The University of Colorado Boulder College of Music is thrilled to announce esteemed music educator Joshua Russell (PhD ’07) as the recipient of our 2024 Distinguished Alumnus Award!
Russell currently serves as professor of music education at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music ed and string pedagogy, and directs the Hartt String Project.
With degrees from Indiana, Shepherd and Northwestern universities—before earning a doctorate at our College of Music—Russell exemplifies what it means to be a universal musician: Beyond his earned expertise in classical, jazz and contemporary musical styles, his research interests include musician health, teacher education, string education and psycho-social/cognitive development in musical learning and teaching.
Reflecting on his College of Music experience, Russell recalls the significant impact of his mentors and peers in shaping his career trajectory: “I was lucky to have some great opportunities to work with professors of music education Jim Austin and Margaret Berg—and halfway through my time, Associate Professor of Music Education Martina Miranda came to Colorado. The faculty were amazing to me.”
He adds, “My fellow students also contributed to my positive experience at the College of Music—I’m still great friends with many of them. People make an institution and they taught me the value of being able to ‘fail’ and still be treated with dignity and kindness.”
Russell further emphasizes the importance of resilience as instilled by his mentors and colleagues, calling it “approximations of success”—that is, pursuing incremental goals that ultimately lead to a larger goal. “Say you have an end goal of playing a beautiful concerto,” he explains. “Before you achieve that, you need to be able to produce a good tone. After that, you need to have the finger facility.
“Jim Austin taught me the importance of mastery motivation theory, which I’ve applied to my career … and continue to teach my students.”
Discovering mentors can be challenging, but Russell shares his approach: “Seek out somebody who does the kind of work that you want to do, and who does it in a way that you appreciate and respect.
“For me, kindness is paramount. I’ve found that some of the most amazing performers or brilliant scholars I’ve encountered are also some of the nicest, kindest human beings.”
Universal musicianship
In a field where specialization may seem the epitome of success, Russell’s success proves that being versatile and flexible is both professionally advantageous and personally fulfilling.
“The world needs universal musicians,” he says. “Professionally—for performers, teachers, scholars—that means thinking broadly when you set goals for yourself. As one of my mentors said, ‘If you’re overly focused on one goal, you’re going to miss all the shiny stuff on the side … and there’s a lot of shiny stuff off to the side.”
Russell further believes that understanding one’s motivations is crucial to musical fulfillment: “Be aware of the underlying reasons for what you’re doing,” he advises.
He’s also observed a shift toward prioritizing service to others over musical outcomes—which he views with optimism. “What I love about this generation of musicians and scholars is that their approach to music is more ‘humanistic’—whereas we used to be more focused on student achievement and process. I think both worldviews are valuable and important for music educators and scholars today.”
Prior to his roles at the University of Hartford, Russell taught here at CU Boulder, as well as instrumental music (orchestra and guitar) and general music (grades 4-12) in Colorado and northern Virginia. He also taught at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, conducted several youth symphonies, and was the founding director of the Loudoun County String Orchestra and after-school program.
Russell currently serves on several editorial boards and—in addition to authoring Statistics in Music Education (Oxford University Press)—his research articles have been widely published. He often presents his research throughout the United States and abroad.
Congratulations on your well-earned distinction, Joshua Russell!
