Dr. Esther Morgan-Ellis

Overview

Dr. Esther Morgan-Ellis is the author of Everybody Sing!: Community Singing in the American Picture Palace (2018). Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly journals, and she has presented papers and lecture-recitals at national conferences.

Dr. Morgan-Ellis currently serves as Managing Editor for the Journal of Popular Music Studies, and is Vice President/President Elect of the South-Central Chapter of the American Musicological Society.

Dr. Morgan-Ellis is also a professional cellist and appears regularly with regional orchestras. At UNG she teaches music history, world music, music in Appalachia, and cello, and she directs the orchestra in Dahlonega.

Education

• Ph.D., Music History, Yale University, 2013
• M.Phil., M.A., Music History, Yale University, 2009
• B.M., Instrumental Performance, University of Puget Sound, 2006

Publications

Forthcoming: Oxford Handbook of Community Singing. Co-edited with Kay Norton. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2023.

Resonances: Engaging Music in Its Cultural Context. Editor and lead author. Dahlonega, GA: University of North Georgia Press, 2020.

Everybody Sing!: Community Singing in the American Picture Palace. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2018.

Forthcoming: “A Century of Singing Along to Stephen Foster: Texts, Tunes, and Tastes.” In Critical Approaches to Musical Meaning, ed. Jason Geary, Seth Monahan, and Michael Puri. Oxford University Press, 2022.

Forthcoming: “Leslie Uggams, Sing Along with Mitch (1961-1964), and the Reverberations of Minstrelsy.” Journal of the Society for American Music. 2022.

Forthcoming: “Yelling Whitman (or, Once More, with Feeling): Teaching Prosody by Performance.” Co-authored with Samuel Prestridge and Laura Ng. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture. Volume 22. 2022.

Forthcoming: “Virtual Hymn Singing and the Imagination of Community.” Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing. 2021.

Forthcoming: “The Making of ‘Appalachian Music’,” “Fiddle and Banjo Music of the Southern Appalachians,” and “Unaccompanied Singing Traditions of the Southern Appalachians.” In Accessible Appalachia: An Open-Access, Introductory Textbook in Appalachian Studies, ed. Lisa Day. Eastern Kentucky University, 2021.

“‘Like Pieces in a Puzzle’: Online Sacred Harp Singing During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Frontiers in Psychology. 2021. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.627038

“‘Making the many-minded one’: Community Singing at the Peabody Prep in 1915. Musical Quarterly. Volume 102, Number 4. 2019. Pages 361–401.

“Learning Habits and Attitudes in the Revivalist Old-Time Community of Practice.” Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Number 221. 2019. Pages 29-57.

“A Faculty Learning Community for Contingent Music Appreciation Instructors: Purpose, Structure, Outcomes.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy. Volume 9, Number 2. 2019. Pages 173-193.

“Undergraduate Research and Affective Learning: Examining a Contemporary Music Research Project.” Journal of Music History Pedagogy. Volume 8, Number 2. 2018. Pages 174-187.

“Warren Kimsey and Community Singing at Camp Gordon, 1917-1918.” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education. Volume 39, Number 2. 2018. Pages 171-194.

“Edward Meikel and Community Singing in a Neighborhood Picture Palace, 1925–1929.” American Music. Volume 32, Number 2. 2014. Pages 172-200.