Louis Bergonzi

Louis Bergonzi is Professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he is Head of Music Studies and directs the UIC Orchestra. Previous positions have included serving as Professor and Daniel J. Perrino Chair in Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where he specialized in conducting and string education; and on the music education faculty at the Eastman School of Music, where he was Director of the Rochester-Eastman Urban String Project, a multifaceted program for preparing studio and group string teachers for work in urban settingsLouis Bergonzi is Professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he is Head of Music Studies and directs the UIC Orchestra. Previous positions have included serving as Professor and Daniel J. Perrino Chair in Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where he specialized in conducting and string education; and on the music education faculty at the Eastman School of Music, where he was Director of the Rochester-Eastman Urban String Project, a multifaceted program for preparing studio and group string teachers for work in urban settings. His career as began as Gr. 4-12 string specialist and orchestra conductor for the Lexington (Massachusetts) Public Schools. From 1998-2000, he served as President of the American String Teachers Association.

Active as a clinician, adjudicator, and guest conductor of youth orchestras throughout Asia, Australia, and North America, his books and arrangements for younger orchestras are published by Kjos Publishers and Alfred Music Publishing. He was co-director of Establishing Identity: LGBT Studies & Music Education I–III (2010/2012/2016) symposia designed to provide energy to the discussion of how LGBTQ issues operate within music education in terms of research, curriculum, teacher preparation, and the musical lives and careers of LGBTQ music students and teachers. His current research investigates whether music classrooms, peers and teachers are more supportive of all students than non-music counterparts because of deeper connections to students and families that result from multi-year contact and the types of activities in which music students engage while in school.