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Michael Carlson successfully defended his dissertation, “‘Musica fatta spirituale’: Aquilino Coppini, Claudio Monteverdi, and Madrigal Contrafacts in Early Seventeenth-Century Milan” (advised by Annegret Fauser and Tim Carter), in May 2023 and graduated with his Ph.D. Congratulations, Dr. Carlson!

Kori Hill and Kelli Smith-Biwer
Alexandra Kori Hill and Kelli Smith-Biwer at the department’s Commencement Ceremony on May 13, 2023.

Kira Gaillard received a 2023 James and Lilian Pruett Graduate Research Fellowship and will be researching the 1970s “hollerin” contests of Spivey’s Corner, North Carolina at Wilson Library this summer. Her work examines connections to nostalgia, performativity, and the rural exotic in the American South through the expressive formats of the contest. Through the fellowship, she will conduct archival research on the library’s resources and process collections identified by the Wilson Library staff.

ken tianyuan Ge presented research at the annual meetings of the American Musicological Society and Society for American Music. In April, he defended his dissertation proposal and progressed to ABD status!

Alexandra Kori Hill successfully defended her dissertation, “Make the Familiar New: New Negro Modernism in the Concertos of Florence B. Price” (advised by Mark Katz), in December 2022 and graduated with her Ph.D. Kori is currently working as a freelance writer, with publications on I Care If You Listen (.com) and program notes annotations with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterBaltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony. Congratulations, Dr. Hill!

Tara Jordan received a Dissertation Completion Fellowship and a Graduate Student Research and Travel Grant from the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies. She traveled to New York City and Rochester, New York, Thessaloniki, Greece, and Bitola, North Macedonia to complete dissertation research.

Matteo Sammartano
Matteo Sammartano

Sarah Lindmark was the 22-23 Arts Everywhere Graduate Music Technology Fellow and assisted Professor Suzi Analogue in leading the Beat Lab for the 22-23 academic year.

Kari Lindquist received the Kevin F. Satisky & Judith M. Thorn Summer Research Fellowship from the Graduate School and a Bordin/Gillette Fellowship for dissertation research at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan. She presented a paper at the Gender Relations in Wind Bands Conference hosted by the International Center for Wind Music Research in Oberschützen.

Destiny Meadows presented “Music Video Creation by Activists during the United States HIV/AIDS Epidemic (19871995)” at the 2023 Society for American Musicology conference in Minneapolis.

Briana M. Nave presented “Less is More: Performance of “Authentic” Personae in Minimalist Music Video” at the 2023 Society for American Musicology conference in Minneapolis.

Matteo Sammartano received a 2023 James and Lilian Pruett Graduate Research Fellowship and will be researching the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau Records at the Library of Congress.

Eduardo Sato receiving his fellowship at the recent SAM conference.
Eduardo Sato receiving the Robert Walser and Susan McClary Fellowship at the 2023 SAM conference. (Photo courtesy of David Garcia)

Eduardo Tadafumi Sato successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation “Modernist Crossings in Brazilian Music, 1919–1954” (advised by Annegret Fauser), and will be an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech starting in the fall. Eduardo was also a resident fellow at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia and received the Robert Walser and Susan McClary Fellowship from the Society for American Music. Congratulations, Dr. Sato!

Kendall Winter enjoyed a busy conference presentation schedule this year, giving papers on her dissertation research at the annual meetings of both the American Musicological Society and the Society for American Music, the UNC Music Department’s Symposium honoring Annegret Fauser, and the UNC-KCL Graduate Music Student Conference. With the return to in-person conferencing, Kendall is grateful for financial support she received from the Graduate Student Transportation Award (UNC), the Michael Pisani Student Travel Award (SAM), and the King’s College Fund (UNC Institute for Arts and Humanities). Though she delighted in serving as the Teaching Associate for two undergraduate courses in Spring 2023 and looks forward to teaching a 2023 Summer course, Kendall is eager to undertake dissertation writing full-time as the recipient of a 2023-24 Dissertation Completion Fellowship (UNC).

Kelli Smith-Biwer successfully defended her dissertation, “The Hi-Fi Man: Masculinity, Modularity, & Home Audio Technology in the U.S. Midcentury” (advised by Mark Katz) in April 2023 and graduated with her Ph.D. Kelli will be a Teaching Assistant Professor in the School of Music at Ohio University beginning this fall. Congratulations, Dr. Smith-Biwer!