Music Historian, Professor, Farmer

A man in a black suit, white shirt, and pink tie stands on a wooden stage, speaking into a microphone. Behind him, there is a large screen displaying sheet music and Chinese text about Bach and Beyoncé, with the title 'Music as Work, Music as Art' and the speaker's name, Michael Sy Uy, PhD. A grand piano is on the right side, and a lectern with the logo 'CEIBS' is on his left. The background features wood-paneled walls and a ceiling with recessed lighting.

Hello! I’m Michael Sy Uy, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Director of the American Music Research Center, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale University. I am the author of Ask the Experts: How Ford, Rockefeller, and the NEA Changed American Music (2020) and Endowing Equity: The NEA, Cultural Diversity, and the Battle for Arts Funding (forthcoming 2027).

I am a historian of American music in the 20th and 21st centuries. My work focuses on how philanthropy, cultural policy, and institutions have shaped music in the United States, especially around questions of cultural equity, pluralism, and diversity.

I care about living in a world that celebrates human potential, that is fairer and more equal, and that safeguards our natural resources.

Areas of Study

U.S. Cultural Policy, 20th and 21st-Century U.S. History, Philanthropy, Arts Funding, Cultural Innovation, Humanities PhDs and Higher Education

Education

Harvard University, PhD
Oxford University (Merton College), MPhil
UC Berkeley, BA

Affiliations

Associate Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder
Director of the American Music Research Center
Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Cultural Innovation Lab at Yale

Get in Touch

I welcome inquires of many kinds, including about my scholarship, public and social engagement, humanities and higher education, and classroom teaching.

Contact

Outside of the academic year, I co-own with several friends a peony farm in Hartland, Vermont. I enjoy running, biking, hiking, and physically enduring challenges!

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Two individuals standing in front of an auditorium with a large screen displaying an event announcement. The person on the left is a man in a white shirt and beige pants, smiling, with a yellow lei around his neck. The person on the right is a woman in a patterned dress, also smiling, with a yellow leis around her neck and a flower headpiece. The event details on the screen mention a lecture recital about Hawaiian music, scheduled for October 12, 2025, at the College of Music.
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Four people smiling together in a room, with a woman in the middle and three men around her, one holding a violin. The background features wooden paneling and a music stand with sheet music.