PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES

One of my favorite areas of research is women in American music, from the turn of the twentieth century to the present. Our knowledge of women as soloists, ensemble members, and chamber musicians on the vaudeville stage, the parade field, and the concert hall is limited. It is a challenge to uncover lost information about the world of low brass, and how this gives life to the history of American music.

For download at no charge

• 124 Years of Listening to Ladies of Brass Handout
• Study Guide: Historic Female Trumpet Performers in the United States 
• Study Guide: Historic Female Horn Performers in the United States 
• Study Guide: Historic Female Trombone Performers in the United States 
• Study Guide: Historic Female Tuba Euphonium Performers in the United States 
• Dissertation (Hersey, 2006), “Such Unfemininine Instruments” Women Brass Musicians Before 1940
• Resources Handout: Women’s Military Bands in North America During WW2
• Handout: Using Genealogy Tools to Uncover the Lives of Women in American Music
• International Women’s Brass Conference Pioneer Information 
• Handout: Inclusive Music for Low Brass- A Beginning

Books

An Early History of Music Education in Universities: The Normal School Years
Jill M. Sullivan
Publisher TBD, 2019
“‘A Yardstick of Whiteness’ Music and Cultural Identity on the Lumber River” by Joanna Ross Hersey

Chronicling the musical activity in American Normal, or teacher training schools from their formation in the 19th century. The authors will examine the musical activities present in these early years, and showcase the musical experience given to teachers. As the schools were separated by race and often gender, the book will showcase diverse programs and provide a much-needed look into the history of American music education.

This collection presents a sweeping 140-year story of successful all-women’s bands in the United States and Mexico and fills many gaps in our inherited musical histories. Taken together, these essays present a powerful story of resilience, showing that in creating these musical ensembles, women also created an empowering space for their own gendered agency. It would be useful in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses on gender and music, gender studies, historical musicology and ethnomusicology. (Ellen Koskoff, University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music)

Jill Sullivan’s Bands of Sisters: U.S. Women’s Military Bands during World War II is a ‘must read’ for every music educator. Sullivan chronicled an important piece of American history that is not only informative but at times personal, emotional, and revelatory. I cheered, I chuckled, and I cried as I read it. The passion, excitement, and pain of the women in these bands touched both my head and my heart. Clearly, this is a powerful story and, just as clearly, Sullivan told it masterfully. (Journal of Historical Research in Music Education)

Sheet Music

This work for unaccompanied solo tuba features the extended lower range of the instrument and can be heard on my recent solo album, Zigzags.

My new publication series of historical arrangements for brass by women and minority composers debuted this summer.  My first installment is Three Medieval Songs, for solo tuba or euphonium, featuring two works by Hildegard von Bingen and one by Beatriz, Comtessa de Dia. This music can be heard on both of my solo albums, O quam mirabilis and Zigzags.

Articles

“Unrivalled and Unequalled: Gender and Brass in 19^th Century America.” Romantic Brass in Context, ed. von Steiger et al. Schliengen: Edition Argus, in press, 2024.

 “‘A Trained Teacher in Every Classroom’ Music and Belonging in BraveNation,” in An Early History of Music Education in Universities: The Normal School Years, Jill Sullivan, Ed. Rowan and Littlefield, Lanham, MD. 2023.                                                             

“Archive Corner,” Historic Brass Today, Vol. 3. April 2023, 10-11,2023.

“In Loving Memory of Joan Fann,” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the IWBC, 31/2, 5, 2022.

“Finding your Voice, with Kris Kwapis,” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the IWBC, 31/2, 10, 16-17, 2022.

“Leading from the Podium,” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the IWBC, 31/2, 18, 2022.

“Archive Corner,” Historic Brass Today, Vol. 2. October 2022, 10-11, 2022.

“Five Hundred Years of Low Brass: A Review of Doug Yeo’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Modern Trombone, Tuba and Euphonium Player,” Historic Brass Today, Vol. 1. 34, 2021.

“A Conversation with Augusta Read Thomas” in Brass Legacy: The Art of Brass Chamber Music, Op. 3/3, 2021.

“Helen May Butler and Cosmopolitan America, a Video Performance Review,” Historic Brass Today, Vol. 1, 7.  2021.

“Archive Corner,” Historic Brass Today, Vol. 1. 10-11, 2021.     

“IWBC Awardees Honored in Arizona,” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the IWBC, 27/2, 14-15, 2019.

“Developing Leadership, Marin Alsop and the Cultivation of Growth,” Noteworthy, 25/1, 8-9, 2018.                                                                              

“Expert’s Corner: The Stars and Stripes Forever Audition Excerpt,” International Tuba Euphonium Journal (ITEA), 44/1, 2016.

“An Attraction of Unusual Merit,” Women’s Bands on the Vaudeville Stage.”  Chapter in A History of Women’s’ Bands in America: Performing Music and Gender in Society, edited by Jill Sullivan. Rowan & Littlefield, Landham, MD. 2015. 

“Ten Tips for Tip Top Tuba Mamas: Pregnancy in a Low Brass Performance Career,” The International Tuba and Euphonium Journal, Volume 41, No. 3, Winter 2014, 35-36.

“The Athena Brass Band.” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Summer 2014, Volume 21, No. 1, p. 9.

“Bringing History to Light: New IWBC Awards for 2014.” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Summer 2014, Volume 21, No. 1, p. 10-11.

“East Meets West” Orchestral Program Showcases the Work of Women.” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Winter 2013, Volume. 20, No. 2, p. 4.

“IWBC 2012: Honoring Pioneers in Brass Performance.” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Winter 2012, Volume 18, No. 2, p. 9.

Sullivan, Jill. Bands of Sisters: U.S. Women’s Military Bands During World War II.  American Wind Band Society, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD. 2011.  This new book features a chapter which I contributed on the USCG SPAR Band of World War II.

Book Review: “New Book Release Catalogs History of Women’s Military Bands.” Noteworthy: Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Winter 2011, Volume 17, No. 2, p. 10.

“A Musician as well, The Tuba and Euphonium Schulen of Robert Kietzer,” The International Tuba and Euphonium Journal, Volume 39, No. 1, Fall 2011, 69-77.  Finalist, International Tuba and Euphonium Association Clifford Bevan Award for Excellence in Research, 2011.

Article Review: “Women of U.S. Coast Guard SPAR Band Remembered.” Official Newsletter of the International Women’s Brass Conference, Summer 2009, Volume 15, No. 1, p. 10.

“A History of the United States Coast Guard SPAR Band,” The Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, with Jill Sullivan, co-author. Vol. XXX, No. 2. April 2009, 118-146.

“Higher Aspirations for Low Brass,” The North Carolina Music Educator’s Journal, Volume 95, Number 2, Winter 2009, 26.

“The Entertainment Value of Novelty: Women Brass Performers on the Vaudeville Stage,” The Historic Brass Society Journal, Vol. 20. 2008, 155-173.

Thanks to Dave Werden for posting this article on his website.