Jay is a Ph.D. in the cultural musicology track under the direction of Dr. Amy C. Beal. His research focuses on musical experimentalism in the twentieth century, combining ethnography, archival materials, and performance. His dissertation, "Gamelan as World Citizen: American Experimental Music and the Internationalization of Indonesian Arts," examines the New York based composers' collective Gamelan Son of Lion and its role in the on-going globalization of gamelan. Jay's research focuses on the intersections of the discourses ethnomusicology and New York's "Downtown" arts scene, analyzing the discursive and cultural entanglements that constitute gamelan in North America from the 1960s to the present, and seeks to unpack the ways gamelan is becoming a global cultural movement. His Masters thesis offered an in depth analysis of the work of composer-violinist Malcolm Goldstein (b. 1936). This work sought to understand Goldstein's idiosyncratic approach to free improvisation, which he calls Soundings, and how those techniques and philosophies developed in relation to contemporaneos practices. In 2017 Jay became the associate editor of Balungan, a Publication of the American Gamelan Institute, an international journal that seeks to connect scholars and artists through their shared interests in gamelan. In addition to his academic work, Jay is also a classical guitarist and gamelan musician who regularly performs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Experimental music, gamelan, improvisation, music and politics, 20th century music, musical instruments, musical communities
By appointment
As sole author
(2017) "Remembering Composer William Hellermann (1939-2017)" to be published in The Open Space Magazine 19. (forthcoming)
2015 Review of the audio recording Melody, Silence by Michael Pisaro, Cristián Alvear (Guitar). Tempo 69, Issue 272, Spring 2015.
2014a Review of Anthology of Text Scores by Pauline Oliveros, Samuel Golter and Lawton Hall eds. Tempo 68, Issue 270, October 2014.
2014b Review of Music 109: Notes on Experimental Music by Alvin Lucier. The Bulletin for the Society for American Music XXXX, No. 2, Spring 2014. (online)
As joint author
(2018) with Ed Garcia, "UCSC Gamelan: 40 Years of Sundanese and Cirebonese Arts in Indonesia and Beyond." Balungan 13, 2018. (forthcoming)
2017 "Compositions for Gamelan by Lou Harrison," in Balungan 12 (August, 2017): 37–38. Co-authored with Jody Diamond.
"Songs and Dances: Music for Classical Guitar," perf. Jay Arms (Jay Arms, 2012), compact disc.
(2017a) "The Social Life of an American Gamelan." To be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Ethnomusicology, Denver, Colorado
2017b "Experimentalism and 'American Gamelan': Gamelan Son of Lion and the Internationalization of Indonesian Arts." Presented at the 2017 Graduate Student Research Symposium, McHenry Library, University of California, Santa cruz (winner of BestPpresentation in the Arts Divison)
2017c "The Social Life of an American Gamelan." Presented at the Northern California California Chapter Meeting of Society for Ethnomusicology, Palo Alto, California
2016 "Instrument Building, Process Music, and Gamelan: Barbara Benary's Braid Pieces (1974-80)." Presented at the conference UCSC Gamelan: 40 Years of Sundanese and Cirebonese Arts in Indonesia and Beyond, Santa Cruz, California
2014a "Where Indeterminacy Meets Improvisation: Cornelius Cardew's Guitar Piece For Stella." Presented at the conference Improvisation and the Politics of Everyday Sounds: Cornelius Cardew and Beyond, Montréal, Quebec
2014b "'Touch Releasing Things into Motion': The Solo Violin Improvisations of Malcolm Goldstein." Presented at the Seventh Festival-Conference on Cross-Cultural Improvisation by the International Society for Improvised Music, New York, New York
2014c "'Touch Releasing Things into Motion': Malcolm Goldstein's Improvisation." Presented at the Northern California Chapter Meeting of the American Musicological Society, Davis, California
2014d "Composition No. 355 and Anthony Braxton's Creative World Music." Presented at the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Musicological Society, Tempe, Arizona
2013a "'I Consider Myself More of a Maximalist': The Pedestrian Music of Malcolm Goldstein." Presented at the International Conference for Minimalist Music, Long Beach, California
