Kristi Brown-Montesano
educator
About this Artist
A public scholar, educator, and musicologist, Dr. Kristi Brown-Montesano finds joy in teaching people about music and culture. For nearly two decades (2003-2022), she served as Chair of Music History at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, helping to shape the degree programs of that institution. Since 2022, Brown-Montesano has served as a faculty Lecturer in Musicology at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, where she has the privilege of working with a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate students. Brown-Montesano is also an active scholar-educator with many of Southern California’s acclaimed musical organizations, including the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, La Jolla Music Society, and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. A member of the LA Phil’s Upbeat Live faculty since 2017, Brown-Montesano especially loves talking with young listeners; she frequently collaborates with the LA Phil Learning team to present educational content for youth concerts and invited rehearsals for local music students.
A respected opera scholar, Dr. Brown Montesano is an affiliated scholar with LA Opera Connects. Her book, “Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas” originally published by the University of California Press in 2007 was reissued in paperback in 2021, responding to a growing new readership interested in fresh, feminist critique of opera culture and reception. Brown-Montesano’s other research areas include classical music in contemporary media, public musicology, the popular reception of J.S. Bach in postwar America, and various manifestations of Sherlock Holmes as musician, including the mystery of his preference for old Italian violins.