– ), Visiting Fellow (2013–14) 
* McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada: Assistant Professor of Music (August 1977–June 1978)
* Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC: Reader (1999–), Fellow (1999, 2006)
* Huntington Library, San Marino, California: Reader (1975–)
== Family ==
Ross W. Duffin grew up in a musical family. His maternal grandfather, William Frank Nelson (1886–1959), was an English countertenor, who sang with Harold Darke at St. Michael's, Cornhill, and Herbert Murrill, at St. Thomas, Regent Street. His mother, Eileen May (née Nelson) (1920–2005), was conductor of the choir at her local church. His father, William Kenneth Gee "Ken" Duffin (1920–1963), was a farm-bred Canadian businessman. Duffin's sister, Jacalyn Duffin is a distinguished historian of medicine, educator, and hæmatologist, now Professor Emerita at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She has recently returned to the French horn of her youth and continues to play recorder in a virtual ensemble.
Ross Duffin began piano and recorder at an early age and later took up trombone, which was his major instrument in University (there was no recorder major). While studying at Stanford, he played shawm, sackbut, crumhorn, and other historical winds in the Renaissance Wind Band, under the direction of Herbert W. Myers. He also sang in the Early Music Singers, directed by William P. Mahrt.
He met Beverly Simmons (1950–) through their shared graduate program. In 1976, they were married in the garden of the Knoll (then Stanford Music Department). They have continued to make, teach, conduct, and present music, while raising two musical children. David Simmons-Duffin (1984–) is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, and Selena Simmons-Duffin (1986–) is Health Policy Correspondent for National Public Radio in Washington, DC. They are both married and each has two daughters.
== Work ==
=== Books ===
* 
* The Music Treatises of Thomas Ravenscroft: ‘Treatise of Practicall Musicke’ (c.1607) and A Briefe Discourse (1614), edited and with an introduction by Ross W. Duffin. Volume in the series Music Theory in Britain 1500–1700, Jessie Ann Owens, general editor. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2014.
* How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (And Why You Should Care). New York: W. W. Norton, 2007; paperback, 2008; Polish translation, 2016; Chinese translation, 2018; French translation, 2022.
* Shakespeare’s Songbook. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004. Winner of the inaugural Claude V. Palisca Award from the American Musicological Society (2005).
* A Performer’s Guide to Medieval Music, editor. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000; paperback 2002.
* Inventory of Musical Iconography, no. 8: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Répertoire Internationale d’Iconographie Musicale, 1991.
=== Editions ===
* Psalmes, or Songs of Sion (1631): William Slatyer’s Scandalous Collection. Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era 234. Middleton, WI: A‑R Editions, 2022.
* Gude & Godlie Ballatis Noted. Recent Researches in the Music of the Renaissance 174. Middleton, WI: A‑R Editions, 2022.
* Richard Davy: St. Matthew Passion: Reconstructed from the Eton Choirbook with Lyrics in Latin and English. Collegium Musicum Yale University Series. Madison: A‑R Editions, 2011.
* Iohn Coprario: Fantasia à 5 reconstructed from the Blossom Partbooks. Hazel Grove, UK: VdGS Edition 224, 2008.
* Cantiones Sacræ: Madrigalian Motets from Jacobean England, 18 motets (including 6 reconstructions) and introduction, Madison: A‑R Editions, 2006.
* A Josquin Anthology: 12 motets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
* Thomas Tomkins: Five Consort Anthems, co-editor. Teddington, UK: Fretwork Editions, 1994.
* Forty-five Dufay Chansons from Canonici 213: A Performance Edition in Original Notation. Ogni Sorte Editions, 1983. Winner of the Noah Greenberg Award of the American Musicological Society (1980).
=== Invited and Refereed Articles ===
* "Shakespeare: Songs & Sonnets," Music & Letters 103 (2022), 205–25.
* "Mourning Sickness: The Musical Birth of ‘Barbara Allen,'" Early Music 50 (2022), 65–76.
* "Thomas Morley, Robert Johnson, and Songs for the Shakespearean Stage," Christopher R. Wilson and Mervyn Cooke, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Music (2022), 356–86.
* Special Issue: J. S. Bach: Tuning and Temperament,BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute 53 (2022), guest editor, including "Introduction," 143–55.
* "Thomas Ravenscroft: A Briefe 'Civil' Discourse," Notes and Queries 70 (2022).
* "Hidden Music in Early Elizabethan Tragedy," Early Theatre 24 (2021), 11–61.
