Julian Duncan

Why FSU?

I chose to pursue graduate school for several reasons. Firstly, I wanted to challenge myself. Secondly, I value lifelong learning and felt at home in the university environment. Finally, I discovered a deep love for teaching while working as a private piano teacher, and I wanted to expand my pedagogy into the classroom. I chose FSU because it is home to one of the best music programs in the country, because graduate assistantships provide ample opportunities for teaching, and because I wanted to study with my dissertation advisor, Dr. Sarah Eyerly, who inspires me with her research, teaching, and professionalism.

Importance and/or impact of research and work

My dissertation project is about military and municipal bands in Puerto Rico from 1898–1945. It explores themes of identity and citizenship in a colonial context, musical transnationalism, and engages with a growing body of musicological literature emphasizing the significance of musical influences from the Caribbean on popular music and jazz history. I am additionally working to commission professionally arranged concert band and solo piano scores based on recordings by these bands, which will be made publicly accessible to libraries, bands, and institutions, and which I will use to conduct public facing workshops and lecture recitals.

Describe an aspect of your military service that is especially memorable or exceptional

Serving in the Georgia Army National Guard while attending Florida State University has been immensely rewarding. Standout experiences for me have been mobilizing to State Active Duty during the response to Hurricane Helene in 2024, attending the Advanced Leader's Course at the Army School of Music in 2024, and performing at both the ceremony and Capitol Building reception for the inauguration of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in 2023.

Tell us how your military service provided skills and experiences that you were able to apply to your graduate studies

The military provided me with the discipline, timeliness, and determination I needed to meet the demands of graduate school. As a musicologist simultaneously serving in an Army Band, it additionally provided me with a network and a professional understanding of the music that I research. This has been immensely valuable in my pursuit of research and in my applications for awards and funding. Finally, after entering ABD status, this experience assisted me in securing employment within the Florida Folklife program at the Florida Department of State, where I am tasked with administering the Major John Leroy Haynes Florida Veterans History Program.

Career aspirations

I love research, teaching, music making, and creating public facing creative and educational materials. I would love to continue working in public sector arts and culture programs like my current job at Florida Folklife or work in a university to foster ties between university and public sector arts and culture programs.

Accomplishments during graduate career

I am proud of publishing an article based on my research during my master's degree on French wartime nationalism in the ballet Parade in the journal First World War Studies. The article is entitled “‘As Long as It’s Not a Military March’: Negotiating Wartime Culture in Parade.” (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19475020.2024.2360194.) I am additionally proud of co-founding the College of Music's Dean's Student Advisory Council with undergraduate music student Emma Roberts and faculty advisors Eilzabeth Uchimura and Dr. Joanna Hunt in 2023, of assisting with the organization of and performing in the musicology area's Global Baroque tour in 2024, and of accepting a position within the Florida Department of State's Florida Folklife Program to implement and administer the Major John Leroy Haynes Florida Veterans History Program in 2024.