About

Rebecca Zola is a graduate student in musicology. Originally from Lexington, Massachusetts, she earned her BA in writing and her BFA in vocal performance from The New School in New York City. Rebecca’s main research interests lie in jazz and gender, and she is currently writing her master thesis on jazz and gender. Tentatively titled, “Women and Jazz: A Failed Brand”, her research studies how the phrase ‘women in jazz’ developed into a brand shaped by identity politics and the effects of neoliberalist marketing, and the lack of progress this brand has posed towards gender equity in the genre.

Since joining the graduate program at Hebrew University, Rebecca has presented her research at conferences around Israel and internationally. In April 2019, she presented a lecture on Arnie Lawrence at the Jazz and Hebrew Culture Conference at Ben Gurion University.  In addition, she presented her ongoing research on gender and jazz at the Tzlil Meudcan International Festival for Contemporary Music in Tel Aviv (July 2019) and at the Documenting Jazz Conference (January 2020) in Birmingham, England.  Additionally, she has presented a lecture on the representation of women in jazz pedagogical texts at The New School in February 2019.

Rebecca is a performing jazz vocalist and guitarist, and she has recorded her original music with her band, Zolaband as well as a solo project under her name, and has also recorded a jazz standards trio album.  She has performed around the United States at jazz clubs in New York and across New England, and has also performed at the Bern International Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and at several jazz clubs around Israel.
Rebecca is currently the managing review editor for YUVAL online academic journal for Jewish music.