Graduate Our Graduate Students

Karoline Bahrs (Ethnomusicology) grew up in Berlin, Germany where she received her MA in Musicology and Latin American Studies at Humboldt and Free University. She has carried out fieldwork in Cuba, Chile, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and, to a lesser extent, in Suriname and Brazil, focusing her studies on popular culture, music traditions, lyrics and music, identities and community media. Recently, she researched on African immigrants' status and culture in the German port city Hamburg, from which she is organizing an exhibition. She likes studying languages very much her knowledge is so far very good in Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, good in Italian, French and Dutch, and basic in Farsi. She is currently working on ladino music and on adjusting piano skills to the accordion. kab189@pitt.edu
Benjamin Breuer (Historical Musicology) ABD, PhD Candidate Currently, BB contemplates how ideas borrowed from philosophy and the natural sciences (for example, biological evolution) enrich or limit the methodology of musicology. Besides he researches language-music interaction and music notation. bbreuer@gmail.com
From Vancouver, Washington, Rebecca Dixon is a first-year musicology graduate student and 2008–09 Arts & Sciences Fellow at Pitt. Her primary research interest is 19-century Russian music, specifically the work of Tchaikovsky. Other areas of interest include aspects of programmaticism in the Romantic Era and the music of Jacques Ibert. Rebecca earned her Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude in Oboe Performance from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She kept busy as a chorister and music history tutor at JMU in addition to playing oboe and English horn in multiple ensembles. One of her research papers, “Reinterpreting the Intended Program of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony,” was a first-place prizewinner in JMU’s 2008 academic writing competition. She has also studied Russian at the University of Washington. Rebecca has recently become a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, and enjoys traveling, tennis, and solving the New York Times crossword puzzle. rad49@pitt.edu
Oyebade Dosunmu was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and received his undergraduate degree in music at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. His interests are diverse, ranging from Wagner to Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Oye, as he is called by friends, wrote his masters thesis on the music of modern Yoruba theatre, using as his case study Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. His current interests are in African popular music and other expressions of postcolonial culture in Africa and its Diaspora. He directs Elekoto, a vocal ensemble based in Pittsburgh, which performs the choral works of modern African composers. oad2@pitt.edu
Yuko Eguchi graduated from Bates College with a BS degree in 2003 majoring in Music Composition and minoring in Economics. For her senior honors thesis she wrote an opera Anata no moto e (I will follow you to the end) which premiered on April 4, 2003. Besides her honors title, she received the College Key Music Award at graduation. She completed her MA degree in Ethnomusicology in 2008. Her thesis Re-Creating "India" Through Musical and Ritual Performances: Music and Religion of Diasporic Indians in Pittsburgh investigates Hindu ritual music and diaspora in Pittsburgh based on the fieldwork at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Penn Hills. She also presented her thesis research at the 2007 SEM conference in Ohio. She has taught World Music recitations and Basic Musicianship Piano classes and has given lectures on Japanese music (shamisen) and culture (tea ceremony) at various sites. She was awarded a Japan Iron and Steel Federation Mitsubishi Foundation Fellowship in 2005. She is currently working on musical performances of the Geisha and gender issues in Japan. yue1@pitt.edu
From Asheville, North Carolina, Matthew Gillespie has studied at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, East Carolina University, and currently is a teaching fellow at Pitt. He has composed primarily solo, chamber, and vocal music, which has been heard throughout the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. Recent scholarly interests include the music of Franz Liszt and Charles Ives. As a composer, he is currently engaged in trying to lighten up, just a little. mdg27@pitt.edu
Colter Harper completed his bachelors in jazz guitar performance at Duquesne University in 2000. He is currently pursuing his masters in ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh where he focuses his research on African-American and West African music. In addition to his work as a musician in Pittsburgh, Colter has studied and performed in Ghana, focusing on the Gyil (West African xylophone) as well as West African guitar band music. colterharper@hotmail.com
Ben Harris Ben Harris is in the first year of work towards a PhD in composition and theory. Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, he earned a BA from the University of Oklahoma, and subsequently an MA from the State University of New York at Buffalo. A violinist by training, he has recently succumbed to the sweet dark tones of the viola and performs on that instrument now and again. A member of the Buffalo-based Open Music Ensemble, he is interested in open form and pictorial means of musical communication. His compositions experiment with eclectic combinations of instruments, and he has been working towards introducing a stronger narrative element in his music. A fan of newspaper comic strips, he likes to thinks about what an opera based on Mary Worth would be like. bgh7@pitt.edu
Elizabeth Hoover recently received her MA in Musicology in the spring of 2008. In her thesis, Elizabeth investigated Schoenberg’s multimedia work, Die glückliche Hand, through the theoretical lens of his contemporary in painting, Wassily Kandinsky. As both a musician and artist, her research often unites two loves: music and the visual arts. Currently, Elizabeth is working with the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh to produce a joint lecture which will explore abstraction in art and music from 1920 to 1950. Elizabeth received her BA in Music from Miami University (Oxford,OH) in 2006 where she studied oboe, an instrument she has played for many orchestras and chamber groups throughout her educational career. At this time, Elizabeth performs with the University of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. hooverea@gmail.com
Dorcinda Knauth (Ethnomusicology) Received her MA on ethnographic study of tango in Pittsburgh. Currently working on a Ph.D. topic in Indonesian studies. She has just received a J. William Fulbright Grant to conduct research on Islamic music in Indonesia in the academic year 2006-2007. saluna98@hotmail.com
Kerrith Livengood is in her third year of the composition program, having completed her MA in April of 2007, with her work "enchanted days" written for the IonSound Project. Originally from Springfield, Missouri, Kerrith got her start writing music at Truman State University when Dr. Warren Gooch told her that she had an "interesting mind" and let her take composition lessons. Currently her interests run along the lines of electroacoustic music and chamber music of increasingly large scope, particularly settings of the poetry of Stephen Crane. She is an active member of Alia Musica, an organization that promotes performance of new works by young Pittsburgh composers; and she is also the president of the Pitt chapter of the Society of Composers Inc. Both Kerrith and her husband Jonathan are devoted St. Louis Cardinals fan, and so is their cat Eric (or he would be, if he were smart enough to understand baseball). kerrith22@hotmail.com
Da Lin (Ethnomusicology) graduated from Xi’an Conservatory of Music in China with a BA in musicology. She grew up with the strong influence of Western music, and discovered her great interest in Chinese traditional music after becoming an undergraduate. She plays piano and qin (seven-stringed zither). Da is currently focusing on several kinds of traditional operas which are popular among Han Chinese in central China. dal63@pitt.edu
David Matthews (Composition) dgm4@pitt.edu
Erin Mulligan earned a BA in Music from Hartwick College (2000), and an MA in Ethnomusicology from UCLA (2003). For her masters thesis, she examined the connections between music and altered states of consciousness, beginning with Middle Eastern tarab music and extending the concepts to the discussion of the realm of BDSM (bondage, dominance/submission, sado/masochism). In her research at Pitt, she is still examining the use of music in the BDSM community, and spends a lot of time examining issues of sex, gender, performance, pain, and eroticism as they relate to music and musical events. In her spare time she can be found online, in local clubs, swimming, or trying to motivate herself to better her swordfighting and chain-maille making abilities. erin.lea.m@gmail.com
Brandi Neal (Musicology) Brandi Neal is originally from Sumter, South Carolina and is currently a PhD candidate in musicology. She is writing her dissertation on the multivoice sacred music in the court of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Particularly, she examines how compositional procedures of pervading imitations are adapted for large vocal settings. Her interests also include sampling in rap music and the vocal music of J.S. Bach. Though she misses the sun in Pittsburgh winters, she has found a decent substitute for Gamecock football in the Steeler Nation. beeaneal@hotmail.com
Mary Ober (Musicology) msb_ober@netscape.com
