Intellectual Rigor

Music scholarship and performance are both part of the same process of making music for Jaemi, not competing disciplines. As a dedicated academic, Jaemi produced both an undergraduate honors thesis and a large doctoral document that focus on ways to use the theoretical tools of certain post-structuralist thinkers to analyze music both technically and socially. Jaemi began taking graduate courses as an undergraduate at Brown on topics such as Walter Benjaminm'€™s Arcades Project and Theodor Adorno'€™s Aesthetic Theory. While pursuing her graduate work in performance, Jaemi has continued to research and study a wide variety of topics in music history, historical performance practice, critical musicology, and music theory. Some of her current interests include Schenkerian analysis, 19th century performance practice and wind instruments, the history of Yiddish song, theories of musical gesture, and applying Benjamin's notion of aura to an increasingly digital world. This winter, Jaemi will teach a new seminar that offers students an introduction to Marxism and Marxist aesthetics. Tackling both Marx's own writings and works by Adorno, Benjamin, Jameson, and Michael Liebowitz, the course will give students a framework for aesthetic inquiry within the framework of Marxist theory and its ethical imperative to resist a status quo that does real harm to real people.

Jaemi's intellectual enthusiasm for the study of music inspires her work on the podium and in ensemble-building. When crafting an interpretation, Jaemi brings all of her analytical tools and practical skills to bear. Her deep understanding of a score helps her create performances that are artistically and emotionally fulfilling by virtue of their intelligence. Her dedication to click here to request a writing sample, previously used course syllabus, or a copy of Jaemi's doctoral document. You can also follow Jaemi's ongoing research here on Academia.edu.