Chelsea Burns

Chelsea Burns is an Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music, affiliated with the Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and prior faculty roles at Eastman School of Music and Harvard University.

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Chicago
• Bachelor of Music, University of North Carolina–Greensboro

Her research focuses on Latin American modernist concert music and vernacular genres like country/bluegrass, emphasizing how economic, political, and material contexts shape musical analysis. Key themes include race, postcoloniality, instrumental technologies, and class dynamics. She regularly presents at conferences such as the Society for Music Theory and American Musicological Society.

Her recent work explores Brazilian Indigeneity in classical music, pedal steel guitar innovation in 1960s country, and race dynamics in 1970s country-soul crossovers. Articles highlight critical re-evaluations of canonical works through contextual lenses, challenging traditional interpretations.

Award-winning contributions to music theory and ethnomusicology are complemented by her active role in Austin’s bluegrass scene as a performer and board member of the Central Texas Bluegrass Association.