Ingrid Monson facts for kids

Ingrid Monson is a well-known professor at Harvard University. She holds a special title: the Quincy Jones Professor of African-American Music. This means she teaches and studies music from African-American culture. She also teaches about African and African American studies.

Her Education Journey

Ingrid Monson studied many interesting subjects. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. She also got a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, she focused on economics.

Later, she continued her studies at New York University. She earned both her Master's (M.A.) and Ph.D. degrees in musicology. Musicology is the study of music history and culture.

Books and Research

Ingrid Monson has written and edited several important books. These books share her research and ideas about music.

• Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction (published by University of Chicago Press, 1996). This book explores how jazz musicians create music together on the spot. It looks at how they interact and communicate through their instruments.
• Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Call Out to Jazz and Africa (published by Oxford University Press, 2007). This book explores the strong connections between jazz music and the Civil Rights Movement. It also looks at how African culture influenced jazz.
• ed. African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective (published by Garland/Routledge, 2000). This book is a collection of writings that she edited. It looks at music from the African Diaspora. This means music created by people of African descent around the world.