Kirsten Paige joins Department of Music faculty

The Department of Music welcomes Assistant Teaching Professor Kirsten Paige who will join NC State in August to teach musicology. 

Paige comes to NC State after three years as a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in Stanford University’s liberal arts program for first-year undergraduates. She said she especially enjoys teaching first-year students because of the fresh, innovative and exciting perspectives they bring to the classroom.

“We’re thrilled to have Dr. Paige joining our department,” said Department Head Dan Monek. “She brings with her a depth of knowledge, passion for teaching and interdisciplinary interests that make her a perfect fit for NC State and the students we serve through our courses.”

Paige’s work explores how forms of scientific (especially, environmental) knowledge reshaped musical practices and aural cultures in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Germany, with a special focus on global cultural and scientific exchanges. She maintains a strong interest in public musicology, particularly in how music and its institutions can offer decolonial, collaborative responses to the climate crisis and its inequalities. Her courses reflect her interdisciplinary interests and emphasize discussion, critical thinking, experiential learning, and guiding the transition to college-level reading and writing.

“I am incredibly excited to be joining the Department of Music at NC State,” said Paige. “I am very much looking forward to working with the dynamic, warm and collaborative faculty, staff and students at NC State, who bring such energy and innovation to all that they do. I look forward to continuing to develop my research on music and the history of science with the wonderful resources on campus and in the Research Triangle.”

Paige received her Ph.D. in Music History from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018, and previously studied at the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. in Music, 2012) and University of Chicago (B.A. in Music History and Theory, 2011). From the ages of 13-18, she studied double bass at the Juilliard School of Music’s Pre-College Division.

Her essays have appeared in journals including The Cambridge Opera Journal, Opera Quarterly, The Journal of the American Musicological Society, and The Journal of the Royal Musical Association. Her book, Richard Wagner’s Political Ecology, is currently under contract with University of Chicago Press. Paige’s work has been supported by grants and fellowships from the American Musicological Society, Royal Musical Association, British Library, and Berkeley’s Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities and Institute of International and Comparative Studies. 

Paige has presented her work at national and international conferences, including at the annual meetings of the American Musicological Society, Royal Musical Association, and German Studies Association. She has also participated in panels and written essays for the Michigan Opera Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Canadian Opera Company.