Megan Steigerwald Ille

Megan Steigerwald Ille's research examines the intersections of operatic, popular, and digital cultures in the twenty-first century United States and Canada. Her work on the contemporary opera industry considers questions of spectatorship, mediation, digital intimacy, access, community engagement, and performer experiences. Her teaching and mentorship interests center on research-based writing pedagogies, using digital humanities in the classroom, and professional development in academia (and beyond) for graduate students in the humanities. 

PhD: Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester Rochester NY, 2018 (Historical Musicology and Diploma in Ethnomusicology)

Twenty-first century opera
Voice and the Body
Digital Cultures
Children's Music and Media
Community Music Practice
Writing Pedagogy
Digital Humanities 

Peer Reviewed Publications

Megan Steigerwald Ille (2021. ) “‘Live’ in the Limo: Remediating Voice and Performing Spectatorship in Twenty-First Century Opera." .The Opera Quarterly, , 36 (1 ) ,pre-print.

Megan Steigerwald Ille (2020. ) "Negotiating Convention: Pop-Ups and Populism at the San Francisco Opera" .Journal of the Society of American Music, , 14 (3 ) ,419-450

Megan Steigerwald Ille (2021. ) The Operatic Ear: Mediating Aurality.Sound, Stage, Screen, , 1 (1 ) ,119-43 More Information

Published Books

Megan Steigerwald Ille (2024. ) Opera for Everyone: The Industry's Experiments with American Opera in the Digital Age .Ann Arbor , University of Michigan Press

Available Open Access

Book Chapter

Megan Steigerwald Ille (2023 ) "Murder, She Arranged: Canonic Dismemberments and Opera's Fragmented Legacies" Oxford Handbook for Arrangement Studies .New York City, Oxford University Press

2018-2020 Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Studies, American Culture Studies Program, Washington University in St. Louis, , St. Louis, MO