Patricia Vergara is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of California, Merced. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Piano Performance from Berklee College of Music, and received both her MA and PhD in Ethnomusicology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Most of her research focuses on the linkages between musical practices, class, race, and gender struggles, nationhood, and political violence. Vergara’s current book project examines processes of musical migrations and recontextualization between Mexico and Colombia, and the workings of musical meaning, memory, and belonging in contexts of neoliberal multiculturalism and political conflict. She participates in the research project Gateway to Merced, a collaboration involving UC Merced researchers and citizens of the city of Merced. Through ethnography, archival work, and the collection of oral histories, the project’s goal is to generate greater awareness of the shared experiences, including musical ones, of the economically, racially, and ethnically diverse communities of Merced. She performs regularly on piano with various local groups, and is the Director of Arts UC Merced Presents, the University’s performing arts series.
