Esther Morgan-Ellis Interview
Esther Morgan-Ellis is Associate Professor of Music History and Assistant Director of Academic Engagement at the University of North Georgia. Esther’s research focuses on “participatory music-making of the past and present,” including “the US community singing movement, 20th-century sing-along media, old-time music, and Sacred Harp singing.”
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
I suppose I would have to start my story with the day I auditioned for a music scholarship at the University of Puget Sound. On the application there was a little box to check if you were interested in majoring in music, and I thought “Oh, I could do that.” It hadn’t really occurred to me before. I ended up going there and getting a Bachelor of Music in cello performance. However, by the time I was headed into my senior year it was clear to me that I didn’t have the single-minded focus that it takes to have a successful career as a performer. I enjoyed doing too many different things. I took lessons in voice and trombone and sang in choirs and played in jazz band and trombone ensemble. To really make it as a cellist, you have to put all of your time into that one thing.
My music history professor had been bugging me for years to go to grad school in musicology. I really wasn’t interested, but I wanted to stay in school and I didn’t know what other field to apply in, so I asked him to recommend some schools. When he sent me a list of Ivy League institutions I was pretty horrified. I didn’t think there was any way I could get into a place like Harvard or Yale. But he told me to go for it, and I ended up being accepted to Yale!