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Dr. Sovík is currently a Professor of Music Theory in the College of Music at the University of North Texas, with a dual appointment as Director of Central European Studies & Exchanges.
Following seminary studies,
Dr. Sovík earned degrees at Ashland University (B.A. 1974) and the Ohio
State University (M.A. 1975 & Ph.D. 1985). After holding positions at the
University of Northern Iowa and with Yamaha Music International, he joined
the UNT College of Music faculty in 1987 and served as the first chair of
the Division of Music History, Theory, & Ethnomusicology (1990-97). He subsequently
held the position of Dean of Fine & Performing Arts at Mississippi University
for Women (1998-99), returning to Dallas for surgery and therapy after being
run down by a drunk driver. Most recently, at University Honor's Day 2002
Dr. Sovík received UNT's coveted 'fessor Graham award for his "Outstanding
Teaching & Dedication to Students" and in 2004 was promoted to the rank
of Full Professor.
Dr. Sovík has authored numerous
translations, articles, and papers on such disparate topics
as university administration and management, the history of music theory, American popular music, technology applied to distance learning, traditional Japanese medicine, and military history and ethics. He is a regular participant at
international conferences and colloquia with over 80 academic presentations
in the United States, Canada, Guatemala, and the Czech Republic; he has presented keynote addresses at such gatherings as the Millennial Conference of Unitas Fratrum Scholars, the Southeast Conference of the College of Music Society, and the UNT New Student Convocation.
Dr. Sovík's primary research field is the "History of Music Theory in Central Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance Eras." His on-going "30-year project" is the translation and commentary on Glaucidius of Moravia's The Arts of War, Peace, Leadership, and Governance, with Practical Instructions
on How to Live Well and to be Loved even by the Most Vile and Putrid of
Your Enemies; a preliminary report on this work appears in Kosmas: Czechoslovak & Central European Journal.
Dr. Sovík's secondary research field is "Popular Music in American Culture,"
with enrollment in his popular music classes typically exceeding 1000 students
during the course of any academic year. These classes are delivered in both
the traditional and large-lecture formats as well as by regional interactive
broadcast and in national web-based instruction. His most recent publication
in this area has been "Women in Rock" in Women and Music in America
Since 1900: An Encyclopedia (Oryx Press).
In 1990 Dr. Sovík founded our student-exchange program between the University
of North Texas, the Janácek Akademie of Music & the Performing Arts, Masaryk
University, and the Brno Technical College (all of Brno, Czech Republic),
and since that time has served as the Director of Central European Studies
& Exchanges. As tour director and organist, he has led nearly two dozen visits to the Czech Republic; these visits have provided
the opportunity for 876 faculty and students to perform 89 recitals and
to offer 98 academic presentations.
Dr. Sovík's short-term visitors from the Czech
Republic have included composers Jindrich Feld and Arnošt Parsch, flautist
Arnošt Bourek, and the Children's Renaissance Collegium of the Pavel Krizkovsky
School for the Performing Arts.
In Spring 2004 he coordinated a Texas-wide
tour of the Czech historical dance company "Mimi fortunae," made
possible through a grant provided by the Czech Educational Foundation of Texas; subsequently, this organization established a $400,000 endowment to support a "CEFT Residency in Czech Music and Culture" at the University of North Texas. The first fruit of that endowment will be a November 2006 residency of the Wallinger Quartet (Czech Republic), with an accompanying tour of Texas by the Graffe Quartet (Janácek Akademie, Brno).
This page links to information about Dr. Sovík's performance and cultural
tours (Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, etc.) and about our formal exchange programs
with the Janácek Akademie of Music & the Performing Arts (Czech Republic) and with the Rotterdam Conservatory of Music & Dance (Netherlands).
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