Chris Jenkins

Biography

At Oberlin Conservatory, Christopher Jenkins is the Associate Dean for Academic Support, the Conservatory Liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology. In 2023 his first book, Assimilation v. Integration in Music Education, was published by Routledge Press and the College Music Society. Chris is currently earning a DMA in viola performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a PhD in musicology from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), where his work focuses on African-American musical aesthetics. Before coming to Oberlin, he was Deputy Director and instructor of viola and violin at the Barenboim-Said Foundation in Ramallah, West Bank.

In 2022, alongside music theorist Philip Ewell, Chris was a co-founder and co-organizer of the Theorizing African American Music conference held at CWRU. Chris is the winner of several awards for scholarship and music performance, including the Karamu House “Room in the House” Fellowship; CWRU’s Adel Heinrich Award for Excellence in Musicological Research; American Society for Aesthetics’ Irene Chayes “New Voices” award; the American Viola Society’s David Dalton Research Competition; and as third-place laureate in the Sphinx Competition. His alma maters include Harvard University, Columbia University, New England Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music.