Raquel Paraíso, a researcher, musician, and educator earned a B.A. in violin performance from the Conservatory of Music in Salamanca, Spain. She holds a Master’s in Violin Performance, a Master’s in Ethnomusicology, and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her areas […]

The Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band was founded by Otha Turner, a master practitioner of the many musics of the Mississippi hill country, whose recordings occupy a significant space in the American music archive. Turner’s annual fife and drum, blues, and barbecued goat meat [...]

Sharde Thomas has been carrying on her family’s tradition of fife and drum music since she was a child. First learning how to play the fife under the tutelage of her grandfather, Otha Turner, Sharde has since released records, performed live, and discussed this music [...]

James Revell Carr, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology and director of the John Jacob Niles Center for American music, studies the importance of travel and commerce in the development of hybrid music and dance cultures. His major interests include sea chanteys, Anglo-American balladry, Hawaiian […]

Pallas Catenella is a PhD candidate in musicology at the Eastman School of Music specializing in maritime music and nineteenth-century operatic technologies. Her master’s thesis, which examined the social and historical impacts of nautical preservation on the music of deepwater sailing culture, was supported by […]

Desiree Overree grew up in Texas and participated in the same contests and concerts as the students you see on stage. She attained her Bachelor of Music Education degree with Highest Honors at Sam Houston State University and now teaches for Katy ISD. Under her […]

Matthew D. Morrison, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, is an Assistant Professor in the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Matthew holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from Columbia University, an M.A. in Musicology from The […]

​Ashleigh Gordon is co-founder, Artistic/Executive Director and violist of Castle of our Skins, a Boston-based concert and educational series devoted to celebrating Black Artistry through music. In recognition of her work, she has presented at IDEAS UMass Boston Conference and 180 Degrees Festival in Bulgaria; has […]

Jasmine Chen is a Grammy-nominated audio engineer and vocal producer who works in Music and Film. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, she began interning at Forecast Recordings while working at IO Music Academy as IO’s Partnerships & Studio Manager. She also freelanced […]

R. Larry Todd is Arts & Sciences Professor at Duke University. His books include Mendelssohn: A Life in Music (Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Sein Leben, seine Musik), “likely to be the standard biography for a long time to come” (New York Review of Books), and Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn, […]