* "Calixa Lavallée and the Construction of a National Anthem," Musical Quarterly 103 (2020), 9–32). Cited in Brad Wheeler, "O Canada is a copy-and-past composition drawn from Mozart, Wagner and others, musicologist contends," The Globe and Mail (3 August 2020), 1.
* "Framing a ditty for Elizabeth: Thoughts on Music for the 1602 Summer Progress," Early Music History 39 (2020), 115–48.
* "'Propriety and Justness': Harmonic Intonation in the Eighteenth Century," Historical Performance 2 (2019), 55–90.
* "She Stoops to Conquer and its Lost Songs," Music & Letters 99 (2018), 159–93.
* "Cipriano de Rore, Giovanni Benedetti, and the Just Tuning Conundrum," Journal of the Alamire Foundation 9 (2017), 57–83.
* "Music and the Stage in the Time of Shakespeare," Oxford Handbooks of Literature: The Age of Shakespeare, ed., R. Malcolm Smuts, 748–63. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
* "Leonardo’s Lira," Cleveland Museum of Art Magazine (2015), 10–12. Covered in LiveScience, NBC News, Huffington Post, et al.
* "Concolinel: Moth’s lost song recovered?" Shakespeare Quarterly 66 (2015), 89–94. Covered in LiveScience, Daily Mail, et al.
* "Cracking a Centuries-Old Tradition," Early Music America Magazine (November 2014), 44–48.
* "Voices and Viols, Bibles and Bindings: The Origins of the Blossom Partbooks," Early Music History 33 (2014), 61–108.
* "Ensemble Improvisation in the 15th-Century Mensural Dance Repertoire," article and edition for Instruments, Ensembles, and Repertory, 1300-1600: Essays in Honor of Keith Polk, ed. Timothy J. McGee and Stewart Carter, 195–234. Brepols, 2013.
* "International Influences and Tudor Music," The Blackwell Companion to Tudor Literature and Culture 1485–1603, ed. Kent Cartwright, 79–94. Oxford: Blackwell, 2010.
* "Simplex et Diminutus: Polyphonic Improvisation for Voices in the Fifteenth Century," Basler Jahrbuch für historiche Musikpraxis 31 (2007; appeared 2009), 69–90.
* "Just Intonation in Renaissance Theory and Practice," online article with multimedia, Music Theory Online 12.3 (2006):
* "Ballads in Shakespeare's World," Noises, Sounds, and Sweet Airs: Music in Early Modern England, ed. Jessie Ann Owens, 32–47. Washington, DC: Folger Shakespeare Library Catalog for Shakespeare and Music Exhibition (June–September 2006).
* "Baroque Ensemble Tuning in 1/6 Syntonic Comma Meantone," online article with multimedia, Digital Case (2006)
* "Catching the Burthen: A New Round of Shakespearean Musical Hunting," Studies in Music 19–20 (2000–2001; appeared 2006), 1–15.
* "To Entertain a King: Music for James and Henry at the Merchant Taylors Feast of 1607," Music & Letters 83 (2002), 525–41.
* "Mi chiamano Mimi but my name is Quarti toni: Solmization and Ockeghem’s famous Mass." Early Music 29 (2001), 164–84.
* "Why I hate Vallotti (or is it Young?)," premiere article in Historical Performance Online (February 2000)
* "Backward Bells and Barrel Bells: Some Notes on the Early History of Loud Instruments," Historic Brass Society Journal 9 (1997), 113–29. Reprinted in Timothy J. McGee, ed., Instruments and their Music in the Middle Ages (Ashgate, 2009).
* "'Cornets & Sagbuts': Some Thoughts on the Early 17th-century English Repertory for Brass," Perspectives in Brass Scholarship: Proceedings of the International Historic Brass Symposium, Amherst, 1995, ed. Stewart Carter, 47–70. New York: Pendragon Press, 1997.
* "New Light on Jacobean Taste and Practice in Music for Voices and Viols," Proceedings of Le Concert des Voix et des Instruments à la Renaissance, Paris: CNRS (1995), 601–18.
* "Performance Practice: Que me veux tu?" Early Music America Magazine 1 (1995).
* "Princely Pastimes, or A Courtly Catch," Music Library Association Notes (journal) 49 (1993), 911–24.
* "The Trompette des Menestrels in the 15th Century Alta Capella," Early Music 17 (1989), 397–402, Early Brass Journal (1985). Reprinted in Timothy J. McGee, ed., Instruments and their Music in the Middle Ages (Ashgate, 2009).
* "The Sumer Canon: A New Revision," Speculum (journal) 63 (January 1988), 1–21.
* "National Pronunciations of Latin, ca.1490–ca.1600," The Journal of Musicology 4 (1985–86), 217–26.
