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Overview
Heather Buchman is a professor of music at Hamilton College who joined the faculty in 2001 (per catalog dating convention) and has been a prominent member of the Music Department ever since. She holds a B.M. from the Eastman School of Music, an M.M. from the University of Michigan, and has done Professional Studies in Conducting at The Juilliard School. Her work at Hamilton spans conducting, music history, and music theory, and she has directed the college’s Orchestra, Brass Lab, Woodwind Lab, and Instrumental Chamber Ensembles.
Buchman was initially listed as Associate Professor of Music in the 2015-16 catalog. By 2020-21 she held the named Carolyn C. and David M. ‘38 Ellis Distinguished Teaching Professorship of Music. She has served multiple terms as chair of the Music Department and, as of 2024-25, also as associate chair of Dance and Movement Studies. She held the John L. Baldwin, Jr. Professorship in Music by 2024-25.
Relevance to Research
Buchman’s catalog record across a decade of Hamilton course catalogs documents the evolution of the Music Department’s curriculum and leadership from 2015 through 2025. Her progression from Associate Professor to named chair illuminates faculty career patterns at Hamilton in the contemporary era.
Notes
- Year of appointment as listed in catalogs: 2001
- Rank in 2015-16 catalog: Associate Professor of Music
- Department: Music; later also associated with Dance and Movement Studies as associate chair
- Conductorial roles: Orchestra, Brass Lab, Woodwind Lab, Instrumental Chamber Ensembles
- Named chair of the Music Department beginning by 2016-17 catalog; continued in that role through multiple catalogs
- Held the Carolyn C. and David M. ‘38 Ellis Distinguished Teaching Professorship of Music, documented from 2020-21 through 2022-23 catalogs
- By 2023-24 catalog: listed as associate chair of Dance and Movement Studies and as chair of Music
- By 2024-25 catalog: title listed as “Chair and John L. Baldwin, Jr. Professor in Music, Associate Chair of Dance and Movement Studies”
- On leave spring 2025 (noted in 2024-25 catalog)
- On leave 2019-20 (noted in 2019-20 catalog)
- Co-taught Music 200-level seminar on twentieth-century music with Samuel Pellman (2015-16 catalog)
- A course taught by her appears in the 2015-16 catalog with a historical cross-reference to “Fall 2006,” suggesting she may have taught at Hamilton in a different capacity before her tenure-track appointment
Related Sources
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2015-16 — first catalog in this set; listed as Associate Professor of Music, chair of Music Department
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2016-17 — listed as chair; conducting assignments
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2017-18 — listed as chair; conducting assignments
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2018-19 — listed as chair
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2019-20 — listed on leave 2019-20
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2020-21 — Carolyn C. and David M. ‘38 Ellis Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2021-22 — chair; Ellis Distinguished Teaching Professor
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2022-23 — Ellis Distinguished Teaching Professor
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2023-24 — associate chair of Dance and Movement Studies; chair of Music
- yhm-arc-pub-cat-2024-25 — John L. Baldwin, Jr. Professor in Music; associate chair of Dance and Movement Studies; on leave spring 2025
Related Topics
- music-department — longtime chair and named professor