Music

Listen on repeat: Exploring medieval refrain songs

Music professor Mary Channen Caldwell brings together over 400 devotional Latin refrain songs from the Middle Ages in her new book, the first to explore the medieval refrain in song outside of vernacular contexts.

From OMNIA

Singing, speech production, and the brain

This summer, rising second-years Audrey Keener and Nicholas Eiffert worked in the lab of Penn linguist Jianjing Kuang studying vowel articulation in song, running an in-person experiment and built a corpus of classical recordings by famous singers.

Michele W. Berger

Music-making and the flow of aerosols

If simply breathing can spread the SARS-CoV-2 virus to others nearby, what about blowing into a tuba? Researchers from the School of Engineering the School of Arts & Sciences used fluid mechanics to study the movement of aerosols generated by musicians.

Katherine Unger Baillie



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In the News


Philadelphia Tribune

Preparing the archives: Sun Ra comes to Kislak Center

Samantha Hill of Penn Libraries discusses the recent acquisition of two collections of archival materials by Sun Ra, a prolific jazz musician and forefather to the Afrofuturist movement.

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CNN

The female rappers we can’t get enough of

Jasmine Henry of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the success of Sugar Hill Records and “Rapper’s Delight,” both created by entrepreneur Sylvia Robinson, significantly contributed to mainstream acceptance of hip-hop.

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The Hill

White House unveils ‘stunning vegetarian menu’ for Modi state dinner

The South Asian a cappella group Penn Masala will perform at the state dinner for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.

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Chilean North American Institute

American Spaces on air — Penn Glee Club

During a tour in Chile, members of the Penn Glee Club are interviewed on a podcast of the Chilean North American Institute.

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Philadelphia Sunday Sun

‘Be Holding’ dives into Black genius and joy

“Be Holding,” a poetry performance that seeks to heal grieving Black families, was directed by Brooke O’Harra and composed by Tyshawn Sorey, both of the School of Arts & Sciences.

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Indian Express

Mumbai this week: New Manav Kaul play, concert by Lucky Ali and a wine-tasting festival

Penn Masala, an undergraduate student group touted as the world’s first South Asian ‘a cappella’ group, is performing in Mumbai this weekend.

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