Gretchen Carlson Carlson

Gretchen Carlson is currently serving as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Sunderman Conservatory, where she teaches courses in musicology. She is also an Assistant Teaching Professor of Music History & Culture at Towson University, where she teaches courses in jazz history, film/media music, contemporary music, American music, and music bibliography and research. 

Carlson's interdisciplinary approach to teaching and scholarship demonstrates her investment in recognizing and understanding music as a unique creative force that reflects and transforms human society, media, and culture. Her recent book, Improvising the Score: Rethinking Modern Film Music Through Jazz – which was awarded Honorable Mention for the 2023 Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) Jazz Award for Book of the Year – provides a vivid investigation of innovative collaborations between renowned contemporary jazz artists and prominent independent filmmakers, exploring how these integrative jazz-film productions challenge us to rethink the possibilities of cinematic music production. She has also authored several articles featured in the Journal of the Society for American Music and Jazz and Culture. She is currently writing on Jon Batiste's genre-defying, collaborative, and socially-active music and artistic philosophies. She has presented her research at both national and international conferences, including annual meetings of the Society for American Music, the American Musicological Society, the Jazz Education Network, and Rhythm Changes.

An active pianist, Carlson balances her research and teaching with solo and collaborative performance (including her duo with guitarist Todd Izydorski, called the Sunflowers) and runs a private piano studio.