Citron named to American Musicological Society’s board

A lifelong resource
Citron named to American Musicological Society’s board

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

For her commitment to the study of music history and her own cutting-edge research, Rice’s Marcia Citron was named to the board of directors for the American Musicological Society (AMS). Citron, the Martha and Henry Malcolm Lovett Distinguished Service Professor of Musicology, is one of only six directors-at-large working with five officers to govern the AMS, a 3,300-member organization.  

	MARCIA CITRON

“This is a lifetime honor,” Citron said. “It has allowed me to see the society and my field with new eyes.”

Citron became a leader in musicology with her research on gender and music, opera and media and composer Johannes Brahms. Her published works on those subjects became influential in the field, as they were some of the first works that explored those topics. Her book “Letters of Fanny Hensel to Felix Mendelssohn” was named an outstanding book by Choice Magazine, and “Gender and the Musical Canon” won the Pauline Alderman Prize for Most Important Book on Women in Music.

In her work on the AMS board, Citron hopes that she is able to help young research musicians break through some of the barriers that hold them back.

“I think it’s important to help with career-related issues and give some guidance for doing various kinds of work,” Citron said. “I want to give those new to the field opportunities to present their research by turning them onto the various venues and organizations that can help them.”

Her work at the Shepherd School of Music makes her ideal for her new role. As one of five professors in the Department of Musicology, she mentors and works closely with her students to help them professionally.

“I feel that we are having a lot of impact on our students,” Citron said. “We give them a tremendous amount of personal attention and keep up with them afterward. Our students have gone on to great positions in other top music schools.”

One former student, Ryan Minor ’96, was accepted to the University of Chicago for his doctorate and is now a faculty member at the University of Stoneybrook. At the last AMS conference, he was on a panel with Citron discussing his own research on Brahms.

“Ryan is a rising star in the field,” Citron said. “To see your students succeed at this level is incredibly rewarding.”

Now, as a member of the AMS board, Citron has a new appreciation for her teaching duties at Rice. She has been able to see how important the Shepherd School’s preparation is in the students’ successes.

“I hope I teach all my students to have confidence in their own ideas and abilities,” she said. “I want them to be able to conceive of musicological problems and work through them. I try to teach them to think critically, to be eclectic and flexible. If they see the big picture, I know I’ve done my job.”

While she would like her students to remember everything she’s taught them in class, there’s one lesson that stands out.

“I want them to remember that I’m there for them. I’m a lifelong resource.”