About

Ph.D., Brandeis University 

M.F.A., Brandeis University 

M.S.M., University of Notre Dame 

M.Mus., Stony Brook University 

B.A., University of Hawaii at Mānoa

Dr. Zen Kuriyama is a musicologist, choral conductor, and singer who currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of the College Choir at Bates College. Zen’s cross-disciplinary scholarship engages with the fields of musicology, Jewish studies, Christian sacred music, liturgical theology, affect theory, and performance. He is writing his first book, Jewishness and an English Sound: Gerald Finzi and Twentieth-Century English Nationalism. Before coming to Bates, Zen was Assistant Professor of Music History at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. 

Publications 

Monograph-length publications

Kuriyama, Zen. “Englishness, Jewishness, and the English Sound: Gerald Finzi and the English Musical Renaissance.” PhD Diss, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2024.

Book Chapters

“RESIGNATION and Virgil Thomson’s Hymns from the Old South.” Christian Sacred Music in the Americas. Ed. Andrew Shenton & Joanna Smolko. Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. (peer reviewed) 

Articles and Essays

“Gerald Finzi and the English Musical Renaissance.” The Finzi Journal (UK). December 2018. Ed. Martin Bussey. (peer reviewed)

Critical Edition Work

Manuscript-to-software notation input and proofreading for critical editions of Sebastian Knüpfer’s vocal-orchestral works, published by the American Institute of Musicology. Editorial board for edition: Peter Wollny, Mary Frandsen, & Paul Walker. Summer, 2018 & 2019. (peer reviewed)

Invited Lectures & Talks 

“Faure’s Requiem in its musical and theological contexts.” Harvard Catholic Forum/Harvard Catholic Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. November 7, 2024. 

“Finzi, Thorpe Davie, and St Andrews.” University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK. February 11, 2023. 

“Gerald Finzi and the Art of English Song.” School of Music at Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN. Two-Day Residency (lecture, lecture recital, workshop, and masterclass). April 13 & 14, 2021. 

‘“Dear Ceddie,”: Discovering Gerald Finzi through his correspondence with St Andrews’ Master of Music, Cedric Thorpe Davie.” University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK. October 9, 2019. 

“Gerald Finzi and the English Musical Renaissance.” St Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. February 4, 2019.