Dr. Meghan Gilhespy, DMA
Pronouns: she/they
- Assistant Professor, Jazz Studies, Music, School of Performance
Are you the profile owner?
Sign in to editThesis supervision details
Supervised programs: Individualized Program (MA, MSc) | Individualized Program (PhD) | Humanities (PhD)
Research areas: Improvisation, extended techniques, gender studies, jazz historiography, voice
Contact information
Email:
Website:
Biography
Meghan Gilhespy is an experimental vocalist and jazz scholar specializing in feminist jazz historiography. She researches the cultural politics of experimental jazz singing and is the first woman in Canada to obtain a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Jazz Studies. In addition to a long history of conventional jazz performance—including her own published album Vive Le Tour (2016), Gilhespy has done studio work for Netflix and The National Film Board of Canada, and presented multiple improvised performances with dancers, expanding her skills as an experimental vocal improviser. She is the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Concordia University and has been a faculty member at the Creative Music Workshop since 2024.
Publications
Journal Articles
Gilhespy, M. (2025). “June Tyson: On Erasure and Relevance.” Journal of Jazz Studies 16 (2): 290–303. https://jjs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/jjs/article/view/319.
Gilhespy, M. (accepted, forthcoming). “Christine Duncan and DB Boyko’s Improvisations: The Sounds and Gender Politics.” Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation. Special issue: “Reimagining Gender.”
Reviews
Gilhespy, M. (2021). “RIPM Jazz (Database).” Review of the RIPM Jazz Periodicals database. CAML Review / Revue de l’ACBM 49 (1). https://doi.org/10.25071/1708-6701.40399.
Gilhespy, M. (accepted, forthcoming 2026). Review of Blues Mamas and Broadway Belters: Black Women, Voice, and the Musical Stage, by Masi Asare. MUSICultures.
Manuscripts in Preparation
Gilhespy, M. (in preparation; intended submission December 2026). “Textbook Mothers: Maternal Narratives in Jazz Historiography.” Jazzforschung / Jazz Research, vol. 57 (2028), special issue: “Jazz and the Popular.”
Gilhespy, M. (in preparation). “Jazz Reanimated: White Women’s Cringe Performance of Scat Singing.” Paper to be presented at the Australasian Jazz and Improvisation Research Network (AJIRN), Australia, November 2026.
Magazine Articles
Gilhespy, Meghan. 2021. “Understory: Exploring the Roots of Artistic Interdependence”. WholeNote Magazine. https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/blog/general-music/31172-understory-exploring-the-roots-of-artistic-interdependence
Gilhespy, Meghan. 2021. “From Move To Checkmate”. WholeNote Magazine. https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/beatcolumns-sp-2121861476/choral-jazznotes/31152-from-move-one-to-checkmate
Gilhespy, Meghan. 2021. “Music and the Movies: Fire Music”. WholeNote Magazine. https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/blog/music-and-the-movies/31319-music-and-the-movies-fire-music
Gilhespy, Meghan. 2020. “The Oud & The Fuzz: Community Building in Challenging Times”. WholeNote Magazine. thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/blog/general-music/30561-the-oud-the-fuzz-community-building-in-challenging-times