Peter Kohanski

I’m a Musicology PhD candidate (concentration in Musicology; minor in Choral Studies) at the University of North Texas, where my dissertation—“Sounding Britain, Crafting Self: Handel, Imperial Identities, and Eighteenth-Century Lives of Empire”—centers music as a vehicle for identity, power, and belonging.

My research connects Handel studies with questions of imperial identity, gender, and material culture. I’m developing peer-reviewed scholarship, including “Patriarchy and the Imperial Galant: A Musical Biography of Margaret Fowke” (in preparation) and published work such as “‘Oderiferous Oyls Balsams and Spirits’: Music and the Material Culture of Monarchy in Handel’s London,” with additional book reviewing experience.

I actively share this work through refereed conferences and invited talks across the U.S. and the U.K., including American Musicological Society and the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Whether addressing “Music, Age and Masculinity” or “Imperial Gender in Eighteenth-Century Calcutta,” I approach each presentation with a focus on evidence, interpretation, and scholarly conversation.

Teaching is equally central to my professional identity. As Instructor of Record (MUMH 1610) and as a Teaching Assistant and grader across music history and theory courses, I design learning experiences that help students read musical sources critically, understand historical context, and communicate their ideas confidently.