Nadia Chana

Nadia Chana is an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology at the Mead Witter School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her scholarship bridges music studies, critical Indigenous studies, and feminist science studies to examine listening, voice, ecological crises, and settler colonialism through multi-sited fieldwork in Alberta and California.

• PhD in Ethnomusicology, University of Chicago (2019)
• Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Voice Performance, University of Manitoba (2010)
• B.A. Hons. in English Literature and B.Mus. in Music Scholarship, University of British Columbia (2009)

Her research focuses on relational listening, Indigenous-settler relations, and practice-based epistemologies. Current projects include the book Unsettling Publics: Listening Beyond Sound on Indigenous Lands, exploring ethnographic methodologies and ecological entanglements.

Recent publications address topics such as settler accountability in Indigenous territories, diasporic encounters with Indigenous lands, and collaborative artistic practices. Her work often integrates interdisciplinary frameworks to challenge conventional academic and musical boundaries.

• 2024 Jaap Kunst Prize
• Robert Walser and Susan McClary Fellowship
• Howard Mayer Brown Fellowship
• Ida Halpern Fellowship

Chana co-founded the Bicycle Opera Project (2012), a mobile contemporary opera initiative in Canada. She also engages with community-based research and performance practices that emphasize ecological and social justice.