Eric Lindsay Named UCI FATE Fellow

Honoring excellence in higher education

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) at UC Irvine is pleased to announce that Eric Lindsay, lecturer specializing in musicianship, music theory and composition, has been named a 2024-2025 UCI Faculty Academy for Teaching Excellence (FATE) fellow. The fellowship highlights the contributions of faculty who create learning environments that are committed to students' growth and success, while continuously developing their pedagogy and are recognized by their peers as model educators. 

“Being chosen as a FATE fellow is a tremendous honor,” shared Lindsay. “Since I started teaching, I've prioritized helping my students foster skills and behaviors that will best prepare them for their future careers. Being a FATE fellow will help me see how other departments are tackling similar efforts and will ideally result in forward-looking teaching approaches being adopted across the university. Opportunities like this help ensure that CTSA is where all our students can thrive and be ready for what comes next in their musical journeys.”

Lindsay is a composer-performer specializing in opera, film, and immersive installations. He holds advanced degrees in composition from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and the University of Southern California. His compositions have been performed by an array of ensembles and orchestras, including eighth blackbird, the American Composers Orchestra in NYC, the New Juilliard Ensemble, Pittsburgh Symphony and many others. Lindsay’s work is characterized by a commitment to cross-disciplinary exploration, which is enacted in his compositions, collaborations and teachings.

As someone whose pedagogy is grounded in research-driven approaches to teaching and learning, Lindsay has expanded the Department of Music since his arrival in 2018. From creating popular large-enrollment online music courses for the general UC Irvine population, he has also worked with music department chair, Michael Dessen, on the design of competency-based learning paths for music majors that meet students where they are through a range of differentiated instruction methods and just-in-time supports. These efforts better support students who lack strong academic music foundations upon entry and allows the department to fit incorporate higher-advanced material into core degree requirements. 

“Many of these innovations were designed with an equity frame in mind,” said Lindsay. “This involves expanding the ways we assess academic learning — including through collaborative performance, improvisation and composition — in ways that quickly identify weaknesses and find unique strategies for each student.” 

As a FATE fellow, Lindsay will continue to build on this foundation, contributing to the academic and creative excellence that CTSA strives to uphold.

To read more about Eric Lindsay and his work, visit his Department of Music bio page here, or his website at musicscore.com.