Salem College assistant professor of music and director of the Center for Musical Excellence at Salem College Dr. Thomas Swenson was selected to participate in the College Board’s Annual AP Reading in Music Theory. 

Each June, AP teachers and college faculty members from around the world gather in the United States to evaluate and score the free-response sections of the AP Exams. AP Readers are high school and college educators who represent many of the finest academic institutions in the world. 

“The reading draws upon the talents of some of the finest teachers and professors that the world has to offer,” said Trevor Packer, Senior Vice President, AP and College Readiness at the College Board. “It fosters professionalism, allows for the exchange of ideas, and strengthens the commitment to students and to teaching. We are very grateful for the contributions of talented educators like Dr. Swenson.” 

The Advanced Placement Program (AP) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies – with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement or both – while still in high school. In 2012, more than 11,000 AP Readers evaluated more than 3.7 million AP Exams.

In addition to teaching a variety of music performance and music history courses at Salem, Dr. Swenson manages community music course offerings as director of the Center for Musical Excellence at Salem College. An accomplished musician and composer, Dr. Swenson has distinguished himself as a national leader in the field of piano pedagogy. His dissertation focused on the specific traits of adult piano students and a book based on the dissertation, Not Just Big Kids! Motivations, Preferences, Backgrounds and Attitudes of Adult Piano Students, is an important resource for piano teachers of adult students.