Publications
“Race, Retention, and Identity-Based Service in Music Theory,” Theory and Practice 46 (2021): 1–22
In the midst of the movement for racial justice reignited by the 2020 murder of George Floyd, music departments and universities more broadly seek to address long-standing racial injustices in the academy. One such injustice is “identity-based service,” service labor that is expected from marginalized scholars but not from those with majority identities. This article proposes a new framework for identity-based service in which academic institutions distribute and value this labor more equitably. First, I explore the concept of identity-based service and the burden it places on Black and otherwise marginalized, or “diverse,” scholars. Second, I offer both short- and long-term actionable strategies for addressing the problems stemming from identity-based service, all of which involve either a redistribution or revaluation of this labor. Third, I map my arguments and those of other outspoken music scholars onto the SMT’s recent ethical affirmations and commitments to encourage action that supplements the Society’s existing initiatives toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. I ultimately contend that through collective action, we music theorists can cultivate an academic community that succeeds at retaining those it claims to value as scholars, teachers, and change agents.
“Metrical Ambiguity in the Scherzo of Brahms’s String Sextet, Op. 18,” Music Theory and Analysis 8, no. 1 (2021): 41–59
This article explores the metrical and hypermetrical ambiguities present in the Scherzo of Brahms’s String Sextet in B-flat major, Op. 18 (1859–60). Drawing upon Lerdahl and Jackendoff’s metrical preference rules, Mirka’s parallel multiple-analysis model, and Ito’s fractional notation, I argue that each hearing of material from the opening phrase (at the beginning, during its first repeat, after the Trio, etc.) affords the possibility of a different hypermetrical experience. Furthermore, instead of becoming increasingly clear as it continues, the movement contains a number of hypermetrical irregularities that can lead listeners to question their previous interpretations. The article concludes with suggestions on how chamber ensembles can utilize metrical analyses of this movement to inform their performances and create varied listening experiences.
“Music Theory, Race, and the Barbershop Harmony Society,” in The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory, ed. J. Daniel Jenkins (New York: Oxford University Press) (2022, advance online publication)
This chapter examines how music theory has historically been utilized within the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) to influence and affirm the Society’s social and political values, in particular as it relates to racial segregation and discrimination. As evidence, the chapter cites Society-published style treatises written by barbershop practitioners with insider knowledge of their communities. The work of these practitioners determines the rules of the barbershop style for an international community of musicians. After introducing the concept of “invented traditions,” the chapter then discusses the Society’s early definitions of the barbershop style and culture; its practices of segregation and discrimination during the civil rights era (and the corresponding musical preservationism); and concludes with reflections on its present-day “Everyone in Harmony” diversity initiative (2017–).
“Barbershop’s Cautionary Tale for Academic Music Theory: A Response to Stephen Lett,” Music Theory Spectrum 45, no. 1 (2023): 120–24
This response to Stephen Lett’s article draws parallels between the institutional histories of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) and the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). While both societies have struggled with racial diversity and inclusion, the structural racism that has pervaded the BHS since the civil rights era offers a potent and eerily familiar example of how seemingly innocuous, apolitical institutions can be sites of exclusion and inequity that plague the United States at large. Echoing Lett’s sentiments, I urge my fellow SMT members to recognize the inherently political nature of our craft as we reassess and rebuild our Society’s culture in this period of reckoning.
“Have You Got Good Barbershop Religion? Music Education, Evangelism, and Stylistic Gatekeeping in American Barbershop,” in the colloquy, “The Musicology of Education: From Text to Act to Acquisition,” convened by Michael Weinstein-Reiman and Lindsay Wright (in preparation)
My essay considers the culture of fear and intimidation regarding stylistic preservation that pervaded the Barbershop Harmony Society’s summer music education programs during the 1960s and ‘70s. Through the example of the Society’s “Keep it Barbershop” ideology, which was propagated and enforced by the Director of Education and the many programs he oversaw, I show how the fear of loss and the cultivation of fear are often intertwined in efforts to erect and maintain stylistic and cultural boundaries. (Complete abstract forthcoming.)
“Working Collectively: Thoughts Toward a Better Music Studies from the Project Spectrum Graduate Student Committee” (co-authored with Anna Beatrice Gatdula, Hyeonjin Park, Carlo Aguilar González, Sinem Eylem Arslan, Hanisha Kulothparan, Gerardo Lopez, Brian Veasna Sengdala, and Renata Yazzie), American Music 40, no. 4 (2023): 444–52 (fortieth-anniversary special issue) (invited)
Project Spectrum’s graduate student committee discussed the future of higher-education music studies in North America. The conversations were held and recorded on April 6, May 4, and June 15, 2022. The transcript below has been edited for publication. Individuals were first asked to answer the question, “What could we implement into our work now that would lead to better music studies?” Then, the discussion moved from the individual contributions to a moderated conversation on the topics of col- lective organizing and coalition building within and outside of academia.