EDUCATOR
As a dynamic and passionate educator, Dr. Kirsten Soriano is a tenured Associate Professor of Music Composition in the College of Music at the University of North Texas. She has taught a broad range of courses at diverse colleges and universities for the past seventeen years. Her music teaching philosophy is to bring material to life by fostering discovery-based learning through an interactive environment that approaches topics from a wide range of perspectives to stimulate both creative and critical thought and provokes students to make interdisciplinary connections.
While maintaining a rigorous curriculum and an extremely high standard of excellence, she actively engages and motivates students through ingenuity and her enthusiasm for music. In the classroom and through assignments, her students have the opportunity to approach topics from a variety of angles to excite diverse learning styles and reinforce key skills and concepts. She cultivates an open environment within which students feel empowered to be active in class discussion, improvisation, group work, collaboration, musical analysis, analytical writing, discovery and creative projects. Because it is important to her that students draw parallels between various musical disciplines, her lectures and assignments also frequently highlight relationships between musicology, music theory, analysis and composition.
As an individual and a teacher, Dr. Soriano has a genuine interest in and care for the success of her students. She welcomes students to meet with her for guidance outside of class or private lessons and she is delighted to help those who are struggling or further challenge those who are flourishing so that they may gain an even richer understanding of and appreciation for music composition, contemporary music, music history and music analysis.
Dr. Soriano has developed the following original university courses: Seminar on Spectralism; Contemporary Music Since 1960; Contemporary Music Since 2000; The Contemporary Voice; Orchestration and Sophomore Composition Seminar and Graduate Composition Seminar. In her home studio, Dr. Soriano has taught private music composition, songwriting, orchestration and piano lessons to all levels and ages for over twenty years.
While maintaining a rigorous curriculum and an extremely high standard of excellence, she actively engages and motivates students through ingenuity and her enthusiasm for music. In the classroom and through assignments, her students have the opportunity to approach topics from a variety of angles to excite diverse learning styles and reinforce key skills and concepts. She cultivates an open environment within which students feel empowered to be active in class discussion, improvisation, group work, collaboration, musical analysis, analytical writing, discovery and creative projects. Because it is important to her that students draw parallels between various musical disciplines, her lectures and assignments also frequently highlight relationships between musicology, music theory, analysis and composition.
As an individual and a teacher, Dr. Soriano has a genuine interest in and care for the success of her students. She welcomes students to meet with her for guidance outside of class or private lessons and she is delighted to help those who are struggling or further challenge those who are flourishing so that they may gain an even richer understanding of and appreciation for music composition, contemporary music, music history and music analysis.
Dr. Soriano has developed the following original university courses: Seminar on Spectralism; Contemporary Music Since 1960; Contemporary Music Since 2000; The Contemporary Voice; Orchestration and Sophomore Composition Seminar and Graduate Composition Seminar. In her home studio, Dr. Soriano has taught private music composition, songwriting, orchestration and piano lessons to all levels and ages for over twenty years.
COURSES TAUGHT
• Music Composition
• Orchestration
• Graduate Composition Seminar
• Seminar on Spectralism
• Composer/Choreographer Collaboration Course
• The Contemporary Voice
• Contemporary Music Since 2000
• Contemporary Music Since 1960
• Sophomore Composition Seminar
• Theory I-IV
• Aural Skills I-IV
• Counterpoint
• Harmony
• Form and Analysis
• Music Appreciation
• Western Music History
• American Music Since 1900
• World Music
• Music Fundamentals
• Survey of the Music Industry
• Orchestration
• Graduate Composition Seminar
• Seminar on Spectralism
• Composer/Choreographer Collaboration Course
• The Contemporary Voice
• Contemporary Music Since 2000
• Contemporary Music Since 1960
• Sophomore Composition Seminar
• Theory I-IV
• Aural Skills I-IV
• Counterpoint
• Harmony
• Form and Analysis
• Music Appreciation
• Western Music History
• American Music Since 1900
• World Music
• Music Fundamentals
• Survey of the Music Industry
TEACHING APPOINTMENTS
• Tenured Associate Professor at the University of North Texas
• Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas
• Visiting Assistant Professor at Saint Olaf College
• Instructor of Music at Northwestern University
• Instructor of Music at Chicago College of Performing Arts
• Instructor of Music at University of Minnesota
• Instructor of Music at Saint Xavier University
• Instructor of Music at North Park University
• Instructor of Music at Art Institutes International
• Instructor of Music at Prairie State College
• Assistant Professor at the University of North Texas
• Visiting Assistant Professor at Saint Olaf College
• Instructor of Music at Northwestern University
• Instructor of Music at Chicago College of Performing Arts
• Instructor of Music at University of Minnesota
• Instructor of Music at Saint Xavier University
• Instructor of Music at North Park University
• Instructor of Music at Art Institutes International
• Instructor of Music at Prairie State College
QUOTES FROM STUDENT EVALUATIONS
“I found this class to be the most intellectually stimulating of all my classes. I have never really had to think in the terms we often discuss in the class, and I appreciate every second of the discussions held in class. I have definitely felt that my thinking has been stretched by this course. (She) is an excellent instructor and resource for contemporary music performers and composers.”
“Very brilliant and knowledgeable.”
“(She) did a fabulous job of structuring this class. I liked how each project was inspired by a specific compositional technique. Each project theme or genre was also heavily supported with excellent examples that resembled what we were learning. Dr. Broberg also gave excellent insight on the professional world and the realities of being a composer for orchestra. I earned a lot about what it takes to put together a professional looking score, and what makes a score interesting and memorable.”
