Braxton Shelley
An article regarding the work of DDH Resident and recent graduate, Braxton Shelley, MDiv and PhD from the Department of Music in Music Theory, was recently featured in the June 2017 UChicago Arts newsletter. The article, titled "Tuning Up: Braxton Shelley takes a pioneering look at the structure and meaning of gospel music," was originally published in Tableau, the magazine of the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago.
"Shelley is 'one of a kind in so many ways,' says his adviser, Steven Rings, associate professor in Music. His dissertation takes a musicological approach—a close reading of notes, chords, harmonies, and forms—which is a first for gospel. 'There is no precedent in music theory, if you can believe it,' says Rings. Musicology and music theory initially focused on European classical music, and more recently on contemporary music like the Beatles. Shelley is the first to apply this approach to understanding how gospel music works." Read the full article here.
Shelley has accepted a faculty position at Harvard University's Department of Music.