Maria Sonevytsky is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Music at Bard College. She returned to Bard in 2022, after receiving tenure in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Berkeley. Research topics include the legacy of Soviet cultural policies on music after socialism, folklore and nuclear experience after Chornobyl, Soviet constructions of childhood and the role of expressive culture in disciplining Soviet citizens, and the gray zones occupied by late Soviet punk culture. She received her Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University in 2012, held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Toronto and Harvard University, worked as an Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College (2014-2018), and joined the Berkeley faculty in 2018. Wild Music is her first book. She is currently developing two new book-length projects: the first, for Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3: Europe series, on Vopli Vidopliassova’s Tantsi; the second, a study of Soviet children’s music.
In addition to her scholarly work, Professor Sonevytsky has performed in a variety of musical and theatrical projects. She also produced and sang on an album for Smithsonian Folkways called The Chornobyl Songs Project (2015), in collaboration with Prof. Yevhen Yefremov (Kyiv Academy of Music), the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, and the Yara Arts Group.
To listen, read, and learn more, please visit www.mariasonevytsky.com.
Wild Music 