Ayo Oluranti received a BA in Music (Composition & Performance) from Southampton University, UK in 2004 and is currently a Composition and Theory graduate student. He believes in both the traditional and the contemporary ‘experimental’ approaches to Western Classical Music. In his compositions, he experiments with the fusion of elements that define this musical culture with those that define African music. Ayo is a strong advocate of the aesthetics of postmodernism in composition. He plays the organ as a soloist and an accompanist.
Benjamin Pachter is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh. He has received a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from Duquesne University, and a Masters of Music in Percussion Performance from Southern Methodist University. His current research interests include the role of taiko drumming in the representation of Japan at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. He was a recipient of a 2007-08 Japan Iron and Steel/ Mitsubishi Graduate Fellowship in Japan Studies and a 2008 Summer Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship. bjpachter@gmail.com
Carlos Pena (Ethnomusicology) Jazz, Popular, and Latin American music.
Second year historical musicologist Christopher Ruth received a BFA with honors in Music Composition from Carnegie Mellon University in 2004. Though still active in composition, Chris’s current research deals with many different subjects, taking advantage of the wide range of expertise found in the faculty of the department. Currently writing his MA Thesis on compositional heritage and imitation in Renaissance motets, his other research interests include the evolution of Banjo pedagogy and methods in 19th-century America, the body as virtuoso instrument in the films of Fred Astaire, and, chiefly, the large-scale dramatic works of Robert Schumann. The diverse, yet interconnected research environment is what Chris enjoys most about the Graduate Music Department at Pitt. “Where else can you research long forgotten motet composers one day, hear a performance of your latest composition the next, and top it all off by dancing the role of the magical monkey in an expertly directed Indonesian Gamelan concert?” Beyond this, however, he finds his main inspiration as a scholar in his fellow students, where strong friendships abound between all disciplines and levels of study, in and out of class. “The weekly music department soccer match is great way to keep your sanity.” Originally from Baltimore, Chris loves Pittsburgh, but remains wary of showing his Ravens pride so deep in Steeler country.
Laurie Sampsel (Historical Musicology) PhD Candidate sampsel@spot.colorado.edu
Yoko Suzuki (Ethnomusicology) yos8@pitt.edu
Nemesio Valle (Historical Musicology) captain.nemo@verizon.net
Stephanie Webster-Cheng (Ethnomusicology) My dissertation research concerns the stylistic development of the narrative form Suzhou tanci during the 1950s through mid-1960s in China. cheng995@suscom.net
Jane Welsh (Historical Musicology) jbwlovesdogs@aol.com
Bryan Wright (historical musicology) earned his BA at the college of William and Mary in 2005 with a double major in music and religion. His undergraduate senior thesis, about a once-famous singer from his hometown, titled “Cile Turner’s Contribution to the Preservation and Development of African-American traditional Music” was winner of the Lowens Award for Student Research from the Capital Chapter of the AMS. Bryan is most interested in studying American popular music from before 1945 and in particular enjoys studying ragtime and early jazz styles. He is also interested in Medieval and Renaissance motets, Middle Eastern music, and Appalachian traditional music. A ragtime pianist himself, Bryan has released a CD titled Syncopated Musings and has performed at ragtime festivals across the country. In the summer of 2006, he was a featured performer at the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. Bryan is owner of Rivermont Records, an independent label reissuing historic recordings. He also hosts a radio program of early 20th-century popular music from ragtime to big band called Soundstage. He is a member of the AMS. bryan@claxtonola.com
Having grown up in a family of musicians in Beijing, China, Shuo Zhang delved into both western and Chinese music since childhood. Although graduated from Peking University with a BS in Environmental Science, Shuo has been working through the path to his life-long goal: to know as much as possible about human music and language. His research interests include history and theory of Chinese music, musical communication in Asia, and the relationship between music and language. As a performer of the Chinese Huqin, Shuo has traveled to Thailand and Singapore to perform and study. shz16@pitt.edu

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Colloquia

The department sponsors a Colloquium Series each semester, bringing in outstanding speakers in a wide variety of fields to supplement and enrich the curriculum.

Graduate Handbook

Students may find detailed information on course requirements, department regulations, degree requirements, and related material in the Graduate Handbook (PDF).