=== Radio, Video, Recordings ===
* Micrologus: Exploring the World of Early Music. 104 programs in a weekly radio series syndicated to 140 National Public Radio stations (in production 1981–85; continued in re-runs 1986–98), host and producer. Audio, transcripts, & playlists, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (2022).
* CDs as artistic director of Quire Cleveland: Carols for Quire from the Old & New Worlds, vols. 1–4 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018); St. Matthew Passion by Richard Davy (2017); England’s Phoenix: William Byrd (2016); The Land of Harmony: American Choral Gems from the Bay Psalm Book to Amy Beach (2014); Madrigalian Motets from Jacobean England (2013).
* 25 selections of chant and polyphony for Taruskin-Gibbs Oxford History of Western Music, vol. 1 (2012)
* 250 videos of Quire Cleveland on YouTube (2008–2018), edited and produced, with over 2 million views from 200+ countries.
* CDs as chorus member with Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra: J. S. Bach's St. John Passion (2017, 1999), Sephardic Journey (2016), A Celtic Christmas (2012), Handel’s Dixit Dominus (2012), Monteverdi Vespers (2010, 1999), Handel’s Messiah (2010, 1996), Praetorius Christmas Vespers (2015, 2007), Mozart's Requiem (2007), Monteverdi’s Orfeo (2001).
* Handel’s Acis & Galatea, executive producer, acts 1 and 2 (2017).
* All Things Considered, National Public Radio, historically-based theme music (“trixies”), composer, producer, performer (2009).
* Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, dramatic realization by Ellen Hargis, producer (2008)
* All Things Considered, National Public Radio, interview with Robert Siegel (23 April 2004).
* Shakespeare’s Songbook CD, vols. I & II (Azica Records, 2004), producer, director, performer. Vol. 1 bound with Shakespeare’s Songbook (W .W. Norton, 2004); vol. 2 & two-CD set available from Azica.
* Carmina Burana: A 13th-Century Student Party, live performance, devised and delivered poetic script, music direction by Margriet Tindemans, executive producer (1997)
* Handel’s Il Pastor fido video, executive producer, director (1996)
* Oberon: The Faery Prince, edited live performance of fully-staged Jacobean Masque, video with complete documentary, executive producer (1994/2003)
* Hommage à la Danse Baroque, video of baroque dance performance with readings, producer, director (Spring 1991).
=== Publications Forthcoming ===
* A Musicall Banquet of Daintie Conceits: Anthony Munday’s 1588 Miscellany with Tunes (A‑R Editions, forthcoming 2023).
* "Morley’s Anthology," Reading Thomas Morley’s Plaine and Easie Introduction: Intepretation and Context, ed. Jessie Ann Owens and John Milsom (Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, forthcoming 2023).
* Editions of all musical examples in Thomas Morley’s A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musick, ed. Jessie Ann Owens and John Milsom (Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, forthcoming 2023).
=== Papers and Invited Lectures / Creative Activity (selected) ===
* "Mourning Sickness: The Musical Birth of Barbara Allen," "Gude & Godlie Ballatis Noted," "Singing Psalms to Hornpipes: William Slatyer’s Scandalous Collection," "A Musicall Banquet of Daintie Conceits: Anthony Munday’s Miscellany with Tunes" (2023); ""Framing a ditty for Elizabeth: Thoughts on Music for the 1602 Summer Progress" (2019), The Huntington Library.
* "Singing Psalms to Hornpipes: William Slatyer’s Scandalous Collection," Newcastle Ubiquitous Music Conference (2023), Indiana Historical Performance Institute (2021)
* "Byrd & Shakespeare: Songs & Sonnets" (2022), "Byrd: Singing True" (2019), The William Byrd Festival, Portland, Oregon.
* "The Tuning & Temperament Conundrum," "Just Intonation: True or False," San Francisco Early Music Society (2021)
* "Shakespeare: Songs & Sonnets," Shakespeare and Music Study Group (2020).
* "O Canada, the Song," Scarborough Philharmonic podcast, (2020).
* Toronto Chamber Choir, guest coach (2020).
* "Some Other Note: Reconstructing the Lost Songs of English Renaissance Comedy," English Broadside Ballad Archive, University of California, Santa Barbara (2020), Case Western Reserve University (2018).
* "Thomas Morley and Songs for the Shakespearean Stage," American Musicological Society, Boston (2019), Indiana University (2017).
