Musicology Department, Eastman School of Music

Eastman professor emeritus Patrick Macey recently reconstructed a motet by Jean Mouton for performances by the Chicago-based early music ensemble Schola Antiqua, led by professor Michael Alan Anderson in a program of music from the circle of Pope Leo X (early 16th c.) The piece is a setting of the "laudes regiae" (royal acclamations), beginning “Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands." This ceremonial form was first associated with the honoring of kings and emperors - perhaps even Charlemagne himself - before being adapted for popes, bishops, coronations, processions, and major feasts. By the Middle Ages, it had become one of the most powerful musical expressions of sacred authority. Mouton’s "Christus vincit" was likely written for Leo X’s election as pope in 1513, but for centuries it could not be performed: only two of the original voice parts survive (one just surfacing recently). Macey’s reconstruction allows the piece to sound again! A wonderful example of musicological scholarship moving from archive to audible reality. Shown below: a snapshot of the new edition prepared for the performances.

Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Ganger who recently defended her dissertation and won the 2025–26 Eastman Teaching Assistant Prize! The Prize is awarded to graduate students at Eastman who "distinguish themselves for teaching excellence."

Congratulations to M.A. Musicology student Jessie Miller on receiving the 2026 Jerald C. Graue Fellowship! Established in memory of a respected scholar, beloved teacher, and former chair of the Musicology Department, the Graue Fellowship is awarded to graduate students in any field for their outstanding work in musicological research. Miller received this award for her seminar paper "“Knowing after Postmodernism: Ecological Imaginings of Spatio-Temporal Epistemology in Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds” which she wrote in Professor Holly Watkins's "Narrating Musical Pasts and Futures" graduate seminar.

Congratulations to Dr. Eleanor Price '25E (PhD) who has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Musicology at the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music! Eleanor is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Katholeike Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where she serves as the Belgian American Education Foundation's Boynton Fellow.

Congratulations to graduating Ph.D. Candidate Lauren Berlin on accepting a position as Teaching Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill! She will join the UNC Department of Music's esteemed musicology faculty in Fall 2026 to teach courses on musical theatre and popular music.

Congratulations to our recently defended Dr. Paul David Flood who has accepted a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Tennessee Natalie L. Haslam College of Music! Dr. Flood will graduate from Eastman in May and begin his new position in August.

Dr. Paul David Flood, who recently defended his dissertation and will graduate from Eastman in May, has just published a book review in the Spring 2026 issue of the Journal of the American Musicological Society.

Living at Night in Times of Pandemic: Night Studies and Club Culture in France and Germany Nightlife is a living phenomenon. Whether working the dancefloor or gossiping in the smoking area, sneaking a bump in the bathroom or cruising the bathhouse, nightlives tell stories about how individuals and communities reconcile with their quotidian day to day by finding life—or, to put it queerl...

Step back in time with us for a remarkable musical experience. 🎶📜

On Tuesday, March 31 at 5:00 PM, Eastman School of Music students and faculty will gather at the Interfaith Chapel to perform a live recitation of the Passion of St. John from a 16th-century manuscript passional preserved in River Campus Libraries’ medieval manuscript collection.

Singing directly from the original source, performers will interpret the manuscript’s ancient notation and text in real time—bringing the sounds and traditions of Holy Week in early modern France into the present day. The performance will be directed by Michael Alan Anderson, Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music.

✨ Free and open to all — we hope you’ll join us for this rare opportunity to experience history, music, and scholarship coming together.

This event is sponsored by the Humanities Project, Rossell Hope Robbins Library, University of Rochester, Special Collections at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries, the University of Rochester Music Department, Musicology Department, Eastman School of Music, and the Department of Organ, Sacred Music, and Historical Keyboards.

Jonathan Sauceda, Associate Dean of Sibley Music Library and Associate Professor of Musicology, will present his paper "Music Libraries from 1999-2008: Between Obsolescence and Reinvention" in the Music Librarianship session at the 2026 meeting of the Society for American Music.

Associate Professor Darren Mueller will present his paper "Michael Brecker's Electronic Wind Instrument and the Rewiring of the Jazz World" in the Musical Instruments and American Musical Culture session at the 2026 meeting of the Society for American Music.