PhD student Deanna Witkowski is the recipient of the 2021 Mother Theodore Guerin Research Travel Grant (sponsored by Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism) for her project, “Writing Friendships: Letter Correspondence Between Jazz Pianist Mary Lou Williams and Women Religious from 1961-1981.” Witkowski initially researched these letters for her forthcoming book Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul and is looking forward to delving more deeply into these significant sources.

Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul is now available for preorder from Liturgical Press and will be published in August of 2021.

Witkowski was also featured recently on the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s “Front Row” online performance series. She appears on two videos in the Backstage Pass – Guest Artist section of the site. For minimal fees, you can see her perform her original composition Wide Open Windows and view an interview with her about her work.

Congratulations to Deanna on her many successes as a scholar and a performer!