Graduate Students
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Supeena Insee Adler
supeena.adler@email.ucr.edu
Supeena Insee Adler is a performer and ethnomusicologist living in San Diego, California. She performs classical Thai music on traditional stringed instruments, including the jakay (zither), khim (dulcimer) and a variety of bowed fiddles. Her areas of interest are mediums, healing rituals and music in Northeast Thailand and Southern Laos, literature in Thai traditional music performance, and Okinawa minyo. She received a B.F.A. in Thai Classical Music from Mahasarakham University, and completed coursework towards a M.A. in Musicology/Ethnomusicology at the College of Music, Mahidol University, Thailand. She also received a Certificate in Education from Sukhothai Thammathirat University, and a Certification in Technical Documentary Writing in Ethnology from Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Center, Thailand. She completed an M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies at UCR in 2010, with a thesis titled “A Theater of the Spirits: Ritual Performance and Community in Northeast Thailand.” She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at UCR. Her dissertation topic is the wong khreuang sai pii jawa (‘strings and Javanese oboe’ ensemble) and its literature in the Thai tradition. Supeena has performed Thai classical music in Thailand, Australia and the United States. From 2004-2006, she taught traditional Thai music and was the secretary of the School of Thai Language, Arts and Culture at the Thai Buddhist Temple of San Diego. In Southern California, she studies Okinawa minyo and performing regularly in Okinawan and Japanese community events with Masanobu Kinjo and his ensemble. She directs Wong Krajauk Thet (the UCR Thai Music Ensemble) and the UCR Okinawa Minyo ensemble. With Wong Krajauk Thet she has performed in San Diego, at the Switchboard Festival in San Francisco, the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, at the Cultural Center of Chicago, and at the Society for Ethnomusicology national conference. |
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Kathryn Alexander
kalex002@ucr.edu
Kate received her B.A. degrees in Violin Performance and History of the Near East from the University of California, San Diego in 2009. She is currently a graduate student in ethnomusicology at UCR, with research interests in American alternative popular music cultures and violin performance practices in the Celtic world. Kate’s M.A. thesis will examine the Sunset Strip music culture and scene in the 1970s, focusing on gender performance, as well as the links between music cultures, physical place/space, and political shifts in the wider society. Her other research interests include ways identity may be explored or expressed through performance practice. At UCR, Kate works as a stage hand at the University Theatre and is a member of the UCR Gamelan Ensemble and UCR’s bluegrass band. In 2010, she received a Gluck fellowship to work at the California Museum of Photography in downtown Riverside, and she also worked as a as a research assistant for a project commissioned by the James Irvine Foundation to map grassroots community arts organizations in California. On occasion, she writes poems or goes surfing. |
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Jacqueline Avila
javil005@student.ucr.edu
Jacqueline Avila is a PhD candidate in musicology at the University of California Riverside. Her research interests include Mexican modernism, nationalism and constructions of identity in music, and cinema studies. She has researched modernist composer Silvestre Revueltas extensively, focusing on his performance career in silent film theaters in Mexico and the United States and his film scores of the 1930s. Jacqueline is a recipient of the UC MEXUS Dissertation Research Fellowship 2008-2009 and the Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship 2009-2010. She has presented her research at several conferences in the United States and Mexico and is currently completing her dissertation entitled “Los sonidos del cine: Cinematic Music in Mexican Film, 1930-1950,” which is an examination of meaning and cultural representation in the music of Mexican cinema. |
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Gary Barnett
gbarnett70@yahoo.com
Gary is a doctoral student in historical musicology focusing on Iberian keyboard music of the eighteenth century under Dr. Budasz, Dr. Clark, and Dr. Chagas. He enjoys performing on a variety of keyboard instruments at UCR including the carillon, harpsichords, and organ. He has studied harpsichord and continuo with Dr. Beazley and organ and carillon with Prof. Christensen. In Fall 2011, he returned from a research trip to the National Library of Portugal, Lisbon, where he received a scholarship with the LUSO/Gulbenkian Foundation to study the compositions of Carlos Seixas (1704-1742). |
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Joshua Brown
jbrow019@ucr.edu
Josh holds a B.A. in history, with a minor in music, from UC Santa Barbara, and an M.A. in ethnomusicology from UCR. In 2003, Josh lived in Seville, Spain and began his ongoing study of flamenco guitar at the University of Pablo de Olavide. His doctoral research will address how Spanish flamenco traditions are conceived and maintained and how they have been transformed by global music industries. He will conduct research in Seville during AY 2011-12, supported by a Fulbright IIE fellowship. For his M.A. thesis, he explored how popular music, American folk ideology and leftist politics converged and intensified at a key folk institution in Los Angeles known as the Ash Grove. Other research interests include the politics of identity and race, cultural memory, social movements, political activism and the bearing of historical conceptions and constructions on the discipline of ethnomusicology. |
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Victoria Dalzell
vdalzell@gmail.com
Tori Dalzell is currently a graduate student in ethnomusicology at UCR, with research interests in Nepal, South Asian Christianities, interculturalism, and minority music. Her M.A. thesis, titled “Our Hymn Numbers are More Sacred Than Bible Verses: Forming Nepali Christian Identity Through Music,” examined the emergence and continued growth of a minority religious identity through the performance of a shared hymn collection. She has been involved with the Student Concerns Committees for both the national and Southern California and Hawai’i chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology, where much of her participation has revolved around applied and public sector work.
