Best Emily Zwijack Podcasts (2025)

1
Winter 2025 in Review 1:42:36

4d ago1:42:36

1:42:36

In this episode, I chat all about my past semester of continuing this year's touring season with Opera For The Young, giving my first lecture recital, and formally starting my dissertation research. I also give an update on the podcast release schedule this summer and contemplate the goals I have for the upcoming season. Consider joining the HMA bo…

1
Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival (with The Dolphins Quartet) 35:37

11d ago35:37

35:37

In this episode, I chat with The Dolphins Quartet (violinists Luke Henderson and Issac Park, violist James Preucil, and cellist Ian Maloney) about their backgrounds in music, their time at The Juilliard School, and how they met and started working together. We also discuss their rehearsal process, how they choose repertoire to perform, how they com…

1
Music and Cognition (with Dr. Cora Palfy) 1:22:36

1M ago1:22:36

1:22:36

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Cora Palfy (Washington and Jefferson College) about her musical upbringing as a singer, her time studying music theory and cognition at Northwestern, and her music theory pedagogy article on "the hidden curriculum." We also dive into her 2022 book Musical Agency and The Social Listener, which discusses music as an a…

1
Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé: Part Two (with Lee Thomas Richardson) 1:32:23

2M ago1:32:23

1:32:23

In this episode, I chat with Lee Thomas Richardson about Beyoncé's eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, including its reception by the Beyhive, our favorite (and least favorite) tracks, the nominations and awards the album received at the 2024 Grammys, and Beyoncé's new products that further expand her brand. Join us for our next book club meeting o…

1
Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé: Part One (with Lee Thomas Richardson) 49:10

2M ago49:10

49:10

In this episode, I chat with Lee Thomas Richardson (Columbia University) about his musical upbringing as a saxophonist and a vocalist, his path to music theory, and the start of his research on Beyoncé and fandom. We also discuss Beyoncé's eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation! Join us for our next book clu…

1
Sounding Bodies (with Dr. Shannon Draucker) 1:14:35

3M ago1:14:35

1:14:35

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Shannon Draucker (Siena College) about her musical upbringing as a clarinetist, her experience in an English PhD program at Boston University, and her current pedagogical practices at Siena. We also discuss her recent book Sounding Bodies: Acoustical Science and Musical Erotics in Victorian Literature, as well as he…

1
Music and Gossip (with Dr. Kristin Franseen) 1:29:43

4M ago1:29:43

1:29:43

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Kristin Franseen (Western University) about her musical upbringing as a bassist, her early interest in becoming an orchestral librarian, and her time at McGill University earning a PhD in musicology. We also chat about her first book, Imagining Musical Pasts, and her current research on the intersection of music and…

1
Fall 2024 in Review 1:53:16

5M ago1:53:16

1:53:16

In this episode, I chat about landing my first lead role with a professional touring opera company (!!), singing in the Laffont Metropolitan Opera competition (!!!), my first publication in Music Theory Spectrum (!!!!), and completing my dissertation proposal (!!!!!!). I also discuss my yearly theme for 2024 and set a new theme for 2025. Join us in…

1
Resounding Verse (with Dr. Stephen Rodgers) 1:21:43

6M ago1:21:43

1:21:43

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Stephen Rodgers (University of Oregon) about his musical upbringing as a pianist, his path to studying music theory at Yale, and his current pedagogical practices at Oregon. We also chat about his art song analysis podcast, Resounding Verse, as well as the field of music theory's response to the public music theory …

1
HMA Book Club #3: A Third University is Possible by la paperson 33:31

7M ago33:31

33:31

In this episode, I discuss our first two official meetings of the HMA book club, HMA on Substack and Discord, and the agreed upon community guidelines for our gatherings. I also introduce the November book club pick, which is A Third University Is Possible by la paperson. Join us for our third synchronous meeting on Sunday, December 1 at 3:00 pm ES…

