Please join Dr. Maria Cristina Fava, who will present her new book, "Art Music Activism: Aesthetics and Politics in 1930s New York City."

According to the University of Illinois Press, "Maria Cristina Fava explores the rich creative milieu shaped by artists dedicated to using music and theater to advance the promotion, circulation, and acceptance of leftist ideas in 1930s New York City."  Also, "Fava's history teases out fascinating details from performances and offstage activity attached to works by composers such as Marc Blitzstein, Charles Seeger, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Elie Siegmeister, and Harold Rome."  View the complete statement from the publisher.

About the Author

Maria Cristina Fava is an Associate Professor of Musicology at the Irving S. Gilmore School of Music of Western Michigan University. Her research considers various contexts of American music during the twentieth century, including the intersections of music and politics that characterized the Great Depression Era and the effects of McCarthyism on film music composers. She has published articles in American Music, Musica/Realtà, and Musica Docta, and contributed the chapter “Bernstein and Blitzstein” to the forthcoming book Bernstein in Context edited by Elizabeth Wells for Cambridge University Press. The publication date of her own book, Art Music Activism: Aesthetics and Politics in 1930s New York City (University of Illinois Press) is February 27, 2024.