Our Team

Luz Chávez is an academic advisor for music and the performing arts at New York University. She has presented research on queer/trans performance at Harvard University, the British Forum for Ethnomusicology, and the American Musicological Society, and produced digital humanities projects for the National Park Service and Library of Congress. Luz earned her MMus in Musicology and Ethnomusicology from King's College London and her BA in Ethnomusicology at UCLA.

Anton Blackburn is a second-year Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology at Duke University. They hold a BA in Music and an MSt in Musicology from Oxford University. Working at the intersection of trans studies, popular music studies, and the anthropology and sociology of music/sound, Anton's research seeks to articulate the concept of "Trans Sound" in the context of trans nightlife in the U.K. In particular, Anton's work examines the significance of the late DJ and producer SOPHIE, including the ways in which her death has transformed how trans partygoers listen to and dance with her music. Anton's work is forthcoming in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association and Contemporary Music Review.

Leandro Pessina is an Italian PhD candidate in Creative Arts at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Ireland, under the supervision of Dr Daithí Kearney (DkIT) and Dr Ioannis Tsioulakis (QUB). A geographer with an interest in music, his research examines the role of music in tourism enhancement of Co. Louth, Ireland’s smallest county, located on the east coast. His work aims to establish the region as a key destination for musical encounters, contributing to future regional tourism strategies. Leandro has collaborated with Touring Club Italiano, an Italian non-profit organization dedicated to Italian heritage conservation and promotion, as well as with IULM University in the field of Tourism Management. As a performer, Leandro has been member of the Oriel Traditional Orchestra, a cross-border community music project, and Comhaltas Craobh Dhún Dealgan, the Dundalk branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He is also a member of Aexylium, an internationally performing folk metal band. 

Prior to joining University of Pittsburgh's PhD Jazz Studies program, Elad Sobol taught in Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China from 2015-2024. He was one of the founding team members of the Jazz Department there, teaching a wide range of courses in Mandarin. He was also very active in the music scene, collaborating with locals and leading pop, funk, swing, salsa, big band and smooth jazz fusion groups. His arrangements have been performed at a number of Chinese jazz festivals, and he released a full-length studio album Vicissitudes in 2022. His article "Jet-Lagged Jazz History: Teaching on the Other Side of the World," was published in Vol. 6 of Jazz Education in Research and Practice. He is interested in jazz and Western popular forms as global music and the relationship to the sociopolitical, economic and cultural environment in which music is created, performed, disseminated and consumed, particularly in the context of modern China. He earned his California Teaching Credential in Music Education in 2010, and his Bachelor’s Degree in Music at UC Santa Cruz in 2006.

Elizabeth Frickey is a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at New York University. Prior to her studies at NYU, she earned her master’s degree in Musicology at Indiana University and her bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education from Florida State University. Her current dissertation project examines the biopolitics of audibility and improvisation in New York City's community gardens and other public greenspaces. Elizabeth's writing has also been published in numerous forums including Jazz & Culture and Journal SEAMUS (the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States). Elizabeth has created and collaborated on a number of podcasts and other multimedia storytelling projects, including the Classical Connections Podcast, for which she was awarded the IU Jacobs School of Music Entrepreneur of the Month award, as well as the Humanities New York sponsored project The Sonocene.

Lara Quicler Moriarty is a Ph.D. student in musicology at the University of Salamanca (Spain). She holds a BA in “Historia y Ciencias de la Música” (Music History and Sciences) from the University of Salamanca, and a MA in Music Studies from the University of Amsterdam. In recent years, she has pursued various lines of research, drawing on both historical musicology and ethnomusicology, whilst always focusing on musical thought. These include music theory in Hispanic treatises, musical practices within the context of women’s prisons during the Franco regime and generational differences in contemporary Catholic practices. Currently, her main line of research explores the intersection between poetry and musical thought in the 17th century.

Bardia Hafizi is an Iranian musician and researcher based in Istanbul since 2019. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Center for Advanced Studies in Music, Istanbul Technical University. His research focuses on sonic phenomena in everyday life and the role of sound in the production of our reality

Haley E. Chávez is a third-year Ph.D. student in Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, where she also earned a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology (2025) and is pursuing a certificate in American Indian Studies. Her research examines protest sounds in Chican@ communities, focusing on the utilization of social media in its transnational circulation as well as decolonization strategies for music education. Haley is an instructor and graduate teaching assistant in American Popular Song, a student ambassador for ethnomusicology, and an active performer across global music traditions. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Special Education certificate from The Pennsylvania State University and is a licensed PK–12 music educator