Research Description: “Jazz in the Pews” explores the relationships between two Black Catholic musicians, Mary Lou Williams and Eddie Bonnemère, and two parishes for which they composed liturgical jazz: St. Thomas the Apostle Church, a Black Catholic parish in Harlem, and Saint Peter’s Church (Lutheran), a white Protestant congregation, in midtown Manhattan.
Chosen for her work in this important area, Dr. Witkowski is the recipient of the 2024 Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Research Fellowship.
