Editors
Urbana, IL
(she/her) Dani is a visionary flutist, pedagogue, writer, and researcher. Currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Illinois, Dani is writing her interdisciplinary dissertation on Bulgarian flute traditions and their intersection with local expressive culture; this project is based on ethnographic research funded by a Fulbright study/research grant, among others. In her holistic musical approach prizing empathy, connectivity, and exploration, Dani seeks to reinforce the inextricability of technique from embodied artistry and engage the Western canon within a larger global network. Beyond her achievements as a performer, Dani works as a research and writing consultant (currently under contract at the University of Illinois) and is working toward her teacher certification in the Alexander Technique. Dani holds performance degrees from the University of Cincinnati CCM (MM) and Texas State University (BM). www.daninutting.com
Champaign, IL
(she/her) Elisa is an innovative award-winning flutist and scholar who seeks new ways to bridge art forms and genres through holistic multi-media style performance. Her chamber performance groups include MEMO duo and tinyDUO. Elisa expands classical music audience through various techniques, ranging from visual immersion and narrative to historical contextualization. She is a recipient of the national Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, and her doctoral research focused on the archetype of the “flute as bird” in Western classical music, delving into the way composers from around the globe have expressed spirituality at the convergence point of mythology, music, and nature. Elisa has held teaching positions at CSU Fresno, San Joaquin Delta College, Ball State University, and University of Illinois. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and earned a Graduate Certificate in Publishing from University of Denver. www.elisamoles.com
Contributing Writers
Our writers range from tenured professors to industry professionals to academic students and scholars. We encourage all intellectually-minded artists and thinkers who seek to progress the conversation to join our community as contributing writers.
Minneapolis, MN
(he/him/his) Andrew is a PhD Candidate in history at the University of Minnesota, working on British colonialism in India during the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, he considers the links between the university and colonialism, with a special focus on aesthetics and philosophy. Much of the rest of his time is spent watching movies, supporting drives to decolonize/shut down Western museums, complaining about the banality of contemporary architecture, and thinking about William Morris.
Urbana, IL
(he/him/his) Isaac Brinberg is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant with the University of Illinois Bands, studying with Dr. Kevin Geraldi and working with Barry Houser and the Marching Illini. He also studied with Dr. Stephen Peterson and Dr. Elizabeth Peterson during their tenure. Prior to arriving at the University of Illinois, Isaac received his Master of Music in Wind Conducting at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, studying with Professor Steven D. Davis. Isaac has presented and published research, recently focusing on nontraditional concert venues, tuba pedagogy, cultural diplomacy, and programming trends. He co-founded the Graduate Wind Conductors Association, a vibrant online community and resource for faculty and students nationwide. While in Kansas City, he directed a Classical Revolution chapter that presented concerts in venues such as record stores and restaurants.
Sydney, Australia (Gadigal Land)
(she/her) Chloe Chung is a freelance flautist, playing Western classical flute and dizi (Chinese bamboo flute) and collaborating with others to foster unexpected musical forms and beautiful interdisciplinary connections. Her passion for creativity, sustainability, and health education are central to her work as an active performer, teacher, and creative director of Dreambox Collective, working on Gadigal Land (Sydney, Australia).
