Faculty Directory

Mr. Kaja Lill Assistant Professor of Music


karel.lill@stthom.eduEmail
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Kája Lill is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of St. Thomas-Houston, where he teaches music theory and conducts the UST Orchestra. He is a doctoral candidate in music theory and Rackham Merit fellow in the Rackham Graduate School at University of Michigan, where he is also pursuing an M.A. in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. He received an M.A. in music theory from the University of North Texas, where he was a Robert B. Toulouse fellow. Lill’s research interests include the history of music theory in Central Europe and theories of rhythm and meter. His dissertation examines how the reception of Hugo Riemann’s Funktionslehre in the Czech lands can inform our understanding of harmonic function both in Riemann’s work and in current music theory. This research has been supported by a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant, the Society of Music Theory’s 2022 SMT-40 Dissertation Fellowship, and a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) grant. He has presented his work at Society of Music Theory annual meetings and at conferences for the Texas Society of Music Theory, where he received the Colvin Best Student Paper Award. He was previously a Visiting Professor at Grand Valley State University and has also taught at the University of Michigan and the University of North Texas.

Degrees

• Doctor of Philosophy - Music Theory - University of Michigan (2024)
• Master of Arts - Music Theory - University of North Texas (2015)
• Bachelor of Arts - Music - Grand Valley State University (2013)