I’m an experienced scholar, composer, performer, and leader. I currently serve as Professor of Musicology at the University of Kentucky (Lexington) and Director of Traditional Music at Centenary Methodist Church (Danville).

I was previously Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Roberts Wesleyan College (Rochester, New York), Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Entrepreneurship in the College of Music at Florida State University, Associate Dean in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky, and Director of the School of Music at the University of Kentucky. I also previously taught music history, film music, world music, and music theory at Western Michigan University (2005–2012).  

I completed my M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Historical Musicology and my M.A. in European History at the University of Rochester. I currently am in the final semester of my M.A. in Theological Studies (with a specialization in Theology and History) at Asbury Theological Seminary. 

Photos: SCP, LaBrec

I maintain a busy schedule as a writer, composer, organist, and pianist. You can listen to my first season of podcasts–consisting of episodes from my original science fiction audio novel, complete with original musical soundtracks–on the “My Radio” page. You can access some of my other compositions on the “My Music” page and on my YouTube channel.

To learn more about my past work as Director of the UK School of Music , listen to this interview with WUKY or to this interview about our 100th Anniversary in 2018:  

You can read more about our 100th Anniversary season here, or check out this article about the UK School of Music’s designation by Yamaha as one of ten “Institutions of Excellence” in 2021. You can also review a copy of a recent recruitment brochure for the University of Kentucky School of Music. Additional samples of my communications work are available by following this link to the FSU College of Music’s 2017 Alumni Magazine or this one to the its 2016 Alumni Magazine.

Recent News, Current Work, and Upcoming Events:

My chapter on C. S. Lewis, Lewis Mumford, and early science fiction television, which will be published in a forthcoming essay collection, is now in the final page proofs stage. I hope to share publication information (and pictures) this summer! 

On April 29, 2026, I received the Award for Academic Excellence in Theological Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary. 

I am writing an article on music in the classic 1970s sitcom, All in the Family. I hope to have that completed and sent to a journal for consideration by late August 2026.  

On April 5, 2026, Dr. Zach Stern (Valdosta State University), Dr. Sophia Han (Florida State University), and I premiered my new Easter Trio for Soprano Saxophone, Violin, and Organ at Centenary Methodist Church in Danville, Kentucky. 

On March 20, 2026, I presented my paper, “Bringing History Alive: Adopting, Adapting, and Modifying Charles Wesley’s Poetry on Sanctification for Today’s Worshipping Church,” during the annual conference of the Wesleyan Theological Association. The conference was hosted by Seattle Pacific University. 

I conducted the premiere of my new Christmas Cantata (“Prepare Our Hearts, Oh Lord”) with the Chancel Choir at Centenary Methodist Church (Danville, Kentucky) on Sunday, December 14, 2025. Guest singers and instrumentalists (oboe, flute, and viola) joined us from Lexington, Oklahoma, and New York.  

During the spring semester (2025), I composed a six-movement cantata on the Psalms for choir, violin, harp, and piano. (I wrote most of the lyrics for the cantata, too.) The Chancel Choir at Centenary Methodist Church (Danville) premiered the cantata on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Special thanks to Dr. Sophia Han for joining us as guest violinist. 

Older News and Events:

On October 10, 2025, I presented my paper, “Protestant Heterodoxy and Orthodoxy Among the Ingalls on Television’s Little House on the Prairie,” during the annual conference of the Northeast Chapter of the Popular Culture Association.

On March 15, 2025, I presented my paper, “Sanctification and Deification in Charles Wesley’s Poems on the Gospels of John and Luke,” at the annual conference of Wesleyan Theological Association. The conference was hosted by Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary. 

My most recent article on television music, “Music, Morality, and Community in Little House on the Prairie,” was published in the journal, American Music, in its 41.4 (Winter 2023) issue [released in early 2025].

In October 2024, I presented a paper, “Religion, Faith, and Radical Hospitality in All in the Family,” at the annual conference of the Northeast Chapter of the Popular Culture Association.

In 2022, I published an annotated bibliography on film composer Elmer Bernstein in Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies.

From January 2020 to June 2022, I served as editor of the “Forums” section the College Music Society’s journal, Symposium.  

During 2020, I presented papers at the national meeting of the College Music Society (October), the national conference of the Society for American Music (Summer), and the national conference of the North American British Music Studies Association (Summer).

News Archive:

Please see the menu above or click here.

Blogs I Follow:

Ross Wixon (composer)

Adam Schumaker (composer, arts administrator)

Kendra Leonard Preston (musicologist, poet)

Brooks Kuykendall (musicologist, academic administrator) 

Popcultureshelf.com (with a review of my last book)

And please visit my YouTube channel, too! 

The opinions and ideas shared on this website are my own and do not represent official positions of any of the organizations for which I am employed or associated with in my professional work and life.  Stan Pelkey