A passionate educator, Chloe is currently Academic Lecturer of Flute at AIM (Australian Institute of Music). At the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, she has been a founding member of their Chinese Music Ensemble since its conception in 2016, teaching and performing regularly with the ensemble. As an internationally accredited Alexander Technique teacher, Chloe is often engaged in teaching specialized workshops and courses on integrated Alexander Technique for injury recovery/ prevention and peak performance for musicians, music teachers, and art workers wanting to revolutionize their practice to fulfill their artistic goals. www.chloechung.net @chloe.at.play
Austin, TX
(she/they) Multi-instrumentalist Lauryn Gould enjoys a vibrant career as a performer, educator, composer/arranger, instigator, and community music facilitator. She makes music in a wide variety of contexts, both locally and internationally, and has had the great privilege of collaborating with many of the bright lights in the central Texas music community. Lauryn earned a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from Texas State University, an MA in Community Music from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and a MM in Jazz Saxophone Performance at Texas State University. Through her work, Lauryn hopes to put students, audience members, and the community at large in touch with their own innate musicality, creativity, and expression. She also hopes to foster the growth of a more engaged, present, self-reflective, and forward-thinking musical field and society. lauryngould.com @lauryngould
Austin, TX
(he/him/his) Ryan plays the string bass professionally, has for 20-some years. Some say he does it well, especially with regard to early jazz and swing. Those folks also say his deep interest and extensive background in multiple movement disciplines have led him to a greater holistic understanding of music performance, education, and community building. He respects the body as the music and the instrument as the tool. Ryan holds an MA in Community Music from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. His undergraduate work began at Parris Island in the field of service, and he continues to study the warrior spirit. Through his studies and engagement, he hopes to set an example of mindfulness that might encourage all manner of folks to constantly question their opinions and practices, and how their actions might affect our collective understanding and experience. @ryan_gould_musician #ryangould
Bloomington, IN
(she/her/hers) Sarah Craycraft is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Folklore & Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. Sarah received her PhD from Ohio State University (Summer 2022) in Comparative Studies, with a specialization in Folklore. Her scholarship explores how different generations relate to and through folklore, place, and notions of home; her research interests include the ways continuity and rupture shape relationships to tradition, heritagization, cultural transmission, forms of play, ultimate frisbee as embodied folklore, the Bulgarian diaspora, and textiles of all sorts. Through writing, teaching, and advocacy that troubles politicized binaries of ‘rural’ and ‘urban,’ Sarah hopes to help us move toward new modes of solidarity.
Grinnell, IA
(he/him/his) Putu Tangkas Adi Hiranmayena is an Indonesian artist-scholar specializing in Balinese expressive arts. He is currently the Assistant Professor of Performance and Creativity at Grinnell College in Iowa. Hiranmayena’s research interrogates discursive conceptions of noise in Balinese Gamelan, Heavy-Metal music, and Free Improvisation — specifically Baleganjur, Math-Metal, and Conduction. He is interested in how cosmology, politics, and performance define cultural process and create meaning for Glocal communities. Hiranmayena spends his time presenting at conferences, composing for national and international ensembles, performing with Balinese and American troupes, and hosting workshops on cultural adaptation. Some of his current artistic projects directorships include Gamelan Tunas Mekar, TATWD, PAK Yeh trio, Balinese Allstars, and ghOstMist. Apart from his artistic and scholarly passions, Hiranmayena enjoys mountain biking, skateboarding,tennis, dark comedies, and a good pint of microbrew. @91ghost_mist89; @tutangkas; @dwyuputri
Berkeley, CA
(she/her/hers) Musicologist Max Jefferson centers her research around the agency and representation of Black bodies in American art music of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries, working in pursuit of reparation and equity for marginalized bodies and voices in the dominant historical narrative. Inspired by her experience on the operatic stage, both as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus as well as in an 18 year career in both choral and operatic performance, Jefferson looks to both the present and past, questioning the traditional lot of people of color such as herself and working fervently for a more equitable future in scholarship, performance, and education. Jefferson holds a B.M. in Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College, has completed Post-Baccalaureate Studies in Music at Yale University, holds a M.M. in Music from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and is currently a doctoral student in Music at the University of California at Berkeley. @displacednortheasterner
Denver, CO
(she/her/hers) Elizabeth (Liz) McLean Macy holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, an MA in Ethnomusicology from UC Riverside, and a BA in Music from Colorado College. Her current and ongoing research focuses on Balinese performing arts; much of her work is in collaboration with her long-time mentor, colleague, and friend, Bapak I Made Lasmawan. In her current position as Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Liz serves as Area Coordinator of Musicology and the department’s Global Music Ensembles. In Summer 2020 she developed a Visiting Artist Series on Music, Race, and Social Justice (https://msudenver.edu/music/events/mrsjvas/), which highlights the work of BIPOC musicians, performers, and scholars. Liz teaches courses on music and culture, global popular musics, and Black music in the United States, performs with Denver community ensemble Gamelan Tunas Mekar, and loves time on the trails with her dog, Fritza.
