Contact Information

Biography

Nicole Vilkner is a musicologist and singer whose research interests span salon culture, opera, architecture of performance spaces, soundscape, and the material cultures of music, focusing particularly on the social and sonic histories of nineteenth-century Paris. Her recent and forthcoming publications appear in Journal of the American Musicological Society, Journal of Musicology, Journal of the Royal Music Association, Cambridge Opera Journal, among others.

Committed to public-facing scholarship, Dr. Vilkner launched the Soundwalk Projects—interactive, place-based exhibits that use sound to narrate the histories of Pittsburgh neighborhoods, including the Soundwalk at the Frick and the Soundwalk in the Hill District. Created in collaboration with students and community partners, including the Frick Pittsburgh, and the Historic Hill Institute, these exhibits have received multiple institutional awards. These public history projects emphasize sensorial engagement with history, interdisciplinary approaches, and collaborative storytelling.

At Duquesne, Dr. Vilkner teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses that span topics such as musical entrepreneurship, gender and sexuality in music, disability in music, and the role of architecture and environment in musical experience. Her mentorship of student research has resulted in award-winning projects and national conference presentations. She was named a Catalyst Fellow for her work in community-engaged teaching and received Duquesne’s Creative Teaching Award in 2024.

As a vocalist, Dr. Vilkner’s performance career included regular collaborations with the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York and American Composers Alliance. She holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from Rutgers University, an M.M. in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and an A.B. in English from Princeton University.

Education

  • Ph.D., Rutgers University
  • M.M., Manhattan School of Music
  • B.A., Princeton University

Areas of Expertise

  • Historical Musicology
  • French Opera
  • Material Cultures of Music
  • Music and Built Environment
  • Musical Marketing and Advertising

School

Associated Programs

  • Constructing Celebrity at Cours-la-Reine in Massenet's Manon (1884).  Journal of the American Musicological Society 78, No. 1 (forthcoming, 2025)
  • Enfilade and Variations: Interpreting Salon Music through Residential Architecture in Eighteenth Century Paris. ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830 14, No. 2 (2024), Article 4.
  • Re-examining salon space: Structuring audiences and staging music at Parisian receptions, Journal of the Royal Musical Association 147, No. 1 (2022): 221–248.
  • Articulating Urban Culture: Coach Horns in the Long 19th Century, Journal of Musicology 39, No. 2 (2022): 225–254.  
  • The Opera and the Omnibus: Material Culture, Urbanism, and Boieldieu’s La dame blanche, Cambridge Opera Journal 32, No. 1 (March 2020): 90–114.