News
Graduate Student Echezonachukwu Nduka Discusses African Pianism in West African Art Music Festival
From February 12–14, the West African Art Music Festival at the New England Conservatory brought together musicians, scholars, and students to explore the intersection of West African and European musical traditions.
Penn Music Alum Gabrielle Gillen Showcases Versatility in New Album
Gabrielle Gillen, a Penn Music alum and former participant in the Marian Anderson Performance Program, has released her new album, "Beginnings of Love." Written, recorded, and produced by Gillen over four years, the 14-track album is a deeply personal exploration of love—finding it, losing it, and discovering what it all means. Blending jazz, pop, classical, soul, and musical theater influences, Beginnings of Love showcases Gillen’s diverse artistry.
Graduate Student Sophia Cocozza Named 2025 Dean’s Scholar
Penn Music is proud to share that Sophia Cocozza, graduate student in Historical Musicology, has been named a Dean’s Scholar for 2025! This honor is presented annually to students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise.
Music Minor Grace Gramins Finds Harmony Between Music and Business with Support from Penn Music
Grace Gramins, a Wharton undergraduate minoring in Popular Music and Jazz Studies, was recently featured in Penn Today and Wharton Stories for her unique fusion of music and business. A passionate songwriter and producer, Grace credits the Penn Music Department with deepening her understanding of composition and performance. Through courses like Professor Anna Weesner’s songwriting class, she has refined her craft while connecting with a community of fellow musicians.
Wenxin Tu (C’24) Curates Exhibit Showing a Correspondence between Marian Anderson and Florence Price
Penn Music graduate Wenxin Tu, C’24, has curated an exhibit in the Ormandy Music Gallery with guidance from music librarian Liza Vick. The exhibit was developed from Tu's participation in a new music department seminar led by Senior Lecturer Jamuna Samuel, titled MUSC 1343: Sound, Gender, and the Color Line: The Life and Times of Marian Anderson (1897–1993). The seminar, which took place partly in the archive itself, provided a unique opportunity to engage with historical materials.
PhD Student Echezonachukwu Nduka Published in Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa
In December 2024, Echezonachukwu Nduka, a PhD student in Music Studies (Ethnomusicology), had his review of Rebeca Omordia's African Pianism published in the 21st volume of the Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa (JMAA). Congratulations!
Graduate Student Hannah Junco to Join Mali Obomsawin for Pre-Show Talk at Penn Live Arts
As part of Penn Live Arts' ListenHear Series, First-Year Graduate Student in Ethnomusicology Hannah Junco will join Mali Obomsawin for a pre-show talk on January 26, 2025 at 6 PM in the Harold Prince Theatre. Following the discussion, the Mali Obomsawin Quintet will make their Philadelphia debut.
Jim Sykes Awarded Inaugural Monsoon Book Prize in Anthropology and Koskoff Prize Honorable Mention for Sounding the Indian Ocean
Jim Sykes, Undergraduate Chair and Professor of Music, was recently awarded the inaugural Monsoon Prize in Indian Ocean Studies (Archaeology and Anthropology) and received honorable mention for the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Koskoff Prize for his book Sounding the Indian Ocean: Musical Circulations in the Afro-Asiatic Seascape, co-edited with Julia Byl, Associate Professor at the University of Alberta.
Mary Channen Caldwell Explores St. Nicholas's Cult and Liturgical Practices in New Chapter on Medieval Versicles
Penn Music Professor Mary Channen Caldwell has recently been included in part of Music and Liturgy for the Benedicamus Domino c.800–1650. Caldwell’s chapter puts St. Nicholas’s cult and liturgy into conversation with the musical and ritual practices of singing liturgical versicles in medieval Europe. Doing so sheds light on why and how certain melodies were borrowed, and what meanings were retained or lost as melodic material was manipulated and transformed during the long history of singing versicles in rituals.
Lecturer Qiujiang Levi Lu Selected as an ISSUE Project Room Artist-in-Residence
We're excited to share and congratulate Penn Music lecturer, Qiujiang Levi Lu, who has recently been selected to join the ISSUE Project Room as an Artist-In-Residence for 2025 season. From ISSUE Project Room: