Member, Commission on Accreditation
Reelected November 2022; term ends November 2025
Fred Cohen is the Director of the School of Music and Dance at San José State University in the heart of Silicon Valley (CA), an HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) and AANAPISI (Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution) designated university. Professor Cohen has been a member of the music faculties at the University of Richmond, Montclair State University, and the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University (GA).
A composer and conductor, following his undergraduate studies, Professor Cohen worked as a conductor with the Fundación del Estado para la Orquesta Nacional Juvenil [El Sistema] in Venezuela. He founded and served as music director of the Cornell Contemporary Ensemble, CURRENTS, a professional new-music ensemble performing over 80 premieres, and he has directed and appeared with numerous university and professional orchestras.
Professor Cohen was first elected to the Commission on Accreditation in 2021 for a one-year term. He has served NASM on the Board of Directors from 2018–2021 as Chair of Region 1, and as a member of the Nominating Committee.
Professor Cohen holds a Doctoral degree in Composition from Cornell University, where his teachers included Karel Husa and Steven Stucky, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University California, Santa Cruz.
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Updated December 2022