Her Music Academia

In this recap episode, I chat all about everything I did this summer, from traveling to Italy to sing opera for a month (!!!), to seeing Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour in London (!!!!), to the grad student strike at Michigan officially ending (!!!!!). I also discuss what I've been doing for fun this summer (including some book, music, and podcast recommendations) and give an update on what's to come for HMA. Check back for new episodes of the show every Monday starting October 9th! Wishing you the best for your next season!

TW: brief mentions of minstrelsy

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Teresa Reed (University of Louisville) about her early experiences with music in the Black church, her path to studying music theory at Indiana University, and her time as the dean of music at the University of Louisville. We also chat about her published scholarship, diving into her first book The Holy Profane: Religion in Black Popular Music as well as her latest book You're Likely Not A Racist: Answers for Curious White People.

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Daniel Barolsky (Beloit College) about his early experiences as a double bassist, coming to musicology through listening to recordings, and the current music curriculum at his college. We also discuss his work with Open Access Musicology and Daniel Leech-Wilkinson's book Challenging Performance: Classical Music Performance Norms and How to Escape Them.

In part two of our conversation, YouTuber and musician Tayo Omisore (COLORMIND.mp4 on YouTube) and I continue our conversation about "rap covers" and how rap is developing into a canon. We also discuss Tayo's songwriting and production process for his musical interlude segments in his YouTube videos.

In this episode, I chat with YouTuber and musician Tayo Omisore (COLORMIND.mp4 on YouTube) all about his musical upbringing with rap, his experiences learning to write music, and the development of his career as a Black musical content creator. We also discuss his video response to music theory YouTuber Adam Neely, who made a video about the absence of "rap covers." Tayo and I offer our perspective as Black musicians and ponder what music theory offers us when studying and discussing rap. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation!

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Ben Cornelius-Bates (Duquesne University) about his musical upbringing in Alaska, his path to composition, and his experiences studying the organ. We also discuss how to write music for the organ, particularly within the context of secular music, and talk about timbre in Maan Varjot by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho for organ and orchestra. Rest in peace to Saariaho, who passed away on June 2, 2023.

In this solo episode, I chat all about how my winter semester at the University of Michigan went. I give an update on the grad student strike, my classes, and my teaching. I also explore my yearly theme of simplicity, set new goals for Summer 2023, and discuss the podcast's progress!

In this episode, I invite Anna Rose Nelson (University of Michigan) on the show to give us an update on finishing her dissertation (hire her!). We also (in great detail!) break down the ongoing strike at the University of Michigan. Beginning with the very recent history of U-M graduate student workers and lecturers striking in 2020, Anna Rose shares about her experiences organizing with the Graduate Employees Organization on behalf of the School of Music, Theater, and Dance. We discuss how the bargaining with the university over the grad student workers' next three year contract has gone (poorly!) and what has led over 1,000 grad student workers to halt their teaching, office hours, and grading. Finally, Anna Rose shares about how the university's negotiations specifically affect music grad students, and how U-M faculty and undergraduates can support their grad student instructors and researchers. Thanks for your support! Solidarity!

(Again, this podcast is absolutely NOT an attestation that either Anna Rose or I are on strike! U-M kindly mind your business!!)

Small numbers correction: We mention that our economic ask was about 10% of the $200M we make the university each year. Actually, the highest compensation proposal would cost 33M (closer to 20%) in that first intense bump.

Our last episode for Women's History Month! Today on the show I welcome another Michigan alum Dr. Vivian Luong (University of Oklahoma) to chat about her background as a clarinetist and a pianist, her time studying music theory at Michigan, and her current approaches to theory pedagogy. We also discuss her research centered around feminist music theory and what it means to love music, her MTO article titled "Rethinking Music Loving," and her Engaged Music Theory blog post titled "Feeling Like a Theorist."

TW: brief mentions of sexual assault

For our second episode of Women's History Month, I chat with Dr. Susan McClary (Case Western Reserve University) about her path to musicology, as well as her experiences as an educator and researcher. We also discuss her incredibly influential scholarship centered around gender and sexuality in music by diving into her 1991 book Feminine Endings. Finally, she shares her current teaching philosophies as well as the music she is enjoying.

