News
Carol Muller Discusses Exploring Philly's Sonic Legacy on Penn Arts & Sciences OMNIA Podcast
Philadelphia's rich musical heritage is a treasure trove of influence and innovation. In a groundbreaking graduate class, students from Carol Muller’s ethnomusicology course delve into the city’s Black music history, producing a podcast that brings this vibrant soundscape to life. Tune in to hear insights and explore the musical legacy that continues to shape global rhythms. Listen on Apple Podcasts
Associate Professor Glenda Goodman Co-Edits 'American Contact': a New Book on Intercultural Encounters Through Material Texts
New book! Associate Professor Glenda Goodman and Rhae Lynn Barnes (History, Princeton) co-edited American Contact: Objects of Intercultural Encounters and the Boundaries of Book History, out this month with University of Pennsylvania Press's Material Texts series.
Jim Sykes and Mary Channen Caldwell Discuss Sound Studies in OMNIA Alumni Magazine
In an article for OMNIA, Penn Arts & Sciences alumni magazine, writer Laura Dattaro highlights the contributions of Jim Sykes and Mary Channen Caldwell to the field of sound studies. Sykes, an associate professor in the Department of Music, explores sound's role in covert surveillance and cultural communication, including the concept of underwater listening stations. His research, reflected in the book Remapping Sound Studies, emphasizes a global perspective and the significance of sound in shaping cultural experiences, such as in post-war Sri Lanka.
Carol Ann Muller Joins Other Musicians, Poets, and Scholars to Create a Sampling of South African Jazz
The article by Giovanni Russonello from the New York Times explores South Africa’s profound relationship with jazz music, with its roots in apartheid’s racial oppression when used as a symbol of resistance. South African jazz continued to evolve post-apartheid to be embraced by a new generation of musicians. Muller introduces her pick, “Cape Genesis: Slave Labor” by Kyle Shepherd, within the article. Each song’s description is accompanied by a Youtube link as well for listening.
Katherine Scahill Awarded 2024 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Penn Music's Katherine Scahill has been named one of 22 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellows for 2024. administered by the Institute for Citizen's & Scholars. The award will fund her upcoming dissertation, "The gendered politics of religious authority in Thai Buddhism: Voice, embodiment, and sonic efficacy in the movement for female monastic ordination." From the Institute for Citizens & Scholars:
Penn Music Scholars Win Salvatori Awards for Research in Italian Culture and Society
Penn Faculty members Mauro Calcango and Mary Channen Caldwell and Graduate Student in Historical Musicology Renée Olo were among those given a Salvatori Award from the Center for Italian Studies. The Salvatori Award is an annual research grant endowed by the late Henry Salvatori (EE 23) to support short-term planned research projects pertaining to Italian culture and society. Congratulations to the recipients!
Mary Channen Caldwell Discusses Jewish Music and Musicians in Medieval France in Recent Interview with the Katz Center
Mary Channen Caldwell Discusses Jewish Music and Musicians in Medieval France in Recent Interview with the Katz Center Natalie Dohrmann, Associate Director of the Katz Center, spoke with 2023–24 Katz Center fellow and Penn Music Professor Mary Channen Caldwell about her research on music, conversion, and the global Middle Ages. Read the Interview Here
Penn Music Ensemble in Residence and Faculty Recieve 2024 SACHS Program Grants
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation provides grants and other forms of strategic support to artists, faculty, cultural centers, students, and other arts advocates at Penn. As a strong arts advocate, they support hundreds of projects within the University of Pennsylvania. This past 2024 boasted the largest application pool to date. Out of these applicants, Penn Music proudly congratulates our community members that haven been awarded grants for their projects!
Tyshawn Sorey Awarded 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)”
Tyshawn Sorey Awarded 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music for “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)” President Assistant Professor of Music and Composer Tyshawn Sorey has been awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work, “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith).” The Pulitzer Prize in Music is given to a “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year”
Penn Music Graduate Students Dive Deep into Ethnomusicology
This semester, graduate students in Carol Muller’s Deep Listening: Ethnographic and Anthropological Approaches course interviewed community leaders, scholars, and musicians to engage in the field of ethnomusicology as a way of knowing sound/music making in the contemporary world. Readings and conversations discussed post-colonial engagement with indigenous knowledge systems, the non-human animal world, the natural environment, and sound recording technologies to explore the history of Black music in Philadelphia and all the way to Makhanda (Grahamstown), South Africa.