Jazz Studies PhD candidate Ben Barson’s music and research was recently highlighted in an interview with the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Barson is a composer, bari sax virtuoso, and scholar whose research focuses on stories of “resistance and self-determination.”

In his interview with the Dietrich School, Barson emphasized a community oriented approach and interdisciplinary opportunities as his primary reasons for coming to the Department of Music.

“… The late Geri Allen was and the innovative Jazz Studies PhD which emphasized community engagement as a cornerstone of the program: no more ivory towers, but rather a model of scholarship in which scholars are expected to be a part of and one with the jazz community in Pittsburgh. The Jazz Studies cross-disciplinary approach means that I can study with leading microtonal composers such as Mathew Rosenblum, historians such as Lara Putnam, and jazz scholars such as Aaron J. Johnson and Michael Heller simultaneously.”

Read the whole interview here.