About the Conference

This graduate student conference brings together scholars, performers, and educators who engage with the various meanings and incarnations of “characters” across music scholarship and practice. Our speakers will explore topics including:

• musical alter egos

• cinematic characters

• gender and sexuality

• representation of mental illness

• gestures in sacred music

• musical theater characters

and several more

In addition to paper sessions and lecture recitals, the conference will feature keynote presentations by Dr. Kyra Gaunt (University at Albany) and Dr. Martha Feldman (University of Chicago).

While this conference will have music at its center, our aim is to attract people from across the humanities and related fields in the sciences, including but not limited to film, folklore, literary criticism, and psychology.

This conference was organized by the Music Graduate Student Association (MGSA) at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio. We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors: the Department of Music, the music department's Colloquium series, and the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.

We hope you will join us online for a stimulating weekend of music, discussion, and new research by emerging professionals!