Tori received her B.A. in Music with a concentration in piano performance, and English from Hollins University in 2008. She was presented with the Marion Garrett Lunsford Music Award by the Hollin’s music department upon graduating in recognition for her exemplary progress and involvement in the department during her undergraduate studies. She has continued to use her performance skills as Gluck fellow, accompanying friend and colleague Alyson Payne in presentations of Alberto Ginastera’s “Cinco Canciones” (2008-2009) and Libby Larsen’s “Songs from Letters” (2009-2010) at area schools and community centers. She also enjoys being part of UCR’s Andean music ensemble, Mayupatapi, where she rotates playing panpipes, various kinds of hand percussion, and singing. |
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Aaron Fruchtman
aaron@aaronfruchtman.com
http://www.aaronfruchtman.com/
Aaron Fruchtman is a graduate student in composition. Aaron received his Bachelor’s degree in composition from Berklee College of Music where he was awarded the Symphony Hall Composer Award. Aaron continued his studies with an Advanced Studies Certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television from the University of Southern California. While at USC, Aaron had the privilege of studying with renowned composers David Raksin, Christopher Young, Joe Harnell, and David Spear.
Fruchtman was commissioned to write The Journey, a four-movement composition for narrator, chorus, and orchestra. This piece, written for the New York City Master Chorale, tells the historic tale of settlers migrating across the Oregon Trail to the Pacific Ocean. Under the direction of Artistic Director Thea Kano, the New York City Master Chorale premiered The Journey on May 31, 2009 at Lincoln Center. Academy Award-nominated actor Bruce Dern performed the narrator role. Aaron composed scores for Amber Benson’s (best known for her role as Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) first two feature films: Chance, winner of the Audience Choice Award at the Sidewalk Film Festival, and Lovers, Liars, and Lunatics. Following their film collaborations, Aaron produced and arranged Amber’s vocal debut on the album You Are Light.
Recently, Aaron became a fellow of the Max Helfman Institute for New Jewish Music that focuses on creating liturgical music for the synagogue. In January 2011, the group premiered two of Aaron’s choral works, Adoration and Psalm 13. Fruchtman is also beginning his second year as a Gluck Fellow of the Arts at UC Riverside. Aaron is currently composing several short works that will be premiered in 2012. |
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Jason F. Heath
jason@jasonheathmusic.com
Jason Francesco Heath is a Los Angeles based composer and interactive media artist. Since 2008, he has worked as associate director of the new Experimental Acoustic Research Studio (EARS) at UCR. He has studied at UCLA and at the conservatory of the University of Valparaíso in Chile. Jason has studied composition with flute virtuoso and composer James Newton, composer, Paulo C. Chagas and classical guitar with composer/guitarist Matthew Elgart of the Elgart/Yates duo. He has studied interactive digital media at UC Berkerley’s CNMAT (Center for New Music and Audio Technologies) with Ali Momeni and Michael Zbyszynski; and physical computing and e-textiles with Adrian Freed. His music has been performed by Mládi chamber orchestra, the Denali string quartet, and has been heard at such diverse venues as KXLU 88.9 and the Grand Performances series at Los Angeles' California Plaza. Jason composes music for films and documentaries as well as art music for mixed media and chamber ensembles of various instrumentations. As associate director of the Experimental Acoustic Research Studio (EARS) he is dedicated to the advancement of new multi-disciplinary approaches to interactivity, digital music and new media composition, promoting new performance modalities and exploring emerging digital technologies. |
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Erica Jones
erica.s.jones42@gmail.com
Erica Jones is a graduate student in ethnomusicology studying music and feminism under Professor Deborah Wong. She holds a B.A. in music, from the University of Rochester, in Rochester, New York, and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the Eastman School of Music, having studied under the direction of Professor Ellen Koskoff. Her M.A. thesis, entitled “Separately Together: Musical Identity in the India Community Center of Rochester, New York,” focuses on the role of music and dance in the Indian diaspora. She was granted the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship Award to study at UCR and her Ph.D. dissertation will examine Indian female percussionists from a feminist perspective and their role in Carnatic, South Indian, classical music. For AY 2011-12, she will serve as the Vice President of the Music Graduate Student Association. Her other interests include examining Indian cinema and the relationship between music and nationalism. Erica is involved in a number of music ensembles, including the Indian drums (tabla and mridangam), as well as the UCR Gamelan Ensemble, UCR Orkes Pantai Barat, and the Thai music ensemble. |
