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Woody Colahan

Ellwood Colahan

Associate Professor and Music & Performing Arts Librarian; Adjunct Faculty, Musicology

ellwood.colahan@du.edu

303-871-6427 (Office)

Newman Performing Arts Center, 2344 East Iliff Ave. Denver, CO 80208

What I do

Adjunct Faculty, Musicology; Music and Performing Arts Librarian

Specialization(s)

Musicology

Professional Biography

Woody Colahan was born in New York City but has called Colorado home since 1978. He holds a bachelor of music in classical guitar performance and a master of arts in music theory, both from Lamont, as well as a master of library and information science from DU's Morgridge School of Education. After completing his undergraduate degree, Colahan served in the Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa as a public health volunteer and then taught classical guitar for six years at Adams State College, University of Southern Colorado, Pikes Peak Community College and Pueblo Community College before joining the staff of the Bonfils-Stanton Music Library at Lamont. He is also a former member of Denver's Balinese music ensemble, Gamelan Tunas Mekar.

Professional Affiliations

  • American Library Association
  • American Recorder Society
  • Denver Recorder Society
  • Guitar Foundation of America
  • Mountain-Plains Music Library Association
  • Music Library Association

Research

I have created an online thematic index of classical guitar music in collections, the first of its kind. I have created a number of gamified instruction activities and presented this work at regional and national conferences. I am presently preparing the first comprehensive text on transcription of early fretted instrument tablatures, in collaboration with Dr. Jonathan Leathwood of the Lamont School of Music. I have also written on metric structures and metric conflict in Baroque orchestral music.

Areas of Research

Music
Bibliography
Gamification
Early Music
Baroque Music
Guitar
Lute
Vihuela
Tablature
Meter
Rythm

Presentations

Colahan, E. P. (2016). Classical Guitar Music in Printed Collections. MPMLA Annual Meeting. Greeley, Colorado: Mountain-Plains Music Library Association.
Colahan, E. P. (2017). Classical Guitar Music in Printed Collections. Guitar Foundation of America Annual Meeting. Fullerton, California: Guitar Foundation of America.
Colahan, E. P. (2018). Musicology Spyfall. Music Library Association Annual Meeting. Portland, Oregon: Music Library Association.
Colahan, E. P. (2018). Scavenger Hunt 2.0: Re-inventing a Traditional Library Instruction Activity. MPMLA Annual Meeting. Reno, Nevada: Mountain-Plains Music Library Association.