Allison Chu is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. Her primary research areas include American opera in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, contemporary classical music, and musical manifestations of race and identity. Her current book project investigates how embracing the documentary impulse has transformed American opera in the twenty-first century, a trend she terms “documentary opera.” She recently submitted her dissertation for her Ph.D. in Music History at Yale University, and she also holds degrees from Yale and the University of Michigan.

In addition to her scholarly endeavors, Chu is a co-founder and educational partner of Midnight Oil Collective Innovations, and she has also written and given public lectures for Boston Lyric Opera and the Lakes Area Music Festival.