1
Black Musician Academy (with Melanie Bates) 36:53

7M ago36:53

36:53

In this episode, I chat with D.C. based violinist Melanie Bates about her musical upbringing and her experience getting back into performance as an adult. We also discuss Black Music Academy, Melanie's grant funded project to educate D.C. students about the history, impact, and repertoire of Black classical musicians. This month, the HMA Book Club …

1
Beyond Bossa Nova (with Guilherme Andreas) 1:09:17

8M ago1:09:17

1:09:17

In this episode, I chat with Guilherme Andreas about his musical upbringing in Brazil, his experiences as a flautist and an arranger, and his 2022 debut album Beyond Bossa Nova. We dive into his search for Brazilian classical music for the album, his recording process, and his upcoming projects. Stream Beyond Bossa Nova wherever you get your music!…

1
Introducing: The Her Music Academia Book Club! 56:49

9M ago56:49

56:49

In this episode, I officially launch the HMA Book Club! I discuss my own relationship to reading, why I think communities of reading are important, and my hopes for how this project might unfold. Our first online book club meeting (relax, just to chat about this episode!) is Sunday, September 29th at 4:00 pm EST. Sign up at hermusicacademia.com/boo…

1
Summer 2024 in Review 1:32:53

9M ago1:32:53

1:32:53

In this solo episode, I chat about all of my musical endeavors over the summer, including singing in two opera productions, presenting at the music theory pedagogy conference, and grading exams at the College Board AP music theory grading session. I also discuss reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, starting my dissertation proposal (eek!), an…

1
Stylistic Shifts in 2010's Pop Music (with Audrey Slote) 55:07

9M ago55:07

55:07

In our last summer bonus episode, I chat with Audrey Slote (University of Chicago) about her musical upbringing as a cellist, her path to studying music theory, and her current dissertation project about stylistic and thematic shifts in 2010's pop music. More specifically, we explore Solange's A Seat at the Table and Bon Iver's 22, A Million for ev…

1
1990's Hip-Hop Music Videos (with Dr. Brad Osborn) 57:37

10M ago57:37

57:37

In this bonus episode, I chat with Dr. Brad Osborn (University of Kansas) about his musical upbringing, his experience in grad school at Florida State and the University of Washington, and how he got into popular music research. We also discuss his latest work on MTV Buzz Clips from the 90's and the music of his metal band, D'Archipelago. Brad's po…

1
Audio Engineering (with Jair Gallardo) 1:02:26

10M ago1:02:26

1:02:26

In this special bonus episode, I chat with Jair Gallardo, the official editor for Her Music Academia! We discuss his musical upbringing inspired by video game music, how we met in community college, and his experiences as a multi-instrumentalist and teacher. We also chat about how he got into audio editing and engineering, his creative process, and…

1
Winter 2024 in Review 1:47:16

1y ago1:47:16

1:47:16

In this solo episode, I chat all about my last semester of classes, my final papers, and my experience teaching aural skills at the sophomore level. I also discuss embarking on my first archival trips and balancing my research with my various singing endeavors. Finally, I contemplate my yearly theme of imagination and give an update on the podcast'…

1
Feminist Music Theory in the Victorian Era (with Dr. Rachel Lumsden) 1:12:05

1y ago1:12:05

1:12:05

In our last episode for Women's History Month, I chat with Dr. Rachel Lumsden (Florida State University) about her experiences as a flautist, her time in grad school at CUNY, and the music theory curriculum at FSU. We also discuss how she got into music theory and feminist studies, as well as her award winning MTO article "Music Theory for the 'Wea…

1
Unbinding Gentility (with Dr. Candace Bailey) 49:39

1y ago49:39

49:39

Our third episode for Women's History Month, in which I chat with Dr. Candace Bailey (North Carolina Central University) about her musical upbringing as a pianist, her path to historical musicology, and her time in graduate school at Duke. We also discuss her current music history curriculum at NCCU and her 2021 book Unbinding Gentility: Women Maki…