* "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care)": Cleveland Institute of Music (February 2018), Baldwin Wallace University (March 2018), Indiana University (October 2016), Kansas State University (February 2016) Royal Academy of Music, London (June 2014), University of Edinburgh, University of Hull (November 2013), Huddersfield University, Royal Northern College of Music (October 2013), University of Southern California (February 2011), Peabody School of Music (September 2010), Ohio State University (May 2010), Longy School of Music (March 2010), University of British Columbia & the University of Victoria, BC (January 2009), Oberlin College (November 2008), Yale University (November 2007), Newberry Library & University of Chicago (October 2007), Princeton University (March 2007), Eastman School of Music (March 2006).
* "Reconstructing Shakespeare’s Songbook": Indiana University (October 2016), Cleveland Public Library (April 2016), The Doris Lecture, Syracuse University, Kansas State University (February 2016), Stratford Festival (Ontario, Canada) Forum (July 2015), Keynote for Shakespeare and Music conference, UC, Santa Cruz (March 2015), Southampton University (May 2014), University of York (November 2013), Akron University Shakespeare Festival (April 2013), Great Lakes Theater Festival, Cleveland (April 2011), University of Southern California (February 2011), Early Music Vancouver and the University of Victoria, BC (January 2009), Northwestern University & University of Chicago (October 2007), Stanford University (January 2006), University of Rochester (March 2006), Wake Forest University (October 2006), Hiram College (October 2006), Columbia University (September 2005), Indiana University (November 2005), Folger Shakespeare Library (May 2004), Lute Society of America Annual Seminar (July 2004).
* "Some Other Note: Reconstructing the Lost Songs of English Renaissance Comedy," Colloquium talk at Case Western Reserve University (January 2018).
* "Thomas Morley and Songs for the Shakespearean Stage," paper, Historical Performance Conference, Indiana University (May 2017).
* "Reconstructing the Davy Passion," talk, Rowfant Club, Cleveland (February 2017); English-Speaking Union, Cleveland (March 2017).
* "Cipriano de Rore, Giovanni Benedetti, and the Just tuning conundrum," Rore conference, UC, Davis (Jan. 2016).
* "Harmonic Tasting: a brief demonstration of historical tuning," public lecture, Berkeley Early Music Festival (June 2016).
* "Robert Johnson and Songs for the Shakespearean Stage," paper, York (UK) Early Music Festival (July 2016).
* "Shakespeare's World in Six Songs," paper, Syracuse University (February 2016).
* "Cipriano de Rore, Giovanni Benedetti, and the Just tuning conundrum," Rore conference, UC, Davis (January 2016).
* "Tuning True: Four talks on historical tuning," Cambridge University (January–February 2014).
* "Propriety and Justness: Harmonic Intonation in the Eighteenth Century," Indiana University School of Music (May 2019), Glasgow (UK) University (February 2014), The Juilliard School, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (October 2009).
* "A Briefe Discourse about Thomas Ravenscroft," Oxford (UK) University, Cambridge (UK) University (October 2013).
* "Voices & Viols, Bibles & Bindings: the Origins of the Blossom Partbooks," University of Manchester, UK (October 2013).
* "Commas, split keys, and other delights of unequal keyboard tuning," Church of the Covenant, Cleveland (March 2013).
* "The Concord of Sweet Sounds," Shakespeare Society event with Stephen Orgel, New York (November 2012).
* "Enharmonic Flow: Historical Microtonal Tuning and the Fluid Piano," Purcell School, UK (June 2011).
* "A Jacobean Anthology in Cleveland: Voices, Viols, Bibles, Bindings and a Mystery," Ohio State University (May 2010).
* "Commas, split keys, and other delights of early tuning," University of Wisconsin-Madison (July 2009).
* "Contrapunctus Simplex et Diminutus: Polyphonic Improvisation for Voices in the Fifteenth Century," paper, Symposium on 15th-century improvisation, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (February 2008).
=== Performances ===
* Artistic Director, Quire Cleveland (2008–2018): 10–12 performances annually.
* Member, Apollo’s Singers of Apollo’s Fire (1992–2017): 10–15 performances annually.
* Guest Conductor, St John’s College, Cambridge, UK (June 2014).
* Director, Early Music Singers / Collegium Musicum, Case Western Reserve University (1978–2018): 2–5 performances annually.
=== Selected Professional Activities ===
* Founding Artistic Director, Quire Cleveland (2008–2018).
* Member, Claude Palisca Prize Committee, American Musicological Society (2015-17; Chair 2017).
* Member, Performance Committee, American Musicological Society (2008, 2010; Chair 2009).