Our first episode for Women's History Month! Today I chat with Dr. Kyra Gaunt (University at Albany, State University of New York) all about her experiences as a singer, her time studying voice and ethnomusicology at Michigan, and her first book The Games Black Girls Play: Learning The Ropes From Double Dutch To Hip-Hop. We also discuss her forthcoming book PLAYED, featuring her research centered around Black girls dancing on YouTube.

We are finishing off Black History Month with a conversation about Beyoncé! My sister Ismatu Gwendolyn Bangura and I chat all about our personal relationships to her music, the public perception of Beyoncé, and the aesthetics and politics in her latest album, Renaissance. I also feature the voices of some of the Black women and femmes in my community to get their thoughts on the album. In order of appearance, you heard the voices of Erykah Benson, Gaby Kubi, Dylan Keese-Forster, and Ijeoma Opara. A huge thanks to my sister and my friends for being on the show!

In this episode, we are wrapping up Black History Month with some familial history! My younger sister Ismatu Gwendolyn Bangura joins me on the show to discuss our shared musical upbringing, their experiences leading a gospel choir at Northwestern University, and how their relationship to music changed after they became a sex worker. We also chat about their blossoming Tik Tok career and the ways in which they are using art, writing, dance, and poetry in their activism. Finally, Ismatu shares about the fundraiser they've started for our tribe back in Sierra Leone! If you are able, drop a dollar! And stay tuned for part two of our conversation, where we dive into the aesthetics and politics of Beyoncé's album Renaissance!

Continuing our series of conversations with Black musicians for Black History Month, today Dr. Phil Ewell (Hunter College of City University of New York) joins me on the show to discuss his background as a cellist, his time studying music theory at Yale University, and our shared investment in public music theory. We also examine the whiteness and maleness of music theory through the lens of other scholarship throughout the humanities, in order to explore what anti-racist work in music theory could actually look like. Finally, Phil shares a little about his new book, forthcoming through the University of Michigan press!

This week we are continuing our conversations with Black musicians for Black History Month! In this episode, I chat with Darrian Dorrough (@94Drow) about his experiences in hip hop, the status of rap research in the academy, and his songwriting and production process. We also discuss his experience hosting a live show on Instagram called the Dope or Nope Show, where he and his collaborators review the music of unsigned artists and producers. Check out 94Drow's album MissFit and his singles wherever you stream your music, and follow the @dopeornopeshow on Instagram!

Happy Black History Month! In this episode, I chat with Jordan Brown (Harvard University) about her experiences as a singer and arranger, her path to ethnomusicology, and her positionality as a queer Black woman in music academia. We also discuss E. Patrick Johnson's 2001 article titled "Quare Studies, or Almost Everything I Know About Queer Studies I Learned From My Grandmother," which is utilized in Jordan's research about the music of queer Black femmes.

In this episode, I chat with Dr. John Michael Cooper (Southwestern University) about his path to musicology, his experiences in music publishing, and the lives and music of Margaret Bonds and Florence Price. We also listen to and discuss Margaret Bonds' piece Tangamerican, performed by pianist Lara Downes. Special thanks to Lara and to Candace Johnson for their appearances in this episode!

In this episode, I chat with Majel Connery all about her experiences as a singer, her choice to leave the field of musicology, and our shared experiences as women in music. We also discuss her new podcast from CapRadio, "A Music of Their Own," which explores the ways women in music navigate the industry and the ways the music itself is gendered. Make sure to stream her show wherever you get your podcasts!

In this solo episode, I chat all about how my fall semester turned out, from taking classes to teaching for the first time to quitting my barista job. I also discuss my experience presenting at the American Studies Association conference and at the big #musiccon (AMS/SEM/SMT 2022) in New Orleans. Finally, I reflect on achieving some of my goals of the past year and set a new yearly theme for 2023.

In this episode, I chat with my friend Natalie Krafft all about her career as a music teacher, her experience doing music streams on Twitch, and our favorite recordings of the Goldberg Variations by Bach.

