More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series Featuring Tammy Kernodle

For the season premiere of More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series, musicologist and Miami University Distinguished Professor of Music Tammy Kernodle joins us for a trio performance of “She Sang Freedom,” chronicling the journey of Black women as the producers of great music over the last four centuries. Prior to the concert, she discusses her unique approach and illustrious career with series host and ethnomusicologist Dr. Birgitta Johnson. Cash bar. Free. Registration required. Presented by the Baker and Baker Foundation. Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

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Tammy L. Kernodle is an arranger, pianist, singer, and scholar whose work concentrates on the contributions of African Americans to classical and popular music. A native of Danville, VA, Kernodle attended Virginia State, where she majored in choral music education with a concentration in piano. Upon graduation, she attended The Ohio State University, where she earned an M.A. and a Ph.D in musicology. Kernodle has since taught and lectured at institutions including the University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill, University of Kansas, UCLA, and Florida State University. Her scholarship has been featured in a number of anthologies, journals, and encyclopedias.

Considered an expert in African American music, jazz history, and gender studies, Kernodle has served as scholarly consultant to institutions including the BBC, National Public Radio, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland), and the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Most recently she was part of the team that constructed the inaugural music exhibitions at the National Museum of African American Culture and History in Washington, DC. She is the president of the Society for American Music.

Dr. Kernodle has served as choir director, instrumentalist, and consultant in the area of gospel performance practice for over 30 years. This work has allowed her to serve on the music ministry teams for congregations of varying denominational affiliations throughout the country, and to collaborate on a number of theater productions, including serving as musical director and arranger for Down in Mississippi: A Gospel Play with Music, written by Guggenheim Fellow and celebrated playwright Carlyle Brown and commissioned by Miami University (2009). Kernodle is the University Distinguished Professor of Musicology at Miami University, where she teaches American music, African American music, and gender studies in music.