Cole D. Swanson, PhD

I recently completed my Ph.D. in Musicology at Duke University, where I studied film music, sound design, opera, and philosophy. My dissertation “Material Ends: Hauntology, Anachrony, and Traces of the Analog in Digital Cinema” explores how contemporary filmmakers and composers utilize apparent contradictions between digital and analog sound to enrich narratives, engage in meaningful historical critiques, and even bend rules of time and space.

Translating music history into the classroom is ultimately what drives me. I currently serve as a Lecturer in Musicology at University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where I teach American music and the history of western music. My love of intellectual exploration is due to inspiring and empowering music educators, from my first piano teacher to my graduate advisors. I’m excited to follow in their footsteps, and to translate my expertise into pedagogy that fosters courageous and empathetic students.

As a pianist, vocalist, and percussionist, I’ve performed a broad repertoire of music across the country with theater companies and choirs at every level. I am currently the assistant music director for the Durham Savoyards (Durham, NC) and the assistant music director for UNC-Chapel Hill’s Music Theater program, and I work as a freelance collaborative pianist and vocal coach with soloists and ensembles throughout the greater Triangle NC area.

I hold an M.A. in Historical Musicology from Tufts University (Somerville, MA) and a B.A. in Music from St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN). When I’m not researching and writing, in the classroom with my students, or behind the piano at rehearsals, you can find me cooking delicious vegetarian food, scouring local bookstores for spy novels, hiking in Eno River State Park, watching the San Antonio Spurs, and spending time with my family.