Her Music Academia

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Olivia Lucas (Louisiana State University) all about her musical upbringing as a vocalist, her time studying music theory at Harvard, and what she’s teaching at LSU. We also chat about how her early interest in metal music led to her current research on Lingua Ignota, who blends references to art music and classical vocal training with noise and extended techniques.

TW: domestic violence, religious trauma

Olivia’s SMT-Pod Episode
Olivia’s 2018 Meshuggah article
Olivia’s 2021 Meshuggah article
Olivia’s 2014 article on experience of extreme loudness at a Sunn O))) concert
2024 Teaching Difficult Topics book 
Olivia’s forthcoming chapter on Lingua Ignota and Eminem
“That He May Not Rise Again” by Lingua Ignota
Jonathan Pieslak’s article on Meshuggah
Assimilate by S. Alexander Reed

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Jennifer Ronyak (Institute of Music Aesthetics, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz) about her musical upbringing as a pianist, her time studying musicology at Eastman, and the major differences between music graduate programs in different countries. We also discuss her 2017 performance and analysis article “Meeting Barthes at Fischer-Dieskau’s Mill: Co-Performance, Linguistic Identity, and a Lied.”

Jennifer’s article
Boccherini’s Body by Elizabeth LeGuin
My episode of SMT-Pod

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Melissa Hoag (Oakland University) about her musical upbringing as a pianist, her path to music theory, her time as coeditor of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, and her work as editor of Expanding The Canon and a forthcoming textbook. We also discuss the AP College Board Music Theory exam, the yearly grading session with over one hundred college professors and high school teachers, and how YOU can get involved as an AP reader!

Melissa’s episode of SMT-Pod
My episode with Christine Boone
Expanding The Canon: Black Composers in the Music Theory Classroom
Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy
My Summer in Review 2024
My Summer in Review 2025

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Dan DiPiero (Boston University) about his curriculum at BU, his new Substack newsletter and podcast, and writing for public audiences. We also dive into their newest book, Big Feelings: Queer and Feminist Indie Rock After Riot Grrrl, as well as their forthcoming research on crushes in music.
This episode is dedicated to Christine Capetola, an amazing scholar in African American studies who passed away in 2024.
My first episode with Dan
Dan’s second book Big Feelings
Dan’s first book Contingent Encounters
Dan’s Substack newsletter
Dan’s podcast
My episode with Brad Osborn
Reasons and Feelings by Sarah Mesle
Lauren Berlant on non-soverignty
Real Pain by Indigo de Souza

In this episode, I chat with Cecilia Oinas (University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy) about her musical upbringing as a pianist, her path to music theory, and her budding research on politeness and etiquette in chamber ensembles. We also discuss her recent paper presentation at the SMT annual meeting in Minneapolis, which analyses the relationship between the piano and the vocal line in the songs of Richard Strauss.

Cecilia’s website
Cecilia’s article on the songs of Saariaho
Cecilia’s episode of SMT-V
Cecilia’s article on four-handed piano trios of Mendelssohn and Schumann
Ethics and aesthetics in Jazz by Duranti, Throop, and McCoy
My episode of SMT-Pod
My recording of “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” by Florence Price
Music Theory Online