Jack Heller

Professor Emeritus of Music Education Email: -

Jack Heller, former Director, School of Music and Emeritus Professor, still teaches and conducts research at USF. He has served as symphony, opera, and theatrical orchestra conductor, toured with chamber music groups, and made recital and solo appearances with ensembles across the United States.

He has conducted over 200 classical and contemporary concerts and over 20 theatrical works and served as a guest conductor for prominent national and international orchestras. Since 1986, he has been the Music Director of the Tampa Bay Symphony and from 1992 to 2002 was Music Director for the Spanish Lyric Theatre (a light opera company). Heller directed over 10 Master's Theses and 12 Doctoral Dissertations on topics as diverse as perception, cognition, and computer-aided learning. His research interests include psychology, education, non-verbal learning, orchestral conducting and music performance analysis. For the past 40 years, he has adjudicated district, state, and regional high school music competitions and festivals. He has written 30 research articles, published in Psychology of Music, and Journal of Research in Music Education, among others and presented his research internationally.

He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference (Life Member), Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education; College Music Society; American Federation of Musicians; International Society for Music Education; American String Teachers Association; National School Orchestra Association.

Heller received his undergraduate training at the Julliard School, master's degree in Violin/Music Education from the University of Michigan, and PhD in Music Education from the University of Iowa. He held postdoctoral fellowships at Ohio State University and Yale.