"Very patient and understanding. Always willing to explain material for better understanding.”
“We engaged material that were unfamiliar to me and then applied it directly to what I was currently working on. This process caused me to engage the material directly, think about it, develop it, and apply it to daily assignments.”
“She knows her material well.”
“This course was very intellectually stimulating. Professor Broberg presented a significant amount of material to the class that was very insightful and enlightening. She exposed us to a number of relevant composers and compositional and orchestrational techniques that were very helpful.”
“I really loved the variety of pieces that we were able to look at—some of which I had never heard of before—or heard anything like before.”
“(She) is a wonderful teacher ... this is one of my favorite classes I have taken (here).”
“I learned so much about the contemporary vocal repertoire. Dr. Broberg did a wonderful job covering the important pieces and composers as some great highlights. The class always brought something new to my knowledge of contemporary music.”
“My favorite Prof. this semester”
“I think the projects were a really great idea—they encouraged us to discover new music on our own and start thinking about how pieces can relate to each other. I liked all of the listening that we had to do (whether or not I liked the pieces that we listened to—it was good to be exposed to all sorts of new music). I really loved hearing different perspectives on music from the composers and from the
vocalists.”
“(Her) genuine interest that students understood the material was complemented by her willingness to meet with students after class.”
“I felt intellectually stimulated with each project. I loved that the class was built around learning several compositional concepts and applying them hands on. The projects were fun and I learned a lot from both Broberg and my classmates as well.”
“Was very open to help any student who was struggling and would try to find different ways to explain materials.”
“I loved the course! It gave me an excellent understanding of different techniques from a historical and contemporary perspective.”
“It was greatly beneficial to study scores by different composer, over every time era of music, and see what they did in terms of orchestration.”
“(This class) presented the opportunity to compose for a full orchestra and showed different methods of approaching this task. The organization of the content was also very effective in showing how these apply to music throughout different points in time.”
“(She) is super positive and really seems to know her stuff. The entire organization of the class was stimulating and to be able to get a recording of my own orchestra piece that I can use for my portfolio is pretty invaluable.”
“I absolutely adored this class...it was the only class I had this quarter that I actually looked forward to going to every week. Kirsten is a great teacher and is incredibly understanding and supportive.”
“You won't find another class (here) like this one. It's great. For people that have never composed before, this class approaches composition correctly. It just encourages you to be creative”
“Knowledgeable, positive and encouraging. A superb teacher! Her teaching helps me to believe in my dreams as a musician.”
“This class was fun, and really gave me the confidence to try learning about something that I don’t have any background in. GREAT CLASS AND PROFESSOR ROCKS!”
“Very brilliant and knowledgeable.”
“(She) did a fabulous job of structuring this class. I liked how each project was inspired by a specific compositional technique. Each project theme or genre was also heavily supported with excellent examples that resembled what we were learning. Dr. Broberg also gave excellent insight on the professional world and the realities of being a composer for orchestra. I earned a lot about what it takes to put together a professional looking score, and what makes a score interesting and memorable.”
"Very patient and understanding. Always willing to explain material for better understanding.”
“We engaged material that were unfamiliar to me and then applied it directly to what I was currently working on. This process caused me to engage the material directly, think about it, develop it, and apply it to daily assignments.”
“She knows her material well.”
“This course was very intellectually stimulating. Professor Broberg presented a significant amount of material to the class that was very insightful and enlightening. She exposed us to a number of relevant composers and compositional and orchestrational techniques that were very helpful.”
“I really loved the variety of pieces that we were able to look at—some of which I had never heard of before—or heard anything like before.”
“(She) is a wonderful teacher ... this is one of my favorite classes I have taken (here).”
“I learned so much about the contemporary vocal repertoire. Dr. Broberg did a wonderful job covering the important pieces and composers as some great highlights. The class always brought something new to my knowledge of contemporary music.”
“My favorite Prof. this semester”
“I think the projects were a really great idea—they encouraged us to discover new music on our own and start thinking about how pieces can relate to each other. I liked all of the listening that we had to do (whether or not I liked the pieces that we listened to—it was good to be exposed to all sorts of new music). I really loved hearing different perspectives on music from the composers and from the
vocalists.”
“(Her) genuine interest that students understood the material was complemented by her willingness to meet with students after class.”
“I felt intellectually stimulated with each project. I loved that the class was built around learning several compositional concepts and applying them hands on. The projects were fun and I learned a lot from both Broberg and my classmates as well.”
“Was very open to help any student who was struggling and would try to find different ways to explain materials.”
“I loved the course! It gave me an excellent understanding of different techniques from a historical and contemporary perspective.”
“It was greatly beneficial to study scores by different composer, over every time era of music, and see what they did in terms of orchestration.”
“(This class) presented the opportunity to compose for a full orchestra and showed different methods of approaching this task. The organization of the content was also very effective in showing how these apply to music throughout different points in time.”
“(She) is super positive and really seems to know her stuff. The entire organization of the class was stimulating and to be able to get a recording of my own orchestra piece that I can use for my portfolio is pretty invaluable.”
“I absolutely adored this class...it was the only class I had this quarter that I actually looked forward to going to every week. Kirsten is a great teacher and is incredibly understanding and supportive.”
“You won't find another class (here) like this one. It's great. For people that have never composed before, this class approaches composition correctly. It just encourages you to be creative”
“Knowledgeable, positive and encouraging. A superb teacher! Her teaching helps me to believe in my dreams as a musician.”
“This class was fun, and really gave me the confidence to try learning about something that I don’t have any background in. GREAT CLASS AND PROFESSOR ROCKS!”