Jazz Studies PhD Student Samuel Boateng’s new work Sunsum is Spirit will premiere on The New Hazlett Theater’s CSA (Community Supported Art) series. Performances take place on April 29 (8 p.m.) and April 30 (11 a.m. and 8 p.m.). Find out more about the show and tickets here. 

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 fo

Our guest for this episode of the Music at Pitt Podcast is Michael Heller, Associate Professor of Music for the Department of Music and editor of the journal Jazz and Culture published by University of Illinois Press.

Nicole Mitchell’s impact on jazz was highlighted in a recent New York Times article “Jazz Has Always Been Protest Music. Can It Meet This Moment?” The article focuses on the role jazz has played in political protest as well as how prominent musicians such as Mitchell are addressing inequities in jazz education. Mitchell notes,

Doctoral candidate and Fulbright Scholar Steven Moon had to cut his research year in Turkey short due to the pandemic, but he has still made significant progress in exploring the intersection of culture and medicine in that country. Moon is studying the role of music in Ottoman healing practices with specific interest in how this approach transcends mind/body dualisms.

Jazz Studies PhD Candidate Ben Barson and his wife and creative partner Gizelxanath Rodriguez have been named Artists in Residence for University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program. Barson and Rodriguez are cofounders of the Afro-Yaqui Music Collective whose work has been recognized nationally by ASCAP, New Music USA, and I Care if You Listen, as well as by Pittsburgh arts organizations, foundations, and media.