狐狸视频

Ellie Hisama named dean of U of T鈥檚 Faculty of Music

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(photo by Hana Hisama-Vishio)

Ellie Hisama, an internationally recognized music scholar, has been named dean of the 狐狸视频鈥檚 Faculty of Music for a five-year term beginning July 1.

Hisama brings a wealth of leadership experience to the role. She joins U of T from the department of music at Columbia University, where she served as the music department鈥檚 vice-chair, music theory area chair and, most recently, chair of the academic review committee in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Her scholarly work focuses on ethnicity, gender, sexuality and the social and political dimensions of music, including the work of musicians who have been largely overlooked.

鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to lead U of T鈥檚 Faculty of Music, which enjoys a stellar international reputation,鈥 Hisama said. 鈥淚鈥檓 a firm believer in shared governance and of listening closely to many voices, and warmly welcome the opportunity to work together with all who make up the faculty, to share my research and ideas and to connect to the city.

鈥淚 feel very fortunate to be moving to Toronto this summer with my family 鈥 we are all looking forward to exploring its vibrant arts and cultural scenes and natural beauty, and to living in a great city.鈥

At Columbia, Hisama was named a Provost Leadership Fellow in a program for senior faculty that enhances academic governance and leadership and nurtures inclusive excellence. She serves as a humanities representative on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences鈥 committee on equity and diversity. She was also twice nominated for the Mark Van Doren Award, an honour bestowed by Columbia students on a single professor each year for excellence in teaching. She is an inaugural recipient of the Provost鈥檚 Faculty Mentoring Award, which recognizes senior faculty鈥檚 work mentoring tenure-track and mid-career faculty.    

Hisama is also the founding director of 鈥淔or the Daughters of Harlem: Working in Sound,鈥 a multi-year workshop that pairs girls and young women of colour from New York public schools with Columbia music faculty, graduates and other mentors to produce and record music. 鈥淲e felt that the best way to connect with the students about music was to discuss how it impacts us personally,鈥 Hisama

鈥淚n every leadership role she has taken on, Professor Hisama has demonstrated an ability to bring communities together,鈥 said Cheryl Regehr, U of T vice-president and provost.

鈥淭aken together with her dedication to inclusive excellence and record of path-breaking scholarship, it is clear that she has all the qualities to ensure the Faculty of Music鈥檚 success in the years ahead.鈥

Hisama鈥檚 passion for studying music and music history 鈥 particularly musicians whose work isn鈥檛 as widely appreciated as it should be 鈥 sprang from her early interest in poetry while majoring in English at the University of Chicago.

鈥淭he act of reading poems closely drew me to the field of music theory, and my interest in music鈥檚 deep impact on its listeners led to my exploration of its history and social contexts,鈥 she said.

Much of her academic writing focuses on musicians who have been left out of the canon, including the composer Ruth Crawford Seeger (mother to folk singers Peggy and Mike Seeger and stepmother to Pete Seeger).

For Hisama, listening to Crawford鈥檚 for the first time was nothing short of life changing. 鈥淪he wrote so beautifully, especially for voice, piano, winds, and strings, and was a brilliant music educator,鈥 Hisama recalled.

Crawford鈥檚 music prompted Hisama to reflect on the many other artists whose work has fallen under the radar despite its potential to 鈥渆nrich people鈥檚 lives, as [Crawford鈥檚] music did for me and so many others.鈥

Julius Eastman, , is another composer who caught Hisama鈥檚 interest. She discovered his music through his posthumous CD Unjust Malaise.

鈥淗e was certainly a 鈥榤usician to the fullest鈥欌 鈥 Eastman鈥檚 words 鈥 鈥渨ith a remarkable ability to reimagine musical time and to invent new forms of graphic notation,鈥 Hisama said.

Hisama will take the reins at U of T鈥檚 Faculty of Music from Dean Don McLean, a professor of music theory and musicology who has overseen a period of curricular renewal and innovation at the faculty since his leadership began in 2011. During McLean鈥檚 tenure, the faculty launched the Music and Health Science Collaboratory in 2012, formed closer ties with European conservatories and received a $1-million donation from alumna Elaine Keillor

鈥淚 admire Don鈥檚 many accomplishments over his career and at U of T, and I鈥檓 eager to build on the strong foundations he鈥檚 established,鈥 said Hisama, adding that she first met McLean nearly two decades ago while on sabbatical in Montreal.

Hisama is the author or editor of three books: Gendering Musical Modernism: The Music of Ruth Crawford, Marion Bauer, and Miriam Gideon; Ruth Crawford Seeger鈥檚 Worlds: Innovation and Tradition in Twentieth-century American Music, co-edited with Ray Allen; and Critical Minded: New Approaches to Hip Hop Studies, co-edited with Evan Rapport.

In 2019, she delivered the Kenneth H. Peacock Lecture at U of T, named after the pioneering Canadian ethnomusicologist, composer and U of T alumnus. Her lecture, 鈥淟ost Voices, Found Histories: On Silences and Soundings,鈥 focused on how exclusions in the sphere of music could be corrected by students and scholars.

鈥淎s dean, I look forward to opening and leading conversations about how students, staff, faculty, alumni and administrators can work together towards greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Faculty of Music with regard to curriculum, programming, community engagement, and more,鈥 Hisama said.

鈥淲ith the current intense focus on issues of equity, now is the time to press forward towards lasting change 鈥 change that will positively affect those at the Faculty of Music, U of T, in Toronto and beyond.鈥

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