Jazz Musician and Professor Monika Herzig Emphasizes Interdisciplinarity in Performance
Jazz, gender and entrepreneurship — what do these topics have in common? To most people, they may seem disconnected, but not to acclaimed jazz musician and professor Monika Herzig. During her visit to NC State on March 26, Herzig illuminated the ways in which these seemingly unrelated topics are intertwined.
Monika Herzig is an award-winning jazz pianist and composer. She has toured the world with artists like YES and Sting, has been featured on NPR and JazzWeek, and her new album Transparent is quickly climbing the charts. Alongside her successful career as a musician, Herzig holds a doctorate in music education and jazz studies from Indiana University and is the current Vice Rector chair at JAM Music Lab in Vienna, Austria. Her recent research has been focused on the intersection of jazz and gender.
Hosted by the Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs in conjunction with NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Department of Performing Arts and Technology, and Arts NC State, this day was intended to highlight the interdisciplinarity and interrelatedness of the arts, sciences, humanities and entrepreneurship. Throughout the day, Herzig did just that. As she talked and performed, it was clear to listeners how interdisciplinarity is almost inherent to jazz and how Herzig engages it intentionally in her research.
The day began with a lecture titled “But Can She Play?” Students, faculty and staff joined together at the Albright Entrepreneurship Garage to hear Herzig speak on the relationship between jazz and entrepreneurship.
Using the jazz jam session as a metaphor, Herzig explored how the tenets of jazz improvisation relate to entrepreneurial success. Just as companies like Netflix and Caterpillar thrive when they employ things such as individual expertise, democratic leadership, mentorship and an openness to new ideas, so does jazz. Herzig deepened the conversation by raising questions on how gender, its stereotypes and societal pressures, impact those same elements of jazz.
Throughout the talk, Herzig brought the jam session to life. She encouraged the audience to share their perspectives, their creativity and their ideas. The room was alive with conversation between people from across the university, and Herzig’s interdisciplinary research became a platform for interdisciplinary engagement.
In the evening, Herzig exchanged PowerPoint for piano. Joining her all-female jazz group, Sheroes, Herzig put on an intimate jazz performance at the Price Music Center. Alongside Herzig on the piano was flutist Jamie Baum, bassist Bethany Robinson and drummer Karina Colis. A group formed to confront and upend gender stereotypes in jazz, each woman brought her musical expertise to the performance. As they wove their skills together, Sheroes gave form to the ideas Herzig laid out earlier in the day. Instead of being something to discuss, interdisciplinarity became something you could hear.
Conversation continued through the set, and the night ended with everyone mingling, chatting and connecting. Thank you to Monika Herzig for so brilliantly showing how art fits into interdisciplinary conversations. And showing how, through collaboration and improvisation, we can all find creative paths forward in our work.
