John K. Novak is Associate Professor of Music Theory at Northern Illinois University.  He holds a Bachelor’s of Music Theory, a Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy and Literature, and a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was awarded the Kent Kennan Scholarship in Music Theory and the John Maresh Scholarship in Czech Culture. 

He has taught at Austin Community College, the University of Texas at Austin, and Oberlin Conservatory.  He joined the faculty of the School of Music at Northern Illinois University in 1996, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory and aural skills, with a specialization in music of the twentieth century.

Novak has published articles for College Music Symposium, Indiana Theory Review, the International Journal of Musicology, Bulgarian Musicology, Kosmas, and Hudební Vĕda as well as for Oxford and Clerendon Presses.  The subjects of his articles include the music of Dvořák, Bartók, Janáček, Suk, and various styles of popular music.   He has presented at symposiums and conferences throughout the U.S. as well as in London, Prague, Brno and Sofia. Novak is currently co-authoring a book of 80 songs which continue to be sung in Texas in the Czech language.