1
Questioning Genius (with Dr. Jan Miyake) 1:18:54

1y ago1:18:54

1:18:54

In our second episode for Women's History Month, I chat with Dr. Jan Miyake (Oberlin Conservatory) about her musical upbringing, her path to music theory, and her current tenure as the president of the Society for Music Theory. We also discuss her course "Questioning Genius," which challenges students to analyze a wide range of music and introduces…

1
African American Art Song (with Dr. Louise Toppin) 55:20

1y ago55:20

55:20

Our first episode for Women's History Month! I chat with Dr. Louise Toppin (University of Michigan) about her musical upbringing, her experience studying piano and voice, and her time as a graduate student at Michigan. We also discuss her current book project with the Humanities Collaboratory and her African American art song class. Humanities Coll…

1
Writing About Black Music (with Willard Jenkins) 52:18

1+ y ago52:18

52:18

For our last episode of Black History Month, I chat with Willard Jenkins about his early interest in record collecting, how he began writing reviews of jazz, and his time in festival management, specifically with the DC Jazz Festival. We also discuss his book project Ain't But A Few Of Us, which features several Black writers, critics, and music ac…

1
Black Spoken Word Poetry (with Aaron Dworkin) 45:17

1+ y ago45:17

45:17

On our third episode for Black History Month, I chat with musician, entrepreneur, poet, and spoken word artist Aaron Dworkin (University of Michigan) all about his musical upbringing, his work in arts leadership, and his experience founding the Sphinx Organization. We also chat about his 2023 spoken word album The Poetjournalist, and explore the va…

1
Harmony in Gospel Music (with Jerome Bell) 50:18

1+ y ago50:18

50:18

In this episode, I chat with Jerome Bell (Eastman School of Music) about his musical upbringing in the church, his experiences in performance and composition, and how he ended up in a music theory PhD program. We also chat about his recent paper that he presented at the Society for Music Theory annual meeting in November 2023, titled "Modal Fluidit…

1
Music Criticism on TikTok (with @hennyondatok) 1:18:21

1+ y ago1:18:21

1:18:21

Welcome back to a new season of the show! On our first episode of Black History Month, I chat with pop music critic and commentator Henny all about their musical upbringing, when they began thinking critically about music, and how they got into content creation. We also discuss the use of different scales, modes, and instrumentation in pop music to…

1
BONUS: La Contesa Canora (with Raphael Fusco) 1:03:26

1+ y ago1:03:26

1:03:26

A special bonus episode, in which I chat with composer, pianist, conductor, and coach Raphael Fusco. We talk about his musical upbringing, how he fashioned such a multifaceted career in music, and his time on the faculty at Opera Lucca, an Italian summer young artist program for singers, pianists, and composers (which I got to attend!). We also dis…

1
Fall 2023 in Review 1:12:18

1+ y ago1:12:18

1:12:18

HMA's last episode of the year, in which I review my fall semester! I chat about the classes I took, give an update on my teaching, discuss my big preliminary exam, and contemplate the conversation surrounding the public music theory plenary session at SMT's annual meeting. I also look back at my theme for 2023 and pick a new theme for 2024. Stay t…

1
Creative Placemaking (with Megan Ihnen) 1:10:58

1+ y ago1:10:58

1:10:58

Our last episode in the HMA fall season! I chat with Megan Ihnen, a New Orleans based mezzo soprano who collaborates with living composers to commission new works. We discuss her musical upbringing, her work in coaching and entrepreneurship, and her touring duo with alto saxophonist Alan Theisen. We also dive into her workshops on creative placemak…

1
Opera and Activism (with Chelsea Hollow) 1:02:23

1+ y ago1:02:23

1:02:23

Episode seven of our fall season, in which I chat with San Fransisco based soprano Chelsea Hollow about her musical upbringing, our shared experiences in community college, and how she's built her current singing career. We also discuss her 2023 debut album Cycles of Resistance, for which she commissioned twenty-two songs about resistance in eight …

