Benjamin Piekut

Benjamin Piekut is an Assistant Professor of Music at Cornell University's College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a PhD in Historical Musicology from Columbia University and has taught previously at the University of Southampton (UK). His research focuses on experimental music in the US/UK, post-1950 jazz, critical race/gender studies in music, improvisation, and performance studies. Piekut's work bridges avant-garde practices with political and cultural contexts, emphasizing conflicts and exclusions within 20th-century experimentalism.

His major publications include Experimentalism Otherwise (2011) and edited volumes like The Oxford Handbook of Critical Improvisation Studies. His co-authored article 'Deadness' won significant academic recognition. Piekut has held editorial roles at American Music, Current Musicology, and Jazz Perspectives. Research support includes grants from the Whiting Foundation, NEH, and AHRC. His career reflects a commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of music, politics, and technology.