Chloe Swindler

Chloe Swindler, D.M.A., is an assistant professor in Berklee's Africana Studies Department. Her research and scholarship interests include Black American music from the 1880s to today, with a special interest in classical music, popular music, women’s music, and gender and sexuality in Black music scholarship. In her dissertation, "Contemporary Compositions for Trumpet by Black American Composers in an Era of Unrest and Change: Regina Harris Baiocchi’s 'Miles Per Hour,' Alvin Singleton’s 'Vous Compra,' and Alice Jones’s 'A handful of sand,'” Dr. Swindler explores how the social justice activism reignited in 2020 influenced three pieces by Black contemporary composers. In 2022, she presented a lecture recital at the International Trumpet Guild Conference titled Five Works for Trumpet by Black Female Composers. Her additional scholarship focuses on African American female instrumentalists—including Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, Harriet Gibbs Marshall, and others—and how their works and career accomplishments are contextualized within the Western art music canon.

In addition to being a Black music scholar and educator, Dr. Swindler is a musician, career coach, and entrepreneur. As a classically trained trumpeter, her career includes cross-genre engagements as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, jazz musician, and studio musician. Her recent career highlights include performing with pop singer Harry Styles at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2022), with Lizzo at the BET Awards (2022), and with Vanessa Williams with the Colour of Music Festival (2021).