On our third episode for Black History Month, I chat with musician, entrepreneur, poet, and spoken word artist Aaron Dworkin (University of Michigan) all about his musical upbringing, his work in arts leadership, and his experience founding the Sphinx Organization. We also chat about his 2023 spoken word album The Poetjournalist, and explore the various intersections of art, storytelling, and Black history.

Stream The Poetjournalist

Aaron's website

Arts Engines

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

In this episode, I chat with Jerome Bell (Eastman School of Music) about his musical upbringing in the church, his experiences in performance and composition, and how he ended up in a music theory PhD program. We also chat about his recent paper that he presented at the Society for Music Theory annual meeting in November 2023, titled "Modal Fluidity in Millennial Gospel," about shifting harmony in the music of Tye Tribbett and Richard Smallwood.

Jerome's website

Jerome's paper

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

Welcome back to a new season of the show! On our first episode of Black History Month, I chat with pop music critic and commentator Henny all about their musical upbringing, when they began thinking critically about music, and how they got into content creation. We also discuss the use of different scales, modes, and instrumentation in pop music to elicit a sense of promiscuity, danger, or rebellion. Check out Henny's work on all the platforms!

Henny's YouTube channel

Henny's Substack

Henny's Instagram

Henny's Patreon

Megan Lavengood's MTO article about timbre in 1980's pop music

Why Pipe Organ Sound Scary video essay

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

A special bonus episode, in which I chat with composer, pianist, conductor, and coach Raphael Fusco. We talk about his musical upbringing, how he fashioned such a multifaceted career in music, and his time on the faculty at Opera Lucca, an Italian summer young artist program for singers, pianists, and composers (which I got to attend!). We also discuss and listen to his composition La Contesa Canora and dive into his compositional process.

Raphael's website

Opera Lucca

Raphael's YouTube Channel

Le parole dei mesi

Raphael's opera inSOMNIA

"Quarantine Camp"

An American Requiem

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

HMA's last episode of the year, in which I review my fall semester! I chat about the classes I took, give an update on my teaching, discuss my big preliminary exam, and contemplate the conversation surrounding the public music theory plenary session at SMT's annual meeting. I also look back at my theme for 2023 and pick a new theme for 2024. Stay tuned for our new season of HMA beginning February 5! Happy holidays to you and yours!

Sphinx Connect

Music Journalism Insider with Todd L. Burns

CGP Grey video about themes

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

Our last episode in the HMA fall season! I chat with Megan Ihnen, a New Orleans based mezzo soprano who collaborates with living composers to commission new works. We discuss her musical upbringing, her work in coaching and entrepreneurship, and her touring duo with alto saxophonist Alan Theisen. We also dive into her workshops on creative placemaking and the role that music making plays in communities.

Megan's website

Megan's Instagram

Megan Ihnen and Alan Theisen presents...

Live Music Project

The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg

"Researching Music- and Place-Making Through Engaged Practice" by Aoife Kavanagh

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

Episode seven of our fall season, in which I chat with San Fransisco based soprano Chelsea Hollow about her musical upbringing, our shared experiences in community college, and how she's built her current singing career. We also discuss her 2023 debut album Cycles of Resistance, for which she commissioned twenty-two songs about resistance in eight different languages. Finally, we dive into the intersection of opera, art song, and activism to explore the role of music and artistry in resistance movements.

Stream Cycles of Resistance

Chelsea's website

Chelsea's database of language coaches

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

Part two of my conversation with Dr. Owen Belcher (University of Missouri Kansas City), Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese (University of Massachusetts Amherst), where we discuss music entrepreneurship, the "usefulness" of music theory, and their recent MTO article, "Public Music Theory's Neoliberal Learning Outcomes."

⁠Public Music Theory's Neoliberal Learning Outcomes⁠

Andrea Moore's "Neoliberalism and the Musical Entrepreneur"

Note Doctors podcast

My episode with Dr. Malia Jade Roberson about Music Entrepreneurship

A Third University Is Possible by la paperson

My lecture on A Third University Is Possible

The Education Myth by Jon Shelton

Diversity, Inc. by Pamela Newkirk

My episode with Dr. Vivian Luong about Music Loving

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

In part one of this episode, I chat with Dr. Owen Belcher (University of Missouri Kansas City), Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese (University of Massachusetts Amherst) about their musical upbringings, their time together in grad school at Eastman, and their advice to current music grad students. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation when we chat about their recent MTO article, "Public Music Theory's Neoliberal Learning Outcomes."

Public Music Theory's Neoliberal Learning Outcomes

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]

In episode four of our fall season, I chat with Chris Jenkins (Oberlin College) about his musical upbringing in New York, his career as a violist, his current work as the Associate Dean of Academic Support at Oberlin Conservatory, and our shared experiences as Black musicians. We also discuss his new book Assimilation vs. Integration in Music Education: Leading Change Toward Greater Equity.

The upcoming Theorizing African American Music Conference

Assimilation vs. Integration in Music Education

Chris's episode of SMT-Pod

Olly Wilson's chapter "The Heterogenous Sound Ideal in African-American Music"

Get in touch with me at: [email protected]