Biography

My research investigates the expression and perception of identity through musicking. With research interests surrounding gender, sexuality, race, religion, and disability, I study what experiences on the margins can teach us about identity's role in systems of belief and power. As an undergraduate at Louisiana State University and MPhil student at Cambridge, I focused on the foundational jazz composer and pianist Mary Lou Williams, investigating how her spiritual, supernatural, and parapsychological experiences affected her music-making and career choices. During my PhD in Music, I will continue investigating identity by exploring individual and institutional experiences of power dynamics and identity performance in American Christianity. This research will center on LGBTQ+ musicking and interdenominational choir efforts as case studies of institutional repentance and musical identity formation.

Previous Education

Louisiana State University & Agricultural & Mechan Music (Academic Studies
University of Cambridge Music