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Nana Kaneko
nkane002@ucr.edu
Nana received her B.A., magna cum laude, in music with minors in cinema studies and Japanese from New York University. She had the opportunity to spend her freshman year abroad in Florence, Italy, which confirmed her interest in traveling and fascination with cultural music. Nana is currently a graduate student in Ethnomusicology at UCR, with research interests in contemporary Japanese music and film music. Prior to attending UCR, Nana worked as a piano and composition tutor at the Institute of Collaborative Education in New York City and subsequently gave private piano lessons through TakeLessons out of her home in San Diego, CA. She especially enjoyed creating custom transcriptions for her students. Nana identifies herself as a fourth generation Japanese American (Yonsei), and hopes that she will be able to further investigate music of the Japanese American diaspora in order to become further acquainted with her heritage. |
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Aaron Kaplan
aaron.kaplan@email.ucr.edu
Aaron received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University in 2010 with a major in International Relations, focusing on international systems and world order, and Middle Eastern and African history. He also holds minors in Music, and Business Administration. He is currently a graduate student in Ethnomusicology with research interests in governmental uses of music, music’s role in the international state system through globalization and international organizations, ties between music and economic development, and music education’s impact on social development. Also of interest is music’s effect on the brain and emotional intelligence. Aaron has a strong passion for jazz and improvisational music, and has worked for a jazz artist and booking agency as well as a concert promotion company. He also composes and plays saxophone, primarily having performed with local Boston based rock/funk bands from 2006-2010 and the Boston University jazz workshop ensemble. He is always looking for performance opportunities and other musicians to collaborate with. Some of his favorite activities are jamming with others, dancing all night long at music festivals and electronic music events, and traveling uncanny distances to see his favorite bands. Having lived in the northeast his entire life, he is looking forward to studying in sunny southern California and exploring the music scene here. |
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Alyson Payne
apayn002@ucr.edu
Alyson Payne is a doctoral student in musicology, studying music and politics under Dr. Leonora Saavedra, Dr. Walter Clark, and Dr. Byron Adams. She received a master's degree from Bowling Green State University, advised by Dr. Carol Hess, which also earned the Distinguished Thesis Award as well as the Richard S. James Prize (BGSU). While at UCR, she has presented at several conferences, both regional and national. She received a UCR Humanities Research Grant for research at the Library Congress. Her dissertation focuses on music as cultural diplomacy between Spain and the United States during the 1960s. |
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Jacob Rekedal
jakerek@yahoo.com
Jake is a graduate student in ethnomusicology. His primary academic and performance focuses include Latin American musics, specifically of Brazil and the Andes, as well as bluegrass. Jake's MA thesis, titled "Bluegrass: Performance and Politics of a Contemporary Popular Music," deconstructed racial and historical imaginaries, emphasizing improvisation, music industry engagement, and ethnographic work in the southern California bluegrass scene. Jake has been a member of Mayupatapi, UCR's Andean ensemble, since 2006, and he regularly performs bluegrass in San Diego and Los Angeles. From 2010-2012, he is conducting doctoral dissertation research in Chile, supported by grants from Fulbright IIE and the UC Pacific Rim Research Program. |
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Teresa Maribel Sanchez
tmsanch@gmail.com
