Skip to main content
Intellect

BYU musicologist receives NEH grant to study Louis Armstrong

Brigham Young University School of Music faculty member Brian Harker received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities which will allow him to research jazz legend Louis Armstrong for three months in New York next fall.

Harker started researching Armstrong's early music career while attending Columbia University for his doctorate. He wrote his dissertation on Armstrong's career in the 1920s.

He had always wanted to turn his dissertation into a book on Armstrong. Since he is able to take a sabbatical next fall semester, he decided he would use the opportunity to finish the research for his book.

Even though many books have been written on Armstrong, little research has been conducted or written on Armstrong's early career in the 1920s, Harker said.

"The NEH grant is a great thing to receive, and I am delighted to get it," Harker said.

Harker plans to do most of his research at Rutgers University Institute of Jazz Studies in Newark, N.J., and the New York Public Library.

Harker is currently teaching music history and theory in the School of Music.

He received his bachelor's degree in music and master's degree in musicology from BYU.

Writer: Rebekah Hanson

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Wildfires in residential areas are on the rise; why hydrants and the water system behind them were never meant to stop those fires

July 01, 2025
BYU professor Rob Sowby teaches and studies environmental engineering, urban water infrastructure and sustainability. He has particular expertise in the planning, design, construction and operation of public water systems. That expertise has been increasingly important (and regularly sought out) in the wake of apocalyptic wildfires that have taxed those public water systems.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Meet the BYU math student helping make wildfire predictions faster and smarter

June 25, 2025
Using machine learning and math, a BYU student improved a key tool firefighters rely on during wildfire season
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Geology meets history: BYU professor studies WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches

June 05, 2025
Eighty years after D-Day, BYU geologists uncover lingering WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches to study how history still shapes the coastline today.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=