Curriculum Vitae

Link to PDF (updated July 2026)

EDUCATION

University of Texas at Austin

Ph.D., Music Theory (2026)

Dissertation: “The Pursuit of Ecstasy: Theorizing Ṭarab in the Arab Diaspora”

Committee: Robert S. Hatten (co-advisor), Chelsea Burns (co-advisor), Sonia Tamar Seeman, Kathleen M. Higgins, Marianne Wheeldon

Temple University

M.M., Music Theory (2020)

Thesis: “Understanding Musical Frisson: A Methodological Study in Musical Semiotics and Hermeneutics” (advised by Michael L. Klein)

Rowan University

B.M., Music Composition (with honors) (2016)

PUBLICATIONS

“Rhythmic-Temporal Disruptions and the Feeling of Ṭarab,” Theory and Practice 49–50 (2025): 29–42

“Who’s Listening? The Role of Genre in the Creation of Musical Meaning and Emotion” (co-authored with Tyler Howie) in European Perspectives on Music Education 12 (special collection on “Music & Meaning”), eds. Isolde Malmberg and Milena Petrović (Helbling Publishing): 51–63 (2024)

“A History of Ecstatic Listening: What Arabic Ṭarab Has Taught Me about Musical Emotion,” History of Music Theory Blog, December 19, 2023 (invited)

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

"Materializing Affect in Sound: Ethnography, Nostalgia, and Kinesthetic Memory in the Arab Diaspora," American Musicological Society (AMS) and Society for Music Theory (SMT) Joint Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, November 6–9, 2025

“‘The Feeling of Being’: Rethinking Musical Emotion and Affect through the Arab Concept of Ṭarab,” Society for Music Theory (SMT) Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, FL, November 7–10, 2024

“Ṭarab and the Kinesthetic Understanding of Arabic Maqāmāt,” Analysis of World Musics & History of Theory Joint Interest Groups Meeting, American Musicological Society (AMS) and Society for Music Theory (SMT) Joint Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, November 9–12, 2023

“Musical Affect and the Realm of (Emotional) Discourse,” The 47th Annual Conference of the Semiotic Society of America (SSA), San Antonio, TX, October 11–15, 2023

“Who’s Listening? ‘Framing’ Stylistic Competency for the 21st-Century Listener” (co-authored with Tyler Howie), The 29th Annual European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) Conference, Belgrade, Serbia, May 18–21, 2022 (online)

“The Making of Ṭarab: Emotion as Temporal Disruption in Umm Kulthūm’s ‘Alf Leila wa Leila’”

Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE), Los Angeles, CA, July 15–18, 2022
Music Theory Society of New York State (MTSNYS) Annual Meeting, Rochester, NY, April 9–10, 2022
Music Theory Southeast (MTSE) Annual Meeting, Tallahassee, FL, March 18–19, 2022
Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory (RMSMT) Annual Meeting, Boulder, CO, March 11–12, 2022
Texas Society for Music Theory (TSMT) Annual Meeting, Denton, TX, March 4–5, 2022

“Frisson, Emotion, and Synthetic Gestalts: The Emotional Implications of Expressive Meaning in Debussy’s Cello Sonata,” Midwest Music Research Collective (MMRC), March 26–27, 2021 (online)

“A Non-Conventional Act of Heroism: The (mis)Placement of the Second Theme in the First Movement of Sibelius’s Second Symphony”

The 4th Annual Graduate Student Music Conference, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, February 15–16, 2019
Music Studies Colloquium, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2019
The 36th Annual Music Theory Forum, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, January 19, 2019
Mannes Graduate Student Conference, New York, NY, January 13, 2019

FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, AND GRANTS

University Graduate Continuing Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin (2025–26)

The Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award ($10,000) (2024–25)

Patricia Carpenter Emerging Scholar Award given to “The Making of Ṭarab: Emotion as Temporal Disruption in Umm Kulthūm’s ‘Alf Leila wa Leila’” at the Music Theory Society of New York State (MTSNYS) Annual Meeting, Rochester, NY, April 9–10, 2022

Irna Priore Prize for Student Research (co-winner) given to “The Making of Ṭarab: Emotion as Temporal Disruption in Umm Kulthūm’s ‘Alf Leila wa Leila’” at the Music Theory Southeast (MTSE) Annual Meeting, Tallahassee, FL, March 18–19, 2022

Meyerson Professorship Scholarship ($1,000 for intensive Arabic-language study), University of Texas at Austin (2022)

Kent Kennan Endowed Graduate Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin (2020–25)

Student Excellence Fund Scholarship for Theory, University of Texas at Austin (2020–25)

College of Fine Arts Student Excellence Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin (2020–25)

TEACHING

University of Texas at Austin (Instructor of Record)

