Fredara Hadley

Fredara Mareva Hadley is an ethnomusicology professor in the Music History department, where she teaches courses on African American music and the field of ethnomusicology. She has presented her research at academic conferences both domestically and abroad.

At Juilliard, Hadley and Jeni Dahmus Farah co-curated the 2020 Black History Month exhibit Claiming Your Space: Honoring the Artistry and Activism of Black Juilliard Students. In 2024, Hadley continued the spirit of that exhibit by curating the Black History Month concert Claiming Your Space: A Celebration of Black Music at Juilliard, performed in honor of a 1934 concert organized by Black Juilliard students, The Negro in Music. Baritone, composer, and arranger Harry T. Burleigh presided over the original concert, while mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves presided over the 2024 concert.

Hadley’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Billboard magazine and in academic publications including American Music. Her commentary has been featured in the PBS docuseries Gospel, Little Richard: I am Everything and the Emmy-winning docuseries The 1619 Project.

Hadley's forthcoming book I'll Make Me a World centers on the musical contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their impact on Black music and beyond. She is an aluma of two Historically Black Colleges: Florida A&M University and Clark-Atlanta University. Hadley completed her PhD in ethnomusicology at Indiana University.