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Tanya Merchant

Associate Professor of Music

Tanya Merchant is an ethnomusicologist whose research interests include music’s intersection with issues of nationalism, gender, identity, and the post-colonial situation. With a geographical focus on Central Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the Balkans, she has conducted fieldwork in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is an avid performer on the Central Asian dutar and the baroque bassoon, and has given concerts in the U.S., England, and Uzbekistan. Tanya received her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology with a concentration in women’s studies from UCLA. Recent publications include her book, Women Musicians of Uzbekistan: From Courtyard to Conservatory, published by the University of Illinois Press, and articles on Uzbek popular, folk, and traditional musics that appear in journals such as Image and NarrativeCahiers de Musiques Traditionnelles, and Popular Music in Society.

Photo by Christina Waters

Research Interests: 

Nationalism, gender, post-colonialism, diaspora studies, Eurasia, Central Asia, the Balkans, popular music, traditional music, maqom, and sevdalinka.

Phone: 
831 459 5762
x5762
Office: 
286 Music Center
Office Hours: 

Fall 2023 Office Hours: 

In-Person: (Humanities 1, 403) Thursday's 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. 

In-person (Music Center 286) -- Thursday's 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Via Zoom -- Thursdays 3:30-4:30 p.m. 

Students wishing to attend Zoom office hours should contact Prof. Merchant for the link, and book your appointment by noon the day of.

Education and Training: 
B.M., Peabody Conservatory, Institute of the Johns Hopkins University
M.Mus., Goldsmiths College, University of London
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles