MELISSA GONZALEZ
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MELISSA GONZALEZ

EDUCATION
Ph.D., Music. Columbia University. New York, NY, 2014.

M.A. & M.Phil., Music. Columbia University.  New York, NY.

A.B., magna cum laude, Ethnomusicology. Barnard College. New York, NY.



RELEVANT EMPLOYMENT

Lecturer, Salsa, Soca, Reggae, Columbia University,  2021 - Present.
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Adjunct Professor, Musics of Latin America, Fordham University, 2019 - Present.

Ethnomusicology Consultant, The Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, 2005-2017.


Adjunct Lecturer, Diverse Worlds of Music, John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, 2014-15.

Visiting Lecturer, World Music, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 2014-15.

Visiting Lecturer, Music of the Middle East, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 2014-15.

Visiting Lecturer, Music of Latin America, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 2013-15.

Adjunct Lecturer, Introduction to Music (online course)  John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, 2013-15.


Adjunct Lecturer, Introduction to World Music, John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, 2012-15.

Adjunct Lecturer, Rock and Rap, John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, 2013-14.

Adjunct Professor, Music Appreciation, Hofstra University Music Department, 2011-2012.

Folklorist/Outreach Coordinator, ArtsWestchester, 2010-11.

Archival Assistant, The Center for Ethnomusicology at Columbia University, Columbia University, 2004-09.

Instructor, Masterpieces of Western Music, Columbia University Music Department, 2005-06.

Teaching Assistant, Masterpieces of Western Music, Columbia University, Music Department, 2004-05.

Research Assistant, Christopher Washburne, Columbia University Music Department, 2003-04.

Graduate Assistant. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, Barnard College, Columbia University, 2000-08.

Research Assistant, Aaron Fox, Ph.D., Columbia University Music Department, 2000-02.



FELLOWSHIPS & GRANTS
Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, 2008-09.

Columbia University Traveling Fellowship, 2006-07.

Foreign Language Area Studies Academic Year Fellowship (declined), 2006-07.

Woodrow Wilson Travel and Research Grant, 2006-07.

GSAS Summer Merit Award, 2006-08.

Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant, 2006-07.

SSRC-Mellon Predoctoral Summer Research Grant, 2001-06.

Columbia University Dean’s Summer Research Fellowship, 2001-05.

Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, 2000-01, 2002-2003, 2004-05

Columbia University Faculty Fellowship in the Department of Music, 2003-05.

Student Thesis Fellowship-Barnard Project on Diaspora and Migration, 2001.    

Andrew Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, 2000.



REFERENCE PUBLICATIONS
"Central American Music." The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition. Ed. Charles Garrett. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

"Música Típica." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music. Ed. Jorge Torres. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2014.

"Music of Panama." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music, Ed. Jorge Torres. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 2014.

"Pindín." The Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Genres of Caribbean and Central and South American Origin. Ed. David Horn. New York: Continuum, 2013.



UNPUBLISHED ACADEMIC WORKS
“Cien por Ciento Nacional!”: Panamanian Música Típica and the Quest for National and Territorial Sovereignty. Ph.D. Dissertation (Music), Columbia University, 2014. 

 Welcome to the Thunderdome: Socio-Musical Conflict and the Search for Respect in the New York City Afro-Cuban Jazz Scene. M.A. thesis (Music), Columbia University, 2003. 

The Micro Poetics of Soneo Construction in Salsa: A Musical and Socio-Linguistic Analysis. B.A. thesis (Ethnomusicology), Barnard College, Columbia University, 2000.


FIELDWORK
New York, NY, ethnographic fieldwork on digital and physical music distribution at The Orchard, a subsidiary of SONY Music, 2014-2017.

NYSCA sponsored fieldwork to locate Long Island-based musicians specializing in the performance of Latin American traditional musics, 2010-2012.

Panama City, Panama and the regions of Panama, Herrera, Las Tablas, Veraguas, and Coclé, dissertation fieldwork on música típica popular and Panamanian folklore, 2005-07.

New York City, NY, ethnographic research on the Afro-Cuban jazz scene, 2000-03.

San Juan and Ponce, Puerto Rico, research in Puerto Rican folkloric music, 2000.

Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantanamo, Cuba, research in Afro-Cuban folkloric percussion, 2000.

New York City, New York, ethnographic research on the salsa scene, 1999-2002.



PRESENTATIONS
"The Musical Journey of the African Diaspora: Latin America." Paper presented at the United Nations Remember Slavery Program managed by the Department of Public Information (DPI), New York, NY, 14, April, 2016.

"Hecho en Panamá Atlas: Música típica, Beer, and the Rise of Commercial Nationalism."
Paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 13-16, November, 2014.

"Singing to the Motherland": Negotiating the feminine voice in Panamanian Música Típica. Paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 17-20, November, 2011.

"Nationalist Reimaginings of Panamanian Música Típica." Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Association Annual Conference, Toronto Canada, 6-9, October, 2010.

“Isthmian Imaginaries": Panamanian cultural policy and the making of música típica. Paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Mexico City, Mexico, 19-22, November, 2009.

“A Bailar Pindín!": The musical and commercial transfiguration of a Panamanian rural music genre. Paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio, 24-28, October, 2007.

"A genre without a name?" Panamanian Música Típica:  Paper presented at the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, New York, NY, 27, March, 2007.

"Afro-Cuban Jazz and the Latino Paradox." Paper presented at the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, 12-16, November, 2007.

“Welcome to the Thunderdome...Welcome to my Nightmare!": Socio-musical conflict in the New York City Afro-Cuban jazz scene. Paper presented at the SSRC-Mellon Conference, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 9-13 June, 2004.



MUSICAL TRAINING & PERFORMANCE ACTIVITY
Guitar, Jon Darling, New York, NY, 2014-Present.

Vocal Performance, Guadaloupe Peraza, New York, NY, 2013-Present.

Diatonic Button Accordion, Aceves Nuñez, Panama City, Panama, 2005-07.

Panamanian Folkloric Percussion, Ricaute Villarreal, Panama City, Panama, 2005-07.

Panamanian Folkloric Dance, Raul Vital, Panama City, Panama, 2006-07.

Vocal instruction, Yuri Shenker, Boston, MA, 2002-2003.

Conga/Bongo/Timbales, Ismel Diaz Barrios, Trinidad, Cuba, 1999.

Timbales/Congas, Latin Jazz Ensemble, Guantanamo, Cuba, 1999.

Soprano, Columbia University Opera Ensemble, New York, NY, 1997-99.

Voice, Jane McMahan, New York, NY, 2000-02.

Voice, Manhattan School of Music, Lynn Owen, New York, NY, 1998-99.

Soprano, New York City Opera Workshop, New York, NY, 1994-95.



LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES
English: Native speaker

Spanish: Advanced reading, writing, and conversation

Portuguese: Advanced reading, writing, and intermediate conversation

Italian: Intermediate reading, writing, and basic conversation

French: Intermediate reading, writing, and basic conversation



PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES & SERVICE
Folk Arts Panelist at the New York State Council of the Arts, 2009-11.

Music Panelist at the New York State Council of the Arts, 2010.

Member, Editorial Board of Current Musicology, 2007-11.

Graduate Student Mentor, Office of Minority Affairs, Columbia University, 2004-08.

Member, Columbia University Graduate Student Advisory Council, 2003-06.


PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
College Music Society, 2014 - Present

International Council for Traditional Music, 2014-Present

Latin American Studies Association, 2009-Present

International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 2007-Present

American Anthropological Association, 2006-Present

Society for Ethnomusicology, 2003-Present.
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