Michigan Society of Fellows: 55th Anniversary Symposium View Other Sessions

The program will open with welcome remarks from Scotti Parish, followed by a panel considering the question: What insights into the human and cosmic past can be gained through sound? This panel brings together perspectives from music, physics, and history to explore how sonic phenomena shape our understanding of temporal, cultural, and material worlds.

• Roger Matthew Grant, Wesleyan University, Music
• G. Scott Watson, Syracuse University, Physics
• Alice Goff, University of Chicago, History

Mingle with fellow scholars over strolling appetizers in a welcoming atmosphere.

Experience the music of the Kingdom of Haiti! From fierce anti-colonial anthems to moving royal tributes to virtuosic operatic excerpts, this lecture-recital brings to life the sounds of a fledgling monarchy striving for grandeur and recognition in the wake of the Haitian Revolution. Through performances of these works—most of them presented for the first time—audiences will hear how Henry Christophe, Haiti’s one and only King, strategically used music to glorify his nascent kingdom, enrapture foreign dignitaries, and wreak havoc on Atlantic narratives of Black incapacity for self-rule and artistic achievement.

• Introduction: Rebecca Scott, Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History and Law Emerita

• Vocalist: Jean Bernard Cerin, baritone, Cornell University, Assistant Professor of Music

• Commentary: Henry Stoll (2022-2025, Musicology), American Council of Learned Societies Fellow

• Piano: Matthew Bengtson, Associate Professor of Music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance