Kate Eberstadt is a composer, singer songwriter, and performance artist whose work moves between music, theater, community engagement and (perhaps unexpectedly!) quantum physics. She has performed everywhere from New York stages to singing with the Berlin Philharmonie and even alongside Lady Gaga at the VMAs.  She is a two time recipient of the National Alliance for Musical Theater Frank Young Grandstand Award and a finalist in this year's Richard Rodgers award. 

She is also a resident artist at Ars Nova in NYC, where she received a commission for her newest work, which asks a fascinating question: what can quantum physics teach us about love, grief and human connection? Those ideas are at the center of the class she is teaching this fall at UMD as the Arts for All Artist-in-Residence titled, “Quantum Physics and Art: Metaphor Meaning, and Creative Practice.”

To see Kate's work in action, check out her performance at UMD's NextNOW Festival on Sept. 10th, 6pm: https://theclarice.umd.edu/events/kate-eberstadt-where-we-meet-work-progress-showing-conversation. 

It seems only fitting that our very first guest on The Fourth Wall is someone who has been such an important champion of the arts here at Maryland. Dr. Stephanie Shonekan is the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and a professor at the University of Maryland. An ethnomusicologist, scholar and academic leader, Shonekan’s work examines the intersections of music, identity, history, race and culture, with scholarship spanning Afrobeat and Fela Kuti, Nigerian and African American hip-hop, soul music, country music and the Black musical experience.

Shonekan earned her doctorate in ethnomusicology and folklore, with a minor in African American Studies, from Indiana University. Before coming to the University of Maryland, she held faculty and leadership positions at Columbia College Chicago, the University of Missouri and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her academic leadership has included serving as chair of Black Studies at the University of Missouri, chair of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at UMass Amherst and senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Science at Missouri. Throughout her career, she has also developed initiatives focused on mentorship, community, inclusion and belonging.

Her books include The Life of Camilla Williams, African American Classical Singer and Opera Diva; Soul, Country, and the USA: Race and Identity in American Music Culture; Black Lives Matter & Music; and Black Resistance in the Americas. She also wrote and produced the award-winning short film Lioness of Lisabi, inspired by Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, the mother of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.

Shonekan is also an experienced podcast host who has used audio storytelling to bring scholarship into conversation with contemporary culture, music and social issues.

Listen to Dean Shonekan’s podcasts:

• Rhyme & Reason: An ARHU podcast featuring Shonekan in conversation with UMD scholars and educators about pressing questions surrounding equity and justice. 
• Cover Story: A music podcast that “uncovers the covers,” pairing an iconic song with two notable renditions and asking how changes in artist, culture, history and identity can transform its meaning. Each episode brings Shonekan together with a guest to explore the music and ultimately debate who did it better. 

Learn more: Dean Stephanie Shonekan (The University of Maryland)