MUSICOLOGY & ETHNOMUSICOLOGY GRADUATE STUDENTS
Learn more about our musicology and ethnomusicology graduate students and their research.
Erica Agnew
M.A. program, musicology
eagnew@umd.edu
Research Interests: baroque opera, medieval European music and history, Italian literature
Erica Agnew is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland. Their research focuses on the eastern influences in European music stemming from the cross-cultural exchanges between medieval Europe and the Islamic empire. Erica received a Bachelor of Arts in music with a concentration in medieval studies at Bard College. Their undergraduate thesis focused on the western depiction of the east as magical, in particular on the character of Zoroastro in Handel’s Orlando. In their free time, they enjoy art, sewing and spending time with their cat, Hildegard.
Brigid Anderson
M.A. program, musicology
bander15@umd.edu
Research interests: American wind band, school concert bands, women conductors and composers
Brigid Anderson is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on the history of the American wind band, with special interest in the experiences of the women who have shaped the field. Before coming to UMD, she received her B.S. in music education from the University of Alabama and worked as a band director. In her spare time, she enjoys playing flute and bass flute, cooking and hanging out with her three beautiful cats.
Gabriel Andruzzi
Ph.D. program, ethnomusicology
gdruzzi@umd.edu
Research Interests: multi-species musicking, communicative encounters, loss, enchantment, memory, technology, aliens, popular music, religious studies
Gabriel Andruzzi is a first-year Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Andruzzi received an M.A. in ethnomusicology at UMD. His M.A. thesis, “Vegetal Imaginaries: Sounding and Sensing Plant Life and a ‘Re-enchantment’ of the More-than-human World,” used historical and ethnographic methods to examine how sound and music provide ways of knowing and modes of enacting relationships with plant life. Prior to their studies, Andruzzi spent nearly two decades working as a multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer and songwriter based out of NYC.
Kirk Bickel
M.A. program, musicology
bickel51@umd.edu
Research interests: early music, music theory, guitar, lute
Kirk Bickel is a retired elementary school librarian from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). He has a prior graduate degree from the University of Maryland College Park, having earned a Master of Library Science twenty years ago. Upon his retirement from MCPS, he enrolled in the music program at Hood College and graduated in January 2021 with a Bachelor's in Music History and Literature. For the last year, he has been a volunteer music librarian for the Frederick Symphony Orchestra. At UMD, Mr. Bickel is pursuing an MA in musicology with a focus on early music and a concentration on the lute and guitar.
Elizabeth Busch
Ph.D. program, musicology
ecbusch@umd.edu
Research interests: gender and sexuality studies, critical race studies, archives, binder’s volumes, amateur music-making, popular music
Elizabeth (Betsy) Busch is a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on identity and popular music, especially amateur music-making in the nineteenth century. She is also a bassoonist and pianist. She completed her M.A. at UMD with a thesis titled “Constructions of Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century Bound Sheet Music Collections.” She has presented her research at the Society for American Music and the American Musicological Society’s Capital Chapter meeting. Prior to graduate studies at UMD, Betsy received a B.A. in music, English, and French from Mount St. Mary’s University.
Allison Campion
M.A. program, musicology & M.L.I.S. program, library & information science
acampion@umd.edu
Research interests: history of music education, underrepresented figures in musical canon, 20th century folk and rock movements, intersectionality studies
Allison Campion is a first-year graduate student in both musicology and library and information science at the University of Maryland. Her research primarily focuses on historical concepts of music education in the United States, as well as underrepresented musical figures within the Western musical tradition. Allison received her B.M. in pre-teaching from the University of New Hampshire in 2023 and a M.M. in music education and Graduate Certificate in music history pedagogy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2025. She is also a violist and regularly performs with a number of regional and community orchestras across Southern New England.
Lael Dratfield
M.A. program, musicology
ldratfie@umd.edu
Research interests: gender and sexuality in jazz, women's music, activist musicology, queer theory, Black feminist theory
Lael Dratfield is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. They received their B.M. in jazz saxophone performance from the Eastman School of Music along with a minor in history, and a fifth-year program in gender and sexuality studies from the University of Rochester. Lael’s research interests include gender and sexuality in jazz, women’s music, queer theory, Black feminist theory, jazz historiography and activist musicology. Their goal as a scholar is to expand the way we understand jazz history to create a more equitable jazz community. They have presented their research on Marian McPartland’s unpublished book on women in jazz at the Society for American Music conference, which will be published in 2025 in a special issue of the Journal of Jazz Studies on gender and jazz. In their free time, they enjoy crafting, rock climbing, baking and doing volunteer work with the LGBTQIA+ community.
