Jeffrey Allen Murdock appointed to Yale faculty

Dr Murdock will also serve as associate director of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church (IPMBC), working alongside the programme’s faculty director, Professor Braxton Shelley.

In his new role, Dr Murdock will form a new auditioned chorus specialising in Music of the Black Church and will teach courses in the practice and literature of these traditions at the ISM and YDS.

Yale said the appointment strengthens its longstanding commitment to the study of sacred music and religious expression across traditions, cultures and communities, while advancing one of its signature initiatives exploring the intersections of music, faith, culture, history and the lived experiences of Black religious communities.

Dr Murdock is an internationally acclaimed conductor, scholar, clinician and author, widely recognised as a leading figure in Black sacred music and as a principal architect of the field’s emergence as a recognised academic discipline.

His achievements include creating the world’s first master of music degree in Black sacred music, with a curriculum designed to integrate artistic excellence, cultural preservation and academic rigour. His research has focused on areas including cultural hegemony, culturally responsive pedagogy, social justice and urban music education, and has been presented nationally and internationally.

He also serves on the editorial boards of two music education journals, and his forthcoming book, Gospel Conducting and Pedagogy, is among the first comprehensive pedagogical texts devoted to Gospel choral music.

Martin Jean, director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, said, ‘The study of Black sacred music in all its richness has been largely ignored by the modern academy.

‘We are privileged that Dr Murdock would think that Yale is a worthy new home for his considerable artistic, pedagogical and scholarly gifts, and we look ahead to the significant intervention he will make to our students and the field from here.’

Professor Braxton Shelley, George Washington Williams Professor of Music, of Sacred Music, and of Divinity and director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church, said, ‘I am thrilled to welcome Dr Murdock to Yale.

‘Dr Murdock is a globally recognised leader in the field and his presence on this campus will lift our program’s work to new heights.’

Dr Murdock joins Yale from the University of Arkansas, where he served as professor of music, director of choral activities and founding director of the Arkansas Center for Black Music. Under his leadership, the Center became one of the United States’ leading academic initiatives dedicated to the study, preservation, performance and celebration of African American musical traditions.

His honours include the 2021 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. He has conducted honour choirs and conferences in 30 US states and 19 countries, appeared as a conductor, soloist, scholar and educator internationally, and performed in major concert halls including Carnegie Hall.

Dr Murdock holds degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Memphis.