1
Public Music Theory: Part Two (with Dr. Owen Belcher, Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese) 54:24

1+ y ago54:24

54:24

Part two of my conversation with Dr. Owen Belcher (University of Missouri Kansas City), Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese (University of Massachusetts Amherst), where we discuss music entrepreneurship, the "usefulness" of music theory, and their recent MTO article, "Public Music Theory's Neoliberal Learning Outcomes." ⁠Public Music Theory's Neoli…

1
Public Music Theory: Part One (with Dr. Owen Belcher, Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese) 44:49

1+ y ago44:49

44:49

In part one of this episode, I chat with Dr. Owen Belcher (University of Missouri Kansas City), Dr. Catrina Kim, and Dr. Alan Reese (University of Massachusetts Amherst) about their musical upbringings, their time together in grad school at Eastman, and their advice to current music grad students. Stay tuned for part two of our conversation when we…

1
Equity in Music Education (with Christopher Jenkins) 1:14:58

1+ y ago1:14:58

1:14:58

In episode four of our fall season, I chat with Chris Jenkins (Oberlin College) about his musical upbringing in New York, his career as a violist, his current work as the Associate Dean of Academic Support at Oberlin Conservatory, and our shared experiences as Black musicians. We also discuss his new book Assimilation vs. Integration in Music Educa…

1
Minimalist Music (with Dr. Patrick Nickleson) 1:18:52

1+ y ago1:18:52

1:18:52

In episode three of our fall season, I chat with Dr. Patrick Nickleson (University of Alberta) about his musical upbringing in Canada, his background as a guitarist, and his path to musicology. We also discuss his 2023 book The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute, available now through the University of Michiga…

1
Music and Labor (with Dr. Michael Buchler) 1:11:59

1+ y ago1:11:59

1:11:59

In the second episode of this season, I chat with Dr. Michael Buchler (Florida State University) about his musical upbringing, his time in grad school at Michigan (go blue!) and Eastman, his research on musical theatre, and his current tenure as the President of the Society for Music Theory. We also discuss his current union work and how that led t…

1
Music Theory YouTube (with 12Tone) 1:12:20

1+ y ago1:12:20

1:12:20

In our first episode of our new season, I chat with YouTuber Cory Arnold (12Tone) all about their musical upbringing, their experiences as a singer, and their journey to making YouTube videos about music theory. Come see Cory and I speak on the Public Music Theory plenary session panel at the Society for Music Theory's annual meeting in November! T…

1
Summer 2023 in Review 1:35:56

2y ago1:35:56

1:35:56

In this recap episode, I chat all about everything I did this summer, from traveling to Italy to sing opera for a month (!!!), to seeing Beyoncé on the Renaissance World Tour in London (!!!!), to the grad student strike at Michigan officially ending (!!!!!). I also discuss what I've been doing for fun this summer (including some book, music, and po…

1
Religion in Black Popular Music (with Dr. Teresa Reed) 1:15:33

2y ago1:15:33

1:15:33

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Teresa Reed (University of Louisville) about her early experiences with music in the Black church, her path to studying music theory at Indiana University, and her time as the dean of music at the University of Louisville. We also chat about her published scholarship, diving into her first book The Holy Profane: Rel…

1
Challenging Performance (with Dr. Daniel Barolsky) 1:26:29

2y ago1:26:29

1:26:29

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Daniel Barolsky (Beloit College) about his early experiences as a double bassist, coming to musicology through listening to recordings, and the current music curriculum at his college. We also discuss his work with Open Access Musicology and Daniel Leech-Wilkinson's book Challenging Performance: Classical Music Perf…

1
Developing a Rap Canon: Part Two (with Tayo Omisore) 1:03:28

2y ago1:03:28

1:03:28

In part two of our conversation, YouTuber and musician Tayo Omisore (COLORMIND.mp4 on YouTube) and I continue our conversation about "rap covers" and how rap is developing into a canon. We also discuss Tayo's songwriting and production process for his musical interlude segments in his YouTube videos. Tayo's YouTube channel Tayo's Male Friendship vi…

