Musicology in the World
How John Dowland Built a Music Career on Tearful Melancholy (4/21/2026)
Dowland, who died 400 years ago, spun out sad songs that were popular in his time and continue to influence artists today. Read more.
Making “Alice Gray: The Biography of a Nineteenth-Century Ballad” (4/28/2026)
Allan W. Atlas discusses the his new volume published by A-R Editions: Alice Gray: The Biography of a Nineteenth-Century Ballad. Read more.
His Music Captured Norway’s Colors. His Life Reflected Its Shadows. (4/28/2026)
Geirr Tveitt’s reputation was tarnished by his nationalist politics. But a new generation of musicians is bringing this composer’s music to an international audience. Read more.
After the Execution of James G. Broadnax in Texas, Questions Persist Over Use of Rap Lyrics as Evidence (5/6/2026)
Read more from A. D. Carson in The Conversation.
Inside the Sound of the Swarm (5/7/2026)
How insects changed the history of human music. Read more.
Motown’s Black Women Songwriters and Producers Were the Invisible Architects Behind the Pop Music Juggernaut (5/7/2026)
During the 1960s, in a country divided by racial strife, the music of Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records helped bring people together. Read more about the women at Motown.
Introducing the World’s First “TikTok Opera” (5/8/2026)
The world’s first opera serialized on TikTok, Angels on the Underground, features music from composer Will Todd and a libretto by Sally Gardner. Read more.
What Is a Radical? It’s the Question of MIA’s Vexing Career (5/9/2026)
Fans who danced to “Paper Planes” might hardly recognize the conspiracy-touting artist today—but in a certain way, she’s the same button-pusher as ever. Read more.
Chiptune in the Twenty-First Century: Memory Power (5/11/2026)
Chiptune music, rooted in video game audio technology, is the subject of a new special series in the Journal of Sound and Music in Games. Read this blog post about the series.
“We must keep her name alive”: Cesária Évora, the Captivating Cape Verdean Who Went from Restaurant Singer to Global Star (5/12/2026)
After a lifetime of poverty, Évora found huge success aged 51 with 1992 album Miss Perfumado. Those who knew her recall her power, pride, and constant smoking. Read more.
A “Lost” Vaughan Williams Song Is Exciting News But What Else Remains to Be “Found”? (5/13/2026)
All kinds of musical riches by formerly overlooked composers may be languishing in lofts and dusty archives. Read more.
“What’s This Groove Becoming?!” How The Harder The Come Captured 1970s Jamaica and Blazed on to Stage (5/13/2026)
The monumental soundtrack of Perry Henzell’s film, starring Jimmy Cliff, powered the best musical of 2025. Read more.
Interview with RMA’s 2024 Practice Research Prize Winner (5/15/2026)
Prize winner Dr. Lauren Redhead discusses her journey in practice-based research and how it relates to her own work as a musician. Read more.
Sounding Out! publishes articles on Latinx Sonic Phenomenology and on the Platforming of Hate Speech via AI (5/15/2026)
Read more at Sounding Out!
How Moscow’s Turbulent Past Shapes Putin’s Vision for Russia (5/15/2026)
Musicologist Simon Morrison joins Compass Points/PBS News to discuss his new book, A Kingdom and a Village: A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow. Watch the interview.
New Books in Music Podcast (5/15/2026)
Listen to the latest from the New Books in Music podcast, featuring books about the YIVO Sounds Archive, instrumentality, U2, the musical lives of Charles Manson, and more.
Higher Ed News
Hampshire Announced It’s Closing. Will Other Small Colleges Follow? (4/14/2026)
Hampshire College will close after the fall semester this year, bringing to an end its 56-year experiment in higher education. Read more.
Expanding Access to Arts Education: A Call for Stronger Federal Investment (4/17/2026)
As Congress begins shaping the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, arts education advocates are making the case for stronger federal investment in our nation’s students. Read more.
New College Accountability Metric Published for Public Comment (4/20/2026)
The ED proposal fleshes out a new accountability metric designed to test the return on investment of each degree program at more than 4,000 colleges and universities. Read more. AMS’s public comment linked here.
In an Unstable World, Music Offers a New Model for Learning (4/29/2026)
When the world begins to fracture, universities face a question that is no longer abstract: What is the purpose of music education? Read more.
JSTOR Transitions Path to Open Pilot to an Ongoing Program, Offering a Sustainable Model for Open Access Monographs (4/29/2026)
With growing participation, titles, and usage, the program shows early evidence that collaborative OA monograph publishing can work at scale. Read more.
ED Rejects Call to Expand Access to Higher Graduate Loan Caps (4/30/2026)
Under the final rule, the agency is sticking with its plan to categorize eleven degree programs as professional, giving them access to the $200,000 limit. Read more.
Beyond Skills: Why Story Will Define Survival in the AI Age (5/6/2026)
In universities during the AI age, those who survive are those with a story to tell. Read more.
Federal Judge Orders NEH Restore Canceled Grants (5/11/2026)
This major news has been covered by a range of outlets. See media highlights at the ACLS website.
Canvas Owner Subject to Cyberattack and Reaches Agreement with Attackers (5/12/2026)
Read more about the cyberattack itself and the agreement reached by Infastructure, Canvas’s owner, with the attackers.
AMS News
AMS Submits Comment on ED’s Proposed STATS and Earnings Accountability Framework (5/14/2026)
The AMS has officially submitted a public comment regarding the Department of Education’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and earnings accountability framework. Read more.
