Becky Miller

Biography
Rebecca (Becky) Miller, Professor of Music, received an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College, an M.A. from Wesleyan University and the Ph.D. from Brown University in ethnomusicology. She conducted dissertation research as a Fulbright Fellow on the Caribbean island of Carriacou (Grenada). Her book,Carriacou String Band Serenade: Performing Identity in the Eastern Caribbean (Wesleyan University Press, 2008) examines social and political change through the performance of traditional music, song, and dance in Carriacou. Professor Miller also has conducted fieldwork in Ireland as a Whiting Fellow (2006) on popular Irish showband music for an upcoming book length project. She frequently presents her research on Irish popular music at various institutions and conferences in the United States, Britain, and Ireland. As a public sector folklorist, she has documented and presented the traditional arts from a number of immigrant and refugee communities throughout the United States. Her work has culminated in publications, recordings, festivals, radio and video documentaries. Having worked for a decade as a public radio reporter/producer, Miller produced and wrote the award-winning public radio series "Old Traditions-New Sounds." She is also the co-producer/writer of the documentary video "From Shore To Shore: Irish Traditional Music in New York City." A fiddler, Professor Miller plays southern old time string band music, French-Canadian music, Irish music, and klezmer and she performs throughout New England.

Education
AB, Bryn Mawr College; MA, Wesleyan University; PhD, Brown University

Courses:
Every fall, I teach Musical Beginnings (HACU 119). It's the first semester of music theory and the first in a sequence of four music theory classes that we offer here at Hampshire. The gateway course to more advance theory and composition classes, Musical Beginnings also has a music composition component and a required ear training session that meets once a week in the evening (either Monday or Thursday evenings, 7 - 8:30 pm). In Musical Beginnings, we learn how to sing using solfege methodology (do re mi) and we apply the theory we learn in class to instruments/voice.

In Spring 2017, I will teach Music Journalism for Radio. In this course, students learn the basics of producing music pieces consonant with the style of public radio. Students learn how to interview, record, write scripts, produce, edit, and use sound effectively to report a story. We also acquire skills with computer sound software and sound editing techniques. Reading assignments will help us think critically about the ethics of journalism and representation.

I will also be teaching Irish Music: Performance and Ethnography. This course will focus on Irish traditional and popular musics, both in Ireland and in the United States. There is a performance component to this course: approximately 25% of the time will be spent learning and playing traditional music. No prior experience playing this music is required, but students should have at least a basic mastery of an instrument specific to this tradition (fiddle/violin, guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo, piano, flute, accordion, voice, and others [ukelele, cello, viola, bass, etc.]).

Students I Advise
I advise students in music (performance, ethnomusicology), writing (particularly journalism), anthropology, cultural studies, cultural history, American Studies, and related fields. Many of my ethnomusicology students conduct original research for their Division III projects using ethnography as a key methodology. Their work culminates in in-depth studies of specific musical communities and institutions locally, nationally, and internationally. Drawing on interview skills, participant observation, and various types of photo/video/audio documentation, students simultaneously document expressive culture -- folk/traditional, popular, etc. -- and conduct original field along with secondary source research, and apply analytical and critical thinking.

I also teach courses on and advise students in journalism, particularly public radio journalism/podcasting. My students learn production techniques consonant with public radio reporting and documentary styles. Division III students in radio production create a variety of short features and documentary length radio pieces, which are broadcast quality and some of which have been aired on public radio stations locally and nationally. Some produce live radio work that incorporates produced pieces as well as work produced by other contributors. Radio students at Hampshire have gained valuable experience at paid (and unpaid) internships and jobs in public radio at such entities as WFCR-FM (New England Public Radio), Democracy Now!, Murray Street Studios in New York City, Pulse of the Planet, and other public radio institutions and projects.

I also work with writing students in print journalism as well as literary non-fiction, and other writing projects and styles.

Research
My book, Carriacou String Band Serenade: Performing Identity in the Eastern Caribbean (Wesleyan University Press, 2008) examines traditional music and performance in the context of political upheaval and social change. I focus variously on the performance and conception of string band music, quadrille dance, and other traditional music and dance genres on this small, outer island of Grenada. I am currently finishing a book project on Irish popular music (dance bands/orchestras and showbands) from the 1930s through the mid 1970s. I have done four years of field research throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland and have interviewed approximately 80 former musicians, managers, dance hall owners, and fans.

Community Involvement
I am Secretary of the Board of the Lander-Grinspoon Academy/Solomon Schechter Day School. I also frequently serve on funding panels and as a consultant to such arts and humanities entities as National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and other organizations.

Additional Information
As a fiddler (and occasional dance band piano player), I play regular contradances throughout New England, New York, and other mid-Atlantic states. I play in two bands, Dogtown (a trio) and Old Town Trio, and often play as a guest fiddler and pianist in other bands. I also play klezmer music whenever possible.