05/21/2026
This semester, our Faculty Research Lunches created space for faculty to share the ideas, stories, and creative processes shaping their current work: from musical composition works and archival research to questions of neurodivergence.
Barbara White, Professor of Music: Shared excerpts from recent musical works that weave together environmental sound, mythology, historical research, and performance practice. Drawing on field recordings from Newfoundland, 19th century polar expeditions, Celtic poetic traditions, and the world of the shakuhachi, her pieces Where Stone Flows and Lorica illuminate the creative possibilities of interdisciplinary listening.
Gavin Steingo, Director of Musicology (Graduate Studies); Professor of Music: Presented new research from an interdisciplinary book project on music and Tourette syndrome. Drawing on ethnomusicology, disability studies, psychology, philosophy, and music theory, he traced how musical performance intersects with neurodivergence and considered the ethical and cultural questions that emerge from this work.
Steven Mackey, William Shubael Conant Professor of Music: Reflected on memory, family, and artistic evolution through discussions of "The Ancestors" and "Memoir." Revisiting the electric guitar and string quartet sound world that shaped his early career, "The Ancestors" reimagines musical ideas through improvisation and atmospheric textures. "Memoir," inspired by his mother Elaine Mackey’s unpublished writings, blends narration, live music, leitmotifs, archival visuals, and everyday sounds to trace identity and remembrance across generations.