* Designer, historical fonts for music notation, used by Oxford University Press, Harvard University Press, American Musicological Society, et al.: Saint Gall font for neumatic chant notation (2018); Subtilior font for ars subtilior music (2015); Nivelle font for mid-15th-century music (2011); Morley font for new edition of Thomas Morley (2011); Marenzio font (2011) for Marenzio Project, Rome, Italy: Marenzio Online Digital Edition (2014); Ravenscroft font (2010) for The Music Treatises of Thomas Ravenscroft (Ashgate, 2014); Florentius font (2008) for late 15th-century music treatise of Florentius de Faxolis (Harvard University Press, 2010); Fossombrone font for early 16th-century printed mensural notation (2003); Dendermonde font for 12th-century notation of Hildegard von Bingen (2002); Parthenia font for 17th-century English notation (2001); Chigi font for c.1500 manuscript mensural notation (2001); Odhecaton font for mensural notation (2001); Squarcialupi font (1999).
=== Teaching Resources used nationally ===
* Notation Manual for White Mensural Notation
* Early Instrument Database
== Awards and Honors ==
File:Doppelgänger.jpg|Doppelgänger|thumb|Ross W. Duffin found his Doppelgänger at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA, in Man in Armour Holding a Pike, c.1630, by Jan van Bijlert (Dutch, 1597/98–1671). This photograph appeared on the cover of the New York Times Arts section, 18 January 2018.
* Howard Mayer Brown Award from Early Music America (2018) (with Beverly Simmons) recognizing "lifetime achievement in the field of early music."
* Alumni Wall of Fame, Faculty of Music, Western University (2018).
* Distinguished University Professorship, Case Western Reserve University (2017).
* William Fleming Distinguished Visiting Professorship, Syracuse University (February 2016).
* Visiting Fellowship, Clare Hall, Cambridge, UK (2013–14); Life Member (2014– ).
* Claude V. Palisca Award from the American Musicological Society (2005) for Shakespeare’s Songbook, an edition chosen from world-wide publications to “best exemplify the highest qualities of originality, interpretation, logic and clarity of thought, and communication.”
* Thomas Binkley Award from Early Music America (2005), recognizing "outstanding achievement in both performance and scholarship by the director of a university or college collegium musicum."
* Fynette H. Kulas Professorship of Music, Case Western Reserve University (1986).
* Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society (1980) "distinguished contribution to the study and performance of early music."
== Notable Former Students ==
Many professionals who studied early music with Ross Duffin have earned renown and/or awards. Among others, these include:
Francy Acosta, Julie Andrijeski, Michael Bane, Joel Becktell, Letitia Berlin, David Betts, Cynthia Keiko Black, Justin Bland, Joanna Blendulf, Alexander Bonus, Christine Brandes, Dashon Burton, Shannon Canavin, Kathleen Cantrell, Margaret Carpenter Haigh, Alan Choo, Sarah Coffman, Luke Conklin, Tracy Cowart, Karin Cueller-Rendon, Alice Culin-Ellison, Nancy Dahn, Hannah De Priest, David Dolata, Nathan Dougherty, Mark Duer, Rachel Elezi, Daniel Elyar, David Esteban Escobar, Dominic Favia, Daniel Fridley, Sarah Fuhs, Elizabeth Furuta, Adam Knight Gilbert, Rotem Gilbert, Steven Greenman, Katie Hagen, Nicolas Haigh, Christopher Haritatos, Michael Harper, Fiona Hughes, Rip Jackson, Daniel Kenworthy, Katrina King Nicholson, Richard Kolb, Carrie Krause, Kevin Kwan, Anna Levenstein, Eva Lymenstull, Brian MacGilvray, Brian Marble, Paula Maust, David R. McCormick, John McElliott, Colleen McGary-Smith, Ida Mercer, Allison Monroe, Vivian Sarah Montgomery, Cheryl Moore, Elena Mullins Bailey, Debra Nagy, Mary Oleskiewicz, Laura Osterlund, Judith Overcash Acres Joan Plana Nadal, José Luis Posada, Sian Ricketts, Katie Rietman, John Romey, Andrew Rosenblum, David Ross, John Mark Rozendaal, Guillermo Salas-Suárez, Matthew Leslie Santana, Karina Schmitz, Sandy Schwoebel, Amy Shen, Jimin Shin, Corey Shotwell, Maia Silberstein, William Skeen, Joshua Stauffer, Danna Sundet, Barbara Swanson, Qin Ying Tan, Nadia Tarnawsky, Craig Trompeter, Brandon Vance, Sarah Weiner, Karin Weston, Elisa Wicks, Eric Wicks, Christine Wilkinson Beckman, Maury Wilkinson, Nathaniel Wood, Marlisa del Cid Woods, Janet Youngdahl, Natasha Zielazinski
Category:American people
Category:Canadian people
Category:1951 births