1
Developing a Rap Canon: Part One (with Tayo Omisore) 57:52

2y ago57:52

57:52

In this episode, I chat with YouTuber and musician Tayo Omisore (COLORMIND.mp4 on YouTube) all about his musical upbringing with rap, his experiences learning to write music, and the development of his career as a Black musical content creator. We also discuss his video response to music theory YouTuber Adam Neely, who made a video about the absenc…

1
Secular Organ Music (with Dr. Benjamin Cornelius-Bates) 1:10:30

2y ago1:10:30

1:10:30

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Ben Cornelius-Bates (Duquesne University) about his musical upbringing in Alaska, his path to composition, and his experiences studying the organ. We also discuss how to write music for the organ, particularly within the context of secular music, and talk about timbre in Maan Varjot by Finnish composer Kaija Saariah…

1
Winter 2023 in Review 1:38:13

2y ago1:38:13

1:38:13

In this solo episode, I chat all about how my winter semester at the University of Michigan went. I give an update on the grad student strike, my classes, and my teaching. I also explore my yearly theme of simplicity, set new goals for Summer 2023, and discuss the podcast's progress! THANK GAWD this episode was edited by Jair G with ExpMediaProduct…

1
ISSA STRIKE! (with Anna Rose Nelson) 1:46:54

2y ago1:46:54

1:46:54

In this episode, I invite Anna Rose Nelson (University of Michigan) on the show to give us an update on finishing her dissertation (hire her!). We also (in great detail!) break down the ongoing strike at the University of Michigan. Beginning with the very recent history of U-M graduate student workers and lecturers striking in 2020, Anna Rose share…

1
Rethinking Music Loving (with Dr. Vivian Luong) 1:13:33

2y ago1:13:33

1:13:33

Our last episode for Women's History Month! Today on the show I welcome another Michigan alum Dr. Vivian Luong (University of Oklahoma) to chat about her background as a clarinetist and a pianist, her time studying music theory at Michigan, and her current approaches to theory pedagogy. We also discuss her research centered around feminist music th…

1
Feminine Endings (with Dr. Susan McClary) 55:05

2y ago55:05

55:05

TW: brief mentions of sexual assault For our second episode of Women's History Month, I chat with Dr. Susan McClary (Case Western Reserve University) about her path to musicology, as well as her experiences as an educator and researcher. We also discuss her incredibly influential scholarship centered around gender and sexuality in music by diving i…

1
The Games Black Girls Play (with Dr. Kyra Gaunt) 1:16:54

2y ago1:16:54

1:16:54

Our first episode for Women's History Month! Today I chat with Dr. Kyra Gaunt (University at Albany, State University of New York) all about her experiences as a singer, her time studying voice and ethnomusicology at Michigan, and her first book The Games Black Girls Play: Learning The Ropes From Double Dutch To Hip-Hop. We also discuss her forthco…

1
Renaissance by Beyoncé: Part Two (with @ismatu.gwendolyn) 1:23:23

2+ y ago1:23:23

1:23:23

We are finishing off Black History Month with a conversation about Beyoncé! My sister Ismatu Gwendolyn Bangura and I chat all about our personal relationships to her music, the public perception of Beyoncé, and the aesthetics and politics in her latest album, Renaissance. I also feature the voices of some of the Black women and femmes in my communi…

1
Renaissance by Beyoncé: Part One (with @ismatu.gwendolyn) 1:15:41

2+ y ago1:15:41

1:15:41

In this episode, we are wrapping up Black History Month with some familial history! My younger sister Ismatu Gwendolyn Bangura joins me on the show to discuss our shared musical upbringing, their experiences leading a gospel choir at Northwestern University, and how their relationship to music changed after they became a sex worker. We also chat ab…

1
The Future of Music Theory (with Dr. Philip Ewell) 59:44

2+ y ago59:44

59:44

Continuing our series of conversations with Black musicians for Black History Month, today Dr. Phil Ewell (Hunter College of City University of New York) joins me on the show to discuss his background as a cellist, his time studying music theory at Yale University, and our shared investment in public music theory. We also examine the whiteness and …

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