Eben Graves promoted to be associate director of the ISM

Eben Graves

Congratulations to Dr. Eben Graves who has been promoted to the position of associate director of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. This promotion underscores the profound impact of Dr. Graves’ leadership and vision across the diverse areas of his portfolio.

Dr. Graves’ journey with the ISM began in 2018 when he joined as a program manager, overseeing the ISM fellows’ program, general events, and strategic initiatives. His role expanded in 2022 when he was promoted to be the assistant director, taking on additional responsibilities including the Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church, the Religion, Ecology, and Expressive Culture initiative, publications, art exhibitions, and overall calendar planning for the Institute.

Professor Martin Jean, director of the ISM, said, “Eben exercises a tireless though calm work ethic in everything he does. In many ways, his work encompasses much of the outward facing side of the ISM. With his staff, he provides a productive habitat for our many research fellows to explore and write, he welcomes distinguished visitors from around the world and provides a venue in which they can showcase their gifts, and he collects great minds around important topics to create new knowledge for later dissemination.”

Dr. Graves is also an accomplished ethnomusicologist, with his scholarly work focusing on devotional music from South Asia. His expertise is detailed in his book, The Politics of Musical Time: Expanding Songs and Shrinking Markets in Bengali Devotional Performance. Following his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Graves served as a postdoctoral fellow at the ISM from 2015-16 and later held a two-year Mellon postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Music at Columbia University. He is also a frequent lecturer at universities and conferences worldwide.

The ISM community extends its heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to Dr. Graves for his outstanding contributions to Yale and the Institute of Sacred Music.