Fanny Gribenski

Fanny Gribenski is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Music at New York University. Her work bridges musicology, history of science, and sound studies, focusing on the intersections of music with religion, technology, politics, and global history. She holds a Habilitation from École Normale Supérieure of Lyon (2022) and a PhD from École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris (2015). Her research explores sonic practices as sites of epistemological and material exchange, with notable monographs like Tuning the World: The Rise of 440 Hertz in Music, Science, and Politics (2023) and L’Église comme lieu de concert (2019).

Her research interests include the materiality of sound, global postcolonial histories, and the role of music in shaping modern societies. Awards and fellowships include the NYU Center for the Humanities Faculty Fellowship (2023-24), the American Musicological Society’s publication subvention (2022), and the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship (2016-17). She has held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (Berlin) and the French National Center for Scientific Research (Paris).

Her recent work examines musical instruments’ ecological impacts and imperial legacies. Articles span journals like Past and Present, ISIS, and Journal of Musicology, analyzing topics from 19th-century church acoustics to the global networks of tuning forks. She co-edits volumes on religious music practices and contemporary studio cultures, and her public engagement includes a YouTube documentary on pitch standardization debates.

• Education:
  • Habilitation, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (2022)
  • PhD, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (2015)
• Grants & Awards:
  • Émergence Grant “FOMA” (2021-23)
  • Thiers Foundation Doctoral Fellowship (2014-15)
• Labs/Teams: Collaborates with NYU’s Center for the Humanities and international research networks on materialism in critical humanities.