Worcester, MA
(she/her/hers) Allegra Martin is starting several new positions in Fall 2022: Music Director of Convivium Musicum in Boston; Interim Director of Music at First Unitarian Worcester; Chorus Director at the Pioneer Valley Symphony Chorus; and teaching conducting at the Berklee School of Music as a part-time Assistant Professor. Previous positions include Director of College Choirs and Interim Orchestra Director at College of the Holy Cross, Director of Music at First Parish Cohasset, and Artistic Director of the Cantilena Women’s Chorale. Dr. Martin holds degrees from Williams College and Westminster Choir College, and a doctorate from the University of Illinois. Her research specialty is the choral music of Margaret Bonds, which she has presented on at many conferences and institutes. Dr. Martin is also an active professional singer, and was one of the founders of Anthology, a women’s vocal quartet in Boston that commissioned 22 works of new music. She currently sings with the Schola Cantorum of Boston. www.allegramartin.com
Champaign-Urbana, IL
(she/her/hers) Kathleen McGowan is a musicologist-who-performs, arts journalist, writer, and pedagogue. Her expressive approaches to music take their bearings from the places where established disciplines intersect. Her current research toward her Ph.D. in Musicology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign investigates women making music in British institutions of higher education, including Girton and Newnham colleges at Cambridge University. In addition, she takes special interest in institutional archival procedures and musicking practices, as well as in the historical transmission and consumption of musical culture. Kathleen holds an M.M. in Musicology from UIUC (2022), for which she wrote a thesis on women writing about music in the British press from 1890–1914. She also holds performance degrees in Trombone from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance (MM) and Western Illinois University (BM). @coffee.in.this.nebula
United States
(she/her/hers) Soprano Ann Moss is an acclaimed recording artist, a passionate teaching artist, and a champion of contemporary vocal music. Often described as a “fearless performer,” Ann’s artistic mission is to lift up contemporary vocal literature to serve as narrative for the hard to speak about issues of our times. She has released two portrait albums, and can be heard on releases from Angels Share Records, Albany Records, ARSIS Audio, Navona Records, Naxos Records, Ravello Records and Jaded Ibis Productions. As a Governor of the Recording Academy SF Chapter, she shares the organization’s commitment to promoting diversity & inclusion, advocating for creators rights, protecting musicians in need, and saving music in our schools. A native of Lincoln, MA, and a graduate of Hampshire College, Longy School of Music of Bard College, and San Francisco Conservatory, Ann is currently traveling the United States with her husband, multi-instrumentalist Justin Ouellet, in search of affordable places to live, create, and collaborate.
New York City, NY
(she/her/hers) Melissa Muñoz is a dedicated trumpeter, educator, and non-profit administrator based in New York City. She enjoys playing various genres of music and is currently a member of the all-woman ensemble: Egalitarian Brass, a classical brass quintet by day – brass band by night. Melissa is an alumna of The University of Texas at Austin (BM) and Yale School of Music (MM). She is currently a fellow in Cleveland Institute of Music’s inaugural Future of Music Faculty Fellowship, a program designed to represent “a critical step forward in creating diversity within the music academy and beyond.” Melissa has a passion for education and loves bringing out meaningful musicianship in her students. She has served as Adjunct Instructor of Brass at Cheshire Academy since 2019. Melissa is a co-founder of Brass Out Loud, a non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting the voices of brass musicians from underrepresented communities. Her personal mission is to contribute to a more creative, expansive, and diverse music community. www.melissagmunoz.com/ @mel_thetrumpeter
Los Angeles, CA
(she/her/hers) Kä splits her time between Texas and California working as a composer for visual media and as co-owner of her production company, Hillshapes. Her company produces stage dance and orchestra productions as well as dance for screen. She produces and composes all of their music. Kä wants to see a new wave of women in the world of composition; she’s doing this on the screen, in the orchestra, and with her quintet of composer friends. www.neunhoffermusic.com
Urbana, IL
(he/him/his) A self-described anti-philosopher and materialist theologian, Ian is currently pursuing a PhD in (ethno)musicology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while simultaneously peddling hot sauce and weird food with his good buddy on the weekends. His forays into research and cooking explore the human experience of origins: his research examines a peculiar set of phenomena known as the Worldwide Hum and seeks to rearticulate aesthetic experience as the site of radical political potential; and his cooking poses questions about tradition, labor, and ultimately the very form of consumption itself. He enjoys medium-long walks and developing his acoustemology of barbecue while drinking cheap beer and wormwood liqueur. He shares a home in Urbana, IL with a curiously passionate and beautiful female who has bound herself to him in a socially sanctioned ritual, and with a small, spicy-sweet feline who is nearly always in charge. He generally dislikes bio blurbs, meta-text, and irony.