Emily Everett
M.A. program, musicology
eeverett@umd.edu
Research interests: technology, digital media, identity, power, accessibility, disability
Emily is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on technology studies, power, identity, voice and accessibility. She is also interested in public scholarship and digital media. Prior to attending the University of Maryland, Emily earned her Bachelor’s degree in violin performance from Susquehanna University in 2024. There, she enjoyed experiences as a solo musician, lesson teacher, orchestra manager and student. Outside of school, Emily enjoys painting, making music and going on adventures with her partner.
Miriam Friedman
M.A. program, musicology
miriam88@umd.edu
Research Interests: contemporary music, Jewish studies & music, identity and performance
Miriam Friedman has worked in the University of Maryland System for over ten years helping students and alumni from both University of Maryland College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore County. She is excited to return as a student to UMD where she graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance. Miriam earned her Masters of Music and a post-graduate certificate in Oboe Performance at Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently a faculty member at Washington Adventist University. When she isn’t working or teaching, Miriam enjoys performing new compositions with StageFree, a new music collective based in Washington DC.
Edgar I. Gómez Álvarez
Ph.D. program, musicology
eigomez@umd.edu
Research interests: Mexican and Latinx music, popular music, voice, migration, indigeneity, gender, identity, cosmopolitanism, cultural hybridity, transnationalism, post-colonialism, Latin America and the Caribbean
Edgar Gómez is a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on Mexican popular music, particularly the work of Lila Downs, but he is also interested in piano and contemporary classical music, performance studies and Latin American literature. He holds a B.A. in music from the Universidad De Las Américas Puebla, in Mexico, and an M.M. in piano performance/pedagogy and music history from Ohio University. His master’s thesis, “Historiography, Cosmopolitanism, and Reception: The Piano Music of Ernesto Elorduy (1853-1913),” focused on Elorduy’s cosmopolitan attitude, piano music (character pieces and dance music) and its reception. Edgar is the recipient of the Flagship Fellowship from the Graduate School and is Dr. Fernando Rios' advisee. He enjoys teaching piano, visiting libraries and museums, chatting about theory, trying out restaurants in the area and playing video games with his wife.
Nathaniel Harrell
Ph.D. program, musicology
n8jh@umd.edu
Research interests: 21st-century Western art music, ecomusicology, environmental humanities, aesthetics, reception
Nathaniel Harrell is a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on 21st-century Western art music by American composers that relates directly to aspects, notions and conceptions of nature, natural environments or contemporary environmental concerns. In his dissertation, he thinks about this music through the lens of object-oriented ontology. Nathaniel is also an accomplished pianist, chamber musician and harpsichordist. Prior to his musicological studies, he earned a Bachelor's degree in music as well as a Master’s degree in piano performance.
Hannah Jackson
M.A. program, musicology
hannahdj@umd.edu
Research interests: Gospel music, 20th-century Black popular music, museology
Hannah Jackson is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on Black American music of the 20th and 21st centuries. She received the Irving Lowens Award for Student Research for her presentation at the Spring 2025 American Musicological Society Capital Chapter meeting. In May 2025, Hannah received her bachelor’s degree in music business from Howard University, with a minor in classical voice. In her free time, she enjoys collecting vintage earrings and talking with her twin sister on the phone.
Julia Kuhlman
Ph.D. program, musicology
julkuhl@umd.edu
Research interests: musical economies, prestige, authorship and ownership, performers, contemporary music
As a scholar and performer, Julia Kuhlman studies the systems and philosophies underpinning contemporary music. Kuhlman is a graduate of West Virginia University, earning master's degrees in musicology and saxophone performance. Her master’s thesis, "Winning, Prizes, and Identity: Narrative Vocal Music of the Pulitzer Prize, 2008-2018," examines the Pulitzer’s leveraging of prestige and relevance amidst the fluctuating priorities of critics and audiences in the last ten years. She is currently a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Maryland.
Jacob LaBarge
Ph. D. program, musicology
jlabarg5@umd.edu
research interests: adaptation studies, intersection of music and literature, experimental music, 20th- and 21st-century music, fan studies
Jacob LaBarge is a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Maryland. His current research focuses on intersections of music and literature within 20th- and 21st- century music. In his master’s thesis, “Madwomen in the Killing Jar: Madness, Adaptation, and Performance in Kate Soper’s Voices from the Killing Jar,” Jacob examines how Kate Soper adapts literary and historical texts in her 2012 monodrama through the lens of madness. He has presented his research at the national conference of the American Musicological Society and at the AMS Capital Chapter conference. Jacob was also a Junior Fellow in the Music Division at the Library of Congress.
