Michele Aichele

Michele Aichele is a PhD candidate in Musicology from the University of Iowa, with a MA from the University of Oregon and a BA from Whitman College (Washington). Her interests are in the role of women in composing, performing, teaching, and patronage in music. She focuses on early 20^th-century United States and female religious houses in the Middle Ages. Her dissertation examines the reception of French female composer Cécile Chaminade (1857–1944) in the United States. She seeks to discover why this particular woman composer’s music became so popular across the Atlantic, including the inspiration of hundreds of American Chaminade clubs. In this context, Michele analyzes how traditional roles of femininity conflict and coincide with Chaminade’s public persona and career. In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Michele performs flute music by women composers.

An avid scholar, Michele was an AAUW American Fellow for her dissertation on Chaminade, a Sunriver (Oregon) Young Artists Scholar, a recipient of a Perry Grant, and a recipient of a 2010 Honorable Mention for Newly Published Music by the National Flute Association. In 2013, Michele took first place in the Humanities division of the University of Iowa Jakobson Graduate Student Conference.

Currently Michele lives in San Antonio, Texas. Her love of learning translates easily to her work with Liberty Park Music. Not only does she get to share her passion for great music and learn from the talented Liberty Park Music teachers, she also gets to help educate more people across the globe through Liberty Park Music’s services. In her free time, Michele enjoys spending time with her husband, reading, and playing with her cats.