Peter Schubert receives McGill's Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning
On November 2nd, Schulich School of Music Theory Professor Peter Schubert was named the recipient of McGill University’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Learning. The award, which was given during Fall Convocation Ceremonies, recognizes sustained excellence in leadership and innovation, as well as the active integration of teaching and learning with inquiry, scholarship and research. (Watch the announcement here, beginning at minute 49:00)
Peter Schubert has made teaching and learning central to his life as an academic, as a musician, and as a person. His exceptional achievements, both at McGill University and worldwide, in the field of teaching music theory and performance make him a most worthy recipient of this award. Professor Schubert’s leadership in music education is evidenced by his presentations and publications on music pedagogy and his direct involvement in redesigning and revising the music curriculum at the Schulich School of Music. Colleagues and students speak to his integration of improvisation as a tool for teaching. A recipient of the Schulich School of Music Teaching Award in 2006, Professor Schubert continually searches for new and innovative instructional methods.
He has been a pioneer in the use of videos as a tool for teaching. He began by making YouTube videos on how to improvise canons in Renaissance style. These videos made it possible for anyone to learn — not by looking at a list of rules but by seeing what is done in a video. His techniques go beyond the classroom walls and his videos are watched by many: professional and amateur musicians alike. Professor Schubert’s seminal contributions to the teaching of counterpoint are likewise not limited to the McGill classroom: he has published widely used textbooks as well as shorter publications that have brought his pedagogical approach to international awareness. Peter Schubert is always engaged with people, continuously finding new ways to understand, perform, compose, talk, write and think about what he loves: Music.