2013b "'Sound as a Physical Reality:' Malcolm Goldstein with the Judson Dance Theater." Presented at the annual national conference for the Society of American Music, Little Rock, Arkansas
2013c "'Sound as a Physical Reality:' Malcolm Goldstein with the Judson Dance Theater." Presented at the Northern California Chapter Meeting of the American Musicological Society, Davis, California
(2018) UCSC Dissertation Quarter Fellowship, to assist in timely completion of the dissertation, Graduate Division, University of California, Santa Cruz
2017a Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) Fellowship, to process and organize the Records of the Other Minds Organization, McHenry Library, University of California, Santa Cruz
2017b Arts Division Summer Fellowship, in support of timely completion of the dissertation, Arts Division, University of California, Santa Cruz
2017c Arts Division Dean's Award for best presentation in the 2017 UC Santa Cruz Graduate Research Symposium for "Experimentalism and American Gamelan: Gamelan Son o Lion and the Internationalization of Indonesian Arts," Arts Division, University of California, Santa Cruz
2017d Music Department Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Fund, for dissertation research and conference attendance, University of California, Santa Cruz
2016a Arts Deans Fund for Excellence for assistance in attending the United States-Indonesian Society's Summer Studies Language Program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, University of California, Santa Cruz
2016b Music Department Graduate Student Travel Fund, for assistance in attending the United States-Indonesian Society's Summer Studies Language Program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, University of California, Santa Cruz
2016c United States-Indonesian Society Summer Studies Language Program, for three months language and cultural studies in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, USINDO, Washington DC, USA/Jakarta, Indonesia
2015a Graduate Student Association Travel Grant for Travel and dissertation research, University of California, Santa Cruz
2015b Keitel-Palisca Membership and Professional Development Grant to attend the annual national meeting in Louisville, KT, American Musicological Society
2014a Arts Dean's Fund for Excellence for conference and research travel, University of California Santa Cruz
2014b Porter College Teaching Fellowship to design and teach a music course as instructor of record, University of California, Santa Cruz
2013a Graduate Student Association Travel Grant for travel and Master's research, University of California, Santa Cruz
2013b Society for American Music Student Travel Grant to attend the annual national meeting in Little Rock, AK, Society for American Music
2012 Society for American Music Student Travel Grant to attend the annual national meeting in Charlotte, NC, Society for American Music
2011a Regents Fellowship for first year graduate study, University of California, Santa Cruz
2011b Hortense Zuckerman Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Music Scholarship and Performance, Department of Music, University of California, Santa Cruz
2011c Arts Bridge Teaching Fellowship to teach music in a second grade classroom, Arts Bridge Foundation, Santa Cruz Extension
As Instructor of Record
Music 101C: History of Western Art Music: Romantic and Twentieth Century (2016, 2017)
Music 11D: Introduction to World Music (2017)
Porter 33A: Seminar in Experimental Music and Performance Art (2014)
As Teaching Assistent
Art 190A Writing for Artists
History 150A Ancient Japan
Music 5A Beginning West-Javanese Gamelan
Music 5B Intermediate West-Javanese Gamelan
Music 11B Intro to Jazz
Music 11C Intro to American Popular Music
Music 15 Beginning Theory and Musicianship
Music 30A Theory and Musicianship
Music 30B Theory and Musicianship
Music 30C Theory and Musicianship
Music 75 Beginning Improvisation Theory
Music 80A Music of the Silk Road
Music 80C History of Electronic Music
Music 80G American Broadway Musical
Music 80S Women and Music
Music 80V Music of the Beatles
Music 130 Advance Theory and Musicianship
Music 105A Music of the United States
Music 150P American Popular Song
Music 150X Theoretical Practices in American Music