John D. Spilker is Assistant Professor of Music at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he teaches courses in the music history sequence, world music, music and gender, film music, and American music. He received the Ph.D. in Musicology from The Florida State University in 2010. His current research investigates the resonance of dissonant counterpoint among various composers associated with Henry Cowell and the ultra-modern network. Research for his master's thesis traces the repertoire of musical works based on the biblical texts of King David's laments for Absalom and Jonathan; these pieces date from the ninth through the twenty-first centuries.