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Graduate Studies Division
Music Department
PhD Candidate
Cross-Cultural Musicology
Graduate
Arts Division
Music Center
Ontario Alexander, is a Cross-Cultural Musicology Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His area of study includes historical musicology in the French Baroque period and the roles of colonial history and theory in music. Other areas of interest include African American Black music history and social theory of music concerning the developments of gospel, blues, jazz, hip-hop, and rap music as acts of political resistance, struggles for freedom, and cultural affirmation. Alexander holds a Master's degree in Legal Studies with a concentration in Intellectual Property from UC College of the Law San Francisco and an M.A. in Vocal Performance and an M.B.A., both from California State University, Los Angeles. As a multidisciplinary artist, he integrates his art practice into his research.
Master's Thesis: “Songs of Two Worlds: An Intersection of the American Experience Through the Songs of African Americans and White Americans.” Signed by: Dr. Beverly Stein, Dr. Susan Kane, Dr. James Ford, 2019
Music in Early America
Black American music histories: gospel, jazz, rap, hip hop, country, blues
French Opera
Opera
Life and works of composers of African desent
Baroque singing styles and composers
Music of the Galant and Classical periods
Music Appreciation
Ancient, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern music history courses
US Pop and Rock Music history
Jazz history
Ear Training
Music Theory
Musicology
Music analysis
Voice: Classical and Commercial
Group piano
Honors, Awards, Grants, Fellowships
California Community College Internship Program (CCCIP) 2025
Graduate Policy Research Fellow, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy 2025
Graduate Pedagogy Fellow, Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), University of California, Santa Cruz, 2024
Arts Bridge Scholar, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2023
Graduate Dean Endowment Fellow, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2022
Visualizing Abolition Artist in the Archive Residency, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2022
Master's in the Studies of Law (MSL) Scholarship, UC Law San Francisco (formerly known as University of California, Hastings), 2022
Bay Tree Campus Store Course Material Scholarship, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2022
Arts Research Institute (ARI) Graduate Student Fellows: Strategic Planning Partners, 2021
Cota-Robles Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2019
Anna Bing Arnold Scholarship, California State University, Los Angeles, 2018
Graduate Business Grant, California State University, Los Angeles, 2016
Friends of Music Berniece Jane De Long Scholarship, 2016
Conference Presentations
“And the Beat Goes On: Extending the Pedagogical Framework for Teaching Rhythm by Incorporating Hip-Hop & Rap in Music Theory Training.” Society for Music Theory Conference 49th Annual Meeting, Hip-Hop & Rap Interest Group Meeting.
Public Facing Presentations
2022
“Achieves of Sonic Resistance.” Institute for Arts and Sciences and the University Library at UC Santa Cruz
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