Elements of Music: Introductory course for non-music majors; basics of Western musical notation, tonal harmony and analysis, form in popular musics, and introduction to music in "global" contexts (Fall 2024, Spring 2025)

Structure of Tonal Music (Music Theory IV): Core undergraduate theory course for music majors; sonata form, topics in chromatic harmony, and Western popular music analysis (Spring 2023)

Structure of Tonal Music (Music Theory III): Core undergraduate theory course for music majors; formal analysis, modulation, and basic topics in chromatic harmony (Fall 2022)

Musicianship (Music Theory II): Core undergraduate theory course for music majors; topics in diatonic harmony (Spring 2022)

Musicianship (Music Theory I): Core undergraduate theory course for music majors; species counterpoint and basic topics in diatonic harmony (Fall 2021)

Ear Training and Sight-Singing IV: Core undergraduate aural skills course for music majors; rhythms in simple and compound meters; diatonic, chromatic, and modulating melodies and harmonic progressions (Spring 2021, 2025)

Ear Training and Sight-Singing III: Core undergraduate aural skills course for music majors; rhythms in simple and compound meters; diatonic and simple chromatic melodies and harmonic progressions (Fall 2020, 2024)

University of Texas at Austin (Teaching Assistant)

Introduction to Music and Film Sound: First-year elective for music and non-music majors (writing-intensive); terms and methods for analyzing and interpreting film soundtracks (Spring 2024)

Music, Protest, and Social Movements: First-year elective for music and non-music majors (writing-intensive); the history and role of music in political mobilization (Fall 2023)

Temple University (Teaching Assistant)

Theory II: Core undergraduate written and aural theory course for music majors; formal analysis and topics in chromatic harmony (Spring 2020)

Theory I: Core undergraduate written and aural theory course for music majors; species counterpoint and topics in diatonic harmony (Fall 2019)

INVITED PRESENTATIONS

Guest lecture in Music, Protest, and Social Movements (taught by Eric Drott), University of Texas at Austin, “Musical Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” November 28, 2023

Guest lecture in Elements of Music (taught by Stefanie Bilidas), University of Texas at Austin, “Music, Emotion, Attitude: An Introduction to Arab Music,” November 18, 2022

Guest lecture in Theories of Emotion in Music (taught by Robert S. Hatten), University of Texas at Austin, “Frisson, Emotion, and Synthetic Gestalts: The Emotional Implications of Expressive Meaning in Debussy’s Cello Sonata,” September 15, 2021

WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION

“Global Music Theory (As an Insurgent Practice),” Society for Music Theory (SMT) Graduate Student Workshop led by Chris Stover, November 8, 2024

“Rhythm and Meter in Popular Music,” Music Theory Society of New York State (MTSNYS) Conference Workshop led by Nicole Biamonte, April 9, 2022

“Bridges to Free Composition,” The 4th Annual Graduate Student Music Conference Workshop led by Kofi Agawu, University of Arizona, February 15, 2019

“Code Shifting, Chromaticism, and Modality,” Society for Music Theory (SMT) Graduate Student Workshop led by Dmitri Tymoczko, November 2, 2018

RELATED EXPERIENCE

Service

Graduate Student Representative for Music Theory Faculty Search Committee, University of Texas at Austin (2023)

Performances of Original Compositions (Selected)

Post-Tonal Study (Pastiche), Temple University Competitive Faculty Review, performed by Dr. Cynthia Folio and Michael Shingo Crawford (2018)

Bell Phase for Percussion Ensemble, performed by Rowan University Percussion Ensemble (2016)

Short Piece for Loved Ones for Clarinet and Piano, performed by Rowan University Contemporary Music Ensemble (2016)

Past Voices for Chamber Ensemble, performed by Rowan University Contemporary Music Ensemble (2016)

Movements for Woodwind Quintet, performed by Rowan University Faculty Woodwind Quintet (2015)

String Quartet No. 1, performed by Rowan University Contemporary Music Ensemble (2014)

Praeludium for Brass Quintet, performed by Bethel Baptist Church Brass Quintet (NJ) (2013)

Entrance for Solo Marimba, Burlington County College (NJ), performed by Dr. James Ieraci (2012)

Performance Experience (Selected)

Ghandoura Band, eight-piece Arab music ensemble comprised of musicians from across the Arabic-speaking world based in Austin, TX (2024–present)

Bereket Middle Eastern Ensemble, University of Texas at Austin (2022–23)

University Orchestra, Rowan University (principal double bass, 2015–16) (2013–16)

Contemporary Music Ensemble, Rowan University (2013–16)

Chamber Music Ensemble, Rowan University (2013–14)

LANGUAGES

English: native

Arabic: proficient speaking, reading, and writing knowledge (2022 Arabic Summer Institute, University of Texas at Austin)

German: elementary reading knowledge