Presidential Fellow Paul Feller-Simmons Publishes Thirteen Vilancicos
Paul Feller-Simmons, PhD candidate in the Department of Music in the Bienen School of Music, is making waves in the field of early modern musicology. Paul’s critical edition of early music for nuns in New Spain (present-day Mexico)—now the largest collection of women’s notated music from the region—has been published as an open-access, peer-reviewed work.
Specializing in Spanish colonial and Jewish-Christian musical exchanges, Paul’s interdisciplinary research examines how these exchanges functioned as a cultural bridge in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Northwestern Europe. His dissertation highlights the ways Jewish and Christian communities engaged with music, revealing both moments of fluid exchange and tensions imposed by religious authorities.
Paul’s contributions to his field have garnered significant recognition. In December, he was interviewed by ABC7 Chicago after uncovering a long-lost repertoire of sixteenth-century Guatemalan Christmas music. He has also received several awards, including the Presidential Fellowship—Northwestern’s most prestigious and highly competitive fellowship. Less than 12% of nominated students are appointed to the Fellowship.
Paul continues to shape the conversation on historical musicology. His upcoming lecture, How to Do Things with Music? David Franco Mendes and the Jewish Oratoria will be held on Thursday, April 24 from 6:00–7:30 PM in the McClintock Choral and Rehearsal Room in the Bienen School of Music (70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston) and is open to the entire Northwestern community.
Categories: Around Campus