Atlanta, GA
(she/her/hers) Molly O’Roark, a native of Memphis, TN, is a dynamic performer and composer known for crafting exciting and energetic programs that showcase her love of music and the harp. Currently based in Atlanta, GA, Molly is artistic director of the Urban Youth Harp Ensemble, a public school harp program that serves over 60 students in the Atlanta area. In addition to UYHE, O’Roark is the harp instructor at the University of North Georgia at Dahlonega, maintains a private studio, and is an avid harp ensemble composer and arranger. As a chamber musician, Molly performs as MEMO, a flute and harp duo, with award-winning flutist, Dr. Elisa Moles, specializing in engaging performances of twentieth-century works. Molly holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters of Music degrees in Harp Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. mollyoroarkharpist.com
Los Angeles, CA
(he/him/his) John Ottman is a celebrated film music composer, editor, producer, and director. A winner of an Academy Award, multiple BAFTA awards, and an Emmy, John is one of the most unique creatives in the film industry. He is perhaps best known for editing and composing the scores for The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, Valkyrie, Fantastic Four, Jack the Giant Slayer, Superman Returns, and several X-Men films. He won his Oscar in 2018 for editing the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
John always had a love of sound and narrative, writing and recording plays on cassette tapes in San Jose, CA, even in elementary school. By the fourth grade, he was playing the clarinet and had turned his parents’ garage into a movie studio, featuring interchangeable sets. His career skyrocketed at USC through a partnership with Bryan Singer. Asked what he considers himself to be, John has said, “I don’t know, but everything I do is through a film-maker’s prism.” www.johnottman.com
PA, USA
(she/her/hers) Lei Ouyang is an ethnomusicologist and currently Associate Professor and Chair of Music at Swarthmore College outside of Philadelphia. She previously taught at Skidmore College where she co-founded a social justice program called Intergroup Relations. She recently worked with colleagues across Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford to establish the Tri-College Asian American Studies Program. She co-directs the Swarthmore College Chinese Music Ensemble and teaches undergraduate ethnomusicology courses centering East Asia, Asian America, race and racism, politics, and memory. Her book “Music as Mao’s Weapon: Remembering the Cultural Revolution” was recently published with the University of Illinois Press. https://www.swarthmore.edu/profile/lei-x-ouyang-0
Champaign, IL
(he/him/his) Vijay is a writer/director/filmmaker, and what he loves about film is that it unites all of the arts — everything from narrative to fine arts to music to everything else — into one holistic package. His core artistic philosophy is that all artists, regardless of medium, are plagued by the same thoughts and propelled by the same instincts (including a primary instinct towards community and connection). The change he’d like to see in society is a culture that works together to not waste the talents, intellect, and innovations of anyone, due to race, geography, size of bank account, or any other accident of birth. www.hivesj.com
Boston, MA
(she/her/hers) Mona Yamazaki Sangesland is an environmentalist, tree enthusiast, and globe-trotting flutist. Apart from all things plant-related, her passion is the power of musical training to cultivate an artistic, rational, and empowered mindset, and she has worked in several countries, using music education and artistic thought as a tool to help alleviate poverty. In addition to the classical western flute, Mona plays the shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute) and researches the traditions of Zen honkyoku, music traditionally played by reclusive Zen monks in Japan. She holds performance degrees from the University of Washington and New England Conservatory and was supported by a Fulbright grant for further studies at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. She received an Alexander Technique teaching certificate in 2022 and resides in Boston, MA, where she spends much of her time documenting the local flora and fauna and reading books on plants.
