Graduate
Student Council

Michele’s scholarship centers on arts justice and the way sounds evolve within marginalized communities. She has nearly a decade of experience working in non-profit and higher education institutions, including The Colburn School, Caltech, and UCLA. She brings insight in navigating the school and a complex university structure from her tenure as a student advisor and staff in school of music.

Morgan is an accomplished classical trumpeter and critical gender theorist specializing in drag vocal performance. Proudly non-binary and neurodivergent, Morgan is particularly passionate about uplifting underrepresented voices at school of music. Morgan has channeled their justice-centered leadership approach in their previous work as a mental health support specialist, arts administrator, and UAW 4811 union steward.

Michele and Morgan—both 3rd-year PhD students in musicology—serve as co-presidents of the GSC with three key intentions in mind: 1) amplify graduate student voices, 2) prioritize equitable and inclusive practices at school of music, 3) maximize our allotted budget to serve the needs of our student body, and 4) french fries.

Hi, I’m Davis Lerner (he/him). I am a second-year master’s student in Bassoon Performance. I am excited to put forward a nomination to get more involved with the Graduate Student Council. I recently finished a degree in music at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I held similar positions in clubs and organizations including the Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts Student Advisory Council, the Composition Forum, and the Iota Pi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, the National Honorary Band Service Fraternity.

Sam Adam is a Doctoral student of tuba performance and excited to be joining the graduate student council for his second year. He holds bachelors degrees from the Peabody institute of Johns Hopkins in Music Performance and Music Education, as well as a masters degree in music performance from UCLA. While Sam enjoys an active freelance career as both a performer and a teacher in Los Angeles, his studies are more focused specifically around chamber and indigenous music. In his spare time, you can often find Sam consuming copious amounts of coffee, fantasy novels, or the NYT daily crossword.

Hi all! My name is Ryan and I am a second year MM performance major with a trombone emphasis. I am originally from Northern California – I grew up in Lake Tahoe and completed my bachelor’s degree in music education at San José State University. In addition to my symphonic playing focus, I love playing trombone in other musical settings including chamber groups, jazz ensembles, and ska bands. I have several years of student leadership experience from my time at SJSU, serving as the corresponding secretary of the Lambda Psi chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi from 2018 to 2020. When not playing music I love to partake in all things outdoors (skiing, biking, hiking, etc.).

PhD fourth year, Ethnomusicology at University of California Los Angeles

Kate Hamori (she/her) is a second year PhD student in musicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds master’s degrees in musicology and library science from Indiana University Bloomington. Her recent musicological work has focused on intersections of cultural trauma, girlhood, and sonic violence as mediated by popular music and sound on social media platforms. Kate’s interests in music librarianship include ethical cataloging practices, library instruction, information literacy, and social media outreach. In addition to her studies, Kate works as a library student research assistant for the UCLA music library. A pianist and soprano, Kate is an active choral singer and enjoys accompanying the occasional high school musical whenever the opportunity presents itself. In her spare time, Kate enjoys editing Wikipedia and hanging out with her two cats, Hildegard and Igor.

Emmie Head (she/her) is a PhD student in the Department of Musicology. Emmie’s recent academic work has focused on the ways in which intellectual property policy and developing music technologies like AI challenge and complicate conceptions of musical ownership. She is especially interested in the practical implications of intellectual property policy and its effects on music makers who are disadvantaged by the law in a myriad of ways. As a delegate in the musicology department, Emmie brings her event planning experience and her desire to openly and honestly communicate with the department and members of school of music.