Joshua McNiven
BIO
Education
BM Florida Southern College
MM Michigan State University
MM Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
DMA Michigan State University
Classes Taught
Aural Training IV
About
Joshua McNiven is new to the Chicago area as a freelance low brass musician and teacher. In January 2025, he began teaching freshman and sophomore aural training courses at DePaul University School of Music. He holds a doctorate degree in euphonium performance and a master’s degree in music theory from Michigan State University. His previous degrees include a master’s in music performance from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Wales, UK and a bachelor’s in music performance from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, FL.
Passionate about the British brass band tradition, Joshua performed in the Brass Band National Championship at Royal Albert Hall, London in 2018 during his studies in the UK. He also performed with the City of Cardiff Brass Band, RWCMD Brass Band, as solo euphonium with Llwydcoed Brass Band, and recently performed with the championship section Chicago Brass Band. He has competed in several international solo competitions including the Jeju International Brass Competition on Jeju Island, South Korea and the International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Valencia, Spain.
Joshua’s research focuses on narrative and storytelling in music. His dissertation “Stories for Saroyan: Elgar Howarth’s Unknown Autobiography” focused on using musical ekphrasis and topic theory to explain how Howarth’s euphonium concerto serves loosely as an autobiographical work. Joshua believes in the accessibility of music theory as an area of discussion and connection between performer and audience and used his dissertation as an example of music theory research remaining approachable for a wide audience.
In the classroom, Joshua is passionate about bridging the gap between music theory and other areas of music. He focuses on students understanding music theory as a set of tools they can regularly draw from in their careers in music. While this focus has primarily been on his own interest in performance and education, he enjoys working with students on new ways to benefit those in the Performing Arts Management and Sound Recording Technology majors at DePaul University School of Music as well