Urbana, IL
(he/him/his) Michael B. Silvers is an associate professor of musicology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Voices of Drought: The Politics of Music and the Environment in Northeastern Brazil (University of Illinois Press, 2018). He was also the recipient of an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2019. His life revolves around seven rabbits and a parrot. https://music.illinois.edu/faculty/michael-silvers @michaelbsilvers
Urbana, IL
(they/them) What to say? I’m interested in the places where we meet. Sometimes those places are writing — stories, poems, articles, author bios — and sometimes they’re street corners or Carle Park in Urbana. Come visit some time. I’m a queer writer (fantasy novel almost done, and a weekly blog), educator (for me, teaching means learning, learning means growing together), and art researcher (I facilitate “Voices” projects, collaborative storytelling performances that give voice to interwoven stories inside specific communities). I’ve been sinking into embodiment, the joy of being body. As a PhD candidate I’m thinking about multi-voiced authorship. If you’re reading this, if you’re interested, I hope we get the chance to chat sometime. Carle Park. The leaves are mostly brown, now when I’m writing this, but they’ll turn into rich soil, and later the branches will sprout green, then yellow and orange again, and maybe we’ll go for a walk. AzlanSmith.com
Atlanta, GA
(he/him/his) Brandon K Smith (b. 1994) is a composer and arranger based in Atlanta, Georgia. In November 2021, he was selected as the 2022 commissioned composer for the Georgia Music Teachers Association; he presented a suite for flute and harp in collaboration with MEMO duo at the association’s annual conference. He received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in composition at the Georgia State University School of Music. He loves to collaborate with musicians and artists from any field or genre, and hopes to see a world where every person who wants to become an artist can do so without obstacle or resistance. www.brandonksmithmusic.com/
Athens, Greece
(she/her) Jill Burlingame Tsekouras is a flutist and certified Alexander Technique teacher. Jill holds a MM in Flute Performance from the University of Illinois and a BA in Music Education from Wheaton College. She studied flute under Jonathan Keeble, Dionne Jackson and Anita Miller-Rieder, and studied the Alexander Technique under Joan and Alex Murray. She served as “Resident in Musicians Health” at Wheaton College and was previously faculty at Roosevelt University (2008-2018). Jill believes that integrating the Alexander Technique into music practice is crucial for musicians to open their sound, play with confidence, prevent injuries, control performance anxiety, and be more aware of body and mind habits. She hopes this awareness will usher in a future where there is less competition and more encouragement in the music world. In addition, she holds a 200 hr yoga certification and teaches barre. Jill is a sought after clinician, teaching workshops regularly at universities and music associations.
Lansing, MI
(she/her) Tori Tyler is a first year Ethnomusicology student at Michigan State University. Tori holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Truman State University. During her undergraduate degree, Tori presented original research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research as well as the Student Research Conference at Truman State. Tori’s research interests include: Hip hop, The intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in music performance and composition, African-American/Black music in the US, and music and feeling (which she presented on at the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium in 2022). She is a firm believer in decolonizing the canon and that the fine arts need to be more accessible. @tori.tyler17
Urbana, IL
(he/him/his) Nolan is a recent PhD graduate and currently serves as a lecturer in musicology and archives assistant at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has an amazing family Liz (wife), Luna (eldest daughter), Mavin (youngest daughter), Pearl (dog), and Inky (cat). Nolan loves traveling to new places and is an avid fan of speculative fiction.
Cincinatti, OH
(he/him/his) Jett Walker is a professional trombonist and educator and currently holds the position of Lecturer of Trombone at the Texas State University School of Music. He has achieved candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and will complete this degree in Spring 2023. Outside of his duties at TXST, Jett enjoys an active freelancing schedule and has performed with groups such as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Battle Creek Symphony, and the Blue Wisp Big Band. Jett is also committed to furthering the field of music education and aims to increase the equity of access to music for all. He served as the brass teaching artist for the MYCincinnati youth orchestra, a program that provides children with access to free, high quality music education, and also served as a public school band director for five years in central Texas. When not performing or teaching, Jett enjoys cheering on his favorite sports teams and traveling the country with his wife, Hanna. www.jettwalkertrombone.com
Canada/US
(she/her/hers) Noël Wan is the Assistant Professor of Harp and Entrepreneurship at Florida State University. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois (BM, DMA) and Yale University (MM) and has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s College, and Western University. As a performer-scholar, she is interested in onto-epistemologies of the classical harp/harpist and enjoys borrowing transgressively from critical theories and literature. Currently living between the US and Canada, Noël seeks existential meaning with the help of her partner, conductor-composer Patrick Murray, and their loquacious tuxedo cat Georgina. nywharp.com
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