Thi Lettner
Ph.D. program, ethnomusicology
tlettner@umd.edu
Research interests: music and social movements, ethnographies of Western art music, music and misinformation
Tai Nelson
M.A. program, ethnomusicology
tnelso11@umd.edu
Research interests: punk, DIY ethics, radicalism, identity, protest music
Tai is a master’s student in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on anarchism and DIY punk scenes, particularly folk punk in the United States. Her undergraduate thesis work focused on perceptions of authenticity in online folk punk communities, which she presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Southeast and Caribbean regional conference. She received a B.A. in music from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a minor in anthropology. At home Tai enjoys crocheting for herself and for her cat, Helena.
Alexandria (Allie) Pecoraro
Ph.D. program, ethnomusicology
apeco@umd.edu
Research interests: social movements, choral ensembles, protest, voice studies
Alexandria (Allie) Pecoraro is a Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland. Pecoraro’s research focuses on the intersection of choral music and social justice initiatives in the DC metro area. As a master’s student at UMD, Pecoraro completed a thesis that explored her experiences as an intern at Smithsonian Folkways where she assisted in creating educational materials from an ethnomusicological perspective. Prior to her graduate studies, Pecoraro earned a bachelor’s degree in music education with a choral focus from the University of North Florida. In her spare time she enjoys baking, watching animated musicals, and playing Magic the Gathering with her partner.
Benjamin Rhine
Ph.D. program, musicology
brhine0@umd.edu
Research interests: early music, history of music theory, style, sacred music
Benjamin (Ben) Rhine is a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. His research focuses on late Renaissance sacred music and Mannerism. He is currently studying the influence of the madrigal in Carlo Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories. Prior to UMD, Ben completed a master’s thesis at Pennsylvania State University in which he draws stylistic connections between Gesualdo and his contemporary, Pomponio Nenna. Ben holds a dual M.A. in music theory and history from Penn State and a B.A. in music from Gettysburg College. Outside of research, Ben enjoys video games and a good cup of coffee.
Ally Rizzo
M.A. program, ethnomusicology
arizzo11@umd.edu
Research interests: Afro-Caribbean music, curricular development, queer theory, feminist theory, social movements, popular music, public ethnomusicology
Ally Rizzo is a first-year master’s student in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Their research currently focuses on tthe commodification of steel pan music in the North American tourism economy. Ally is an active performer with the Terrapin Steel Ensemble, of which they are an inaugural member, and enjoys playing viola in orchestral and chamber music settings. They were also an inaugural member of the International Pride Orchestra, which debuted in 2023. Prior to their graduate studies, Ally earned a B.S. in marketing and an Honors Humanities citation from UMD in May 2025.
Corey Seznec
M.A. program, ethnomusicology
cseznec@umd.edu
Research interests: East African acoustic guitar styles, music archival practices, Ethiopian diaspora music, the history of the banjo, the intersections of music and decolonization in East Africa
Cory Seznec is a Franco-American musician and ethnomusicology master’s student at the University of Maryland. A fingerstyle guitarist and banjoist, he has been shaped by two decades of international collaboration and touring, including three years in Ethiopia. A longtime Paris resident, he released four solo albums and performed in venues ranging from festivals and theaters to hospitals and museums. He co-founded Touki, a UK project with Senegalese artist Amadou Diagne. Cory has recorded lessons for Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop, teaches at music camps and is currently working with Mississippi Records and Dust-to-Digital on two upcoming African guitar releases. Cory currently resides in Takoma Park with his family. More information on his website.
Noah Steele
M.A. program, musicology
nsteele9@umd.edu
Research interests: avant-garde and experimental music, sound art, music and urban space
Noah Steele is a master’s student in musicology at the University of Maryland. His research investigates how experimental and avant-garde music interacts with deindustrial urban space. Focusing on Buffalo, New York, his work examines how the city’s economic decline in the 1970s shaped new musical practices, including the utilization of industrial sites as performance spaces and increased interdisciplinary collaborations.
In addition to his scholarly work, Noah is a double bassist who has performed with such groups as the Rochester Philharmonic (NY) and served previously on the faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp. He holds degrees from Indiana University (M.M.) and Baldwin Wallace University (B.M.).
Kajwan Ziaoddini
Ph.D. program, ethnomusicology
kajwan@umd.edu
Research interests: Music and ethnonational identity, folklorization, media, Sufism, Kurdish music, Iranian music
Kajwan Ziaoddini is a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland and a faculty member at the University of Kurdistan, Iran. His current research explores the dynamics of music, identity and politics, with a focus on the role of music in negotiating competing ideologies among Kurdish Iranians. His broader research interests include music, ethnicity and nationalism; Sufism; media and online communities; and music theory in ethnomusicology. He has presented his work at the annual meetings of the Society for Ethnomusicology and the Middle East Studies Association. Kajwan specializes in Persian radif repertoire and is also an accomplished santur performer, with three published solo recordings.