Teresa received her B.A. in Music from Scripps College and her M.A. in Ethnomusicology from UCR. Her master’s thesis, “Recombinant Music: The New Aesthetics of Mash-ups,” explored the production, reception, and legality of sample-based audio collages. Teresa’s doctoral research focuses on Cuban hip-hop in Havana and its relationship to government institutions. Teresa has received various awards, including the Gladys Pattison Award in Music (Scripps) and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellowship Award (UCR). Before attending UCR, Teresa managed a popular music venue, The Cutting Room, in New York City and worked for an electronic music label, Astralwerks Records. |
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Russ Skelchy
rskelchy@hotmail.com
Russ Skelchy received a B.A in Behavioral Science and Law from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He completed dual M.A. degrees in Ethnomusicology and Southeast Asian Studies at UCR, with a thesis titled "Between Cuk and Cak: Hybridity, Nationalism and Keroncong Music in Indonesia and Malaysia." His dissertation research explores keroncong's intimate relationship with nationalism and modernity in Indonesia through the life history of Waljinah, the genre's most renowned female vocalist. Russ will spend AY 2011-12 in Java supported by a Fulbright IIE fellowship. Russ' research interests also include Southeast Asian performance traditions, inter-ethnicities, nationalism and popular music subcultures. He studied the Indonesian language extensively.
In 2008, he established a keroncong ensemble at UCR, named Orkes Pantai Barat (www.facebook.com/ucropb). The ensemble has performed at several benefit shows and Indonesian festivals in Southern California and released a full-length album in 2010. Russ has also played in UCR's Javanese gamelan and Philippine rondalla ensembles. He is a recipient of several Gluck fellowships where he visited local schools to teach students about music and shadow puppet theater of Malaysia and Indonesia.
Prior to his graduate studies, Russ worked for three years as a special education teacher at a school for autistic and emotionally challenged children in Richmond, California, where he established curriculum linking music and non-verbal communication. Russ was also active in San Francisco Bay Area underground rock scenes, both as a promoter and performer with various experimental/rock bands. |
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Desmond Stevens
desmond.t.stevens@gmail.com
Desmond received his Bachelor of Arts degrees from UCLA in 2009 with majors in Music Education and Sociology and began working on an M.A. in Musicology at UCR in 2009. His areas of interest include the music of Latin American (especially Astor Piazzolla), the sociology of music, cultural studies, critical theory, and the development of musical identities. Though his area of specialization is in musicology, he is equally active and interested in the field of ethnomusicology as both a separate and interrelated subject. Desmond is actively engaged with music education and performance. He plays clarinet and is a member of the Andean Ensemble, Mayupatapi. He occasionally coaches and assists various middle school and high school instrumental music groups. He is the President of the Music Graduate Student Association for 2010-11. He lives in Long Beach with his younger brother. Listening to the radio in traffic is probably at the top of his list of favorite activities. Running, reading, and writing, however, make a great alliterative set and also rank very near the top. |
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Erin Ruth Thomson
ethom009@ucr.edu
Erin Thomson graduated summa cum laude from UCR with a bachelor’s degree in music in 2011. She was the first person to graduate from the university with a music degree emphasizing bagpipes. Erin has played bagpipes since 2001 and is currently registered with the Western United States Pipe Band Association as a grade two solo piper. Her senior thesis, “Modern Medley, a Selection of Tunes from Broadway and Hollywood arranged for the Great Highland Bagpipe,” included a recital in which she performed music from musicals and movies she had arranged for bagpipes. She enjoys arranging non-traditional music - especially Broadway, movie, and television music - for bagpipes, and believes that practically anything can be played on bagpipes with a little tweaking. Currently, Erin is working toward a master’s degree in musicology, specializing in Scottish music, particularly bagpipe music. She hopes to one day be able to travel to Scotland and study bagpipes there.
Erin is busy both on campus and off. She is a member of the UCR Pipe Band, the current champion grade four pipe band in the western United States, and she also sings alto in the UCR Chamber Singers. In addition, she attends a weekly Bible study, BSF International, which requires the same dedication and level of study as any of her academic classes. In the very brief time when she isn’t studying, Erin enjoys reading, crochet, and making jewelry. |
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