In part two of my conversation with Dr. Megan Lavengood (George Mason University) and Dr. Cara Stroud (Michigan State University), we chat all about timbre, the role of "world music" instruments, and Megan's MTO article "The Cultural Significance of Timbre Analysis: A Case Study in 1980s Pop Music, Texture, and Narrative." A special thanks for Cara and her class for their thoughts on Megan's piece and for making an appearance on this episode (in order of appearance: (Zephie Hillard, ShihPing Wang, Jessi Fegan, and Karla Evans).

In part one of my conversation with Dr. Megan Lavengood (George Mason University) and Dr. Cara Stroud (Michigan State University), we chat about their experiences in music theory, their approaches to reading and writing, and their thoughts on teaching theory during the pandemic. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation!

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Dan DiPiero (Ithaca College) about his background as a jazz drummer, his experiences studying comparative studies, and his new book Contingent Encounters: Improvisation in Music and Everyday Life (out now and available open access through the University of Michigan Press!).

In the last episode of season four, Lydia chats with Dr. Jenny Snodgrass (Lipscomb University) about her experiences as an opera singer (and with computer programming), her upcoming career change, the music theory pedagogy conference coming up next month, and her 2020 book Teaching Music Theory: New Voices and Approaches.

In episode seven of season four, we chat with Dan Inglis about his choose your own adventure music education, his career as a voice and piano teacher, and his music theory YouTube channel centered around developing aural skills for singers.

In episode six of season four, Lydia talks to Amelia Wellers about her experiences in music performance and music production, having a career outside of music, her rock album Wallflower (produced with Kyle Joseph), and how she uses music theory as a singer-songwriter and producer. 

In episode five of season four, Lydia chats with Dr. Marc Hannaford (University of Michigan) about his experiences as a jazz pianist, pursuing careers in both music performance and music academia, and his forthcoming article "Fugitive Music Theory and George Russell's Theory of Tonal Gravity."

A special bonus episode that Lydia recorded for her Everyday Musicology class! Lydia names her favorite Beyoncé songs, describes Beyoncé's particular expression of Black womanhood, and explores her complicated relationship to feminism, Black capitalism and Black excellence. Shoutout to her brilliant professor Dr. Castro and all of her amazing classmates!

In this bonus episode, we listen to Vitali's Chaconne for violin and piano, and Lydia geeks out about all of the interesting music related things she's been reading in class.

Episode seven of season three, during which Lydia chats with Dr. Brent Ferguson (College of Southern Maryland) about his work as a composer and music theorist, his approach to music theory pedagogy, our experiences at community colleges, Renata Yazzie's (University of New Mexico) lightning talk at SMT 2021, and Linda Shaver-Gleason's "Is Music a Universal Language?"

Episode five of season three, during which we chat with Dr. William Montgomery and Hillary Lester of the Sounds of the World podcast! They tell us all about how they met and started their own music podcast, about their own compositional styles and methodologies, and about their favorite instruments to write for. Check out their show wherever you get your podcasts!

We're back for another eight episodes! In this episode, we have a drink and a casual chat about moving to new places, starting school in person, and our developing research.

Episode seven of season two, during which we chat with Megan Lyons (University of Connecticut) about her dissertation on the art songs of Amy Beach, Beach's controversial politics, how to analyze art song, and a whole lot of theory pedagogy!

Episode six of season two, where we read and discuss Susanne Cusick's chapter in Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology. We also discuss our first piece of racist hate mail, our experience dating other musicians, personifying music (specifically as a woman), and pleasure as a form of self care.

Season two episode five, during which we chat with Susan O'Brien about her personas as an actor, singer and poet, as well as her experience starting Forte Chicago, an all-female opera sketch comedy troupe.

Episode four of season two, in which we chat with Dr. Malia Jade Roberson about public music theory, performance anxiety, her struggles with tenure, and her experience publishing with Hal Leonard.

Episode three of season two, where we discuss performing and recording music during a pandemic, and Lydia's performance of Judith Weir's one woman opera.

Season two episode two, where we chat with Corinne Costell (Roosevelt University) about her research on racism and cultural appropriation in opera, her work developing an anti-racist curriculum for white musicians, DBR's opera aria "They Still Want To Kill Us," and the implications of the term "ally."