Breckenridge, Stan L.
Lecturer in African American Studies
African American Studies
Biography:
Stan Breckenridge is an academician, author, composer, vocalist and pianist, recording artist and performer, and holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Claremont Graduate University. He currently teaches in the Department of African American Studies at California State University, Fullerton.
Dr. Breckenridge was selected as a United States Distinguished Chair Fulbright Scholar to Poland for the 2012–13 academic year, with an extension through the 2013–14 academic year, where he taught in the Department of American Studies at the 650-year-old Jagiellonian University in Krakow, and the University of Marie Curie Sklodowska in Lublin, Poland. (He was also selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the Fall of 2005.) While in Poland, he gave over 100 concerts, performances and lectures representing American society throughout Poland—from cities at the Baltic Sea in the north like Gdańsk to Zakopane and Krakow in the south; and from the west in Zielona Góra and Poznań to Biała Podlaska, Chełm, and Zamość in the east. Some guest appearances were for previous U.S. ambassadors to Poland Stephen Mull and Lee Feinstein, Consul General Ellen Germain, and a number of T.V. appearances and interviews throughout the country.
Over the years, his teaching assignments have spanned the curriculum, such as in music history and appreciation, technology and performance.
Currently, Dr. Breckenridge gives workshops in vocal and instrumental jazz for aspiring musicians, as well as lectures on American music worldwide.
As a specialist in American music, Dr. Breckenridge has authored three books: "Popular Music in America: Forging the American Spirit," "Music Taste or Waste: Critical Listening Skills for Students, Teachers, and Parents" and "African American Music for Everyone: Including Theater, Film, and Dance."
Areas of Knowledge:
- African-American music and dance
- Analytical tools for understanding world music cultures
- Popular music in America (since 1600s)
- Computer applications in music
- Professional artistic development
- Jazz piano techniques
- Singing techniques in vocal jazz and related styles
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