Kristin Scarola                                  view cv

Kristin Scarola currently lives with her husband and two greyhounds (Alfie and Kahlil) in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She studied jazz performance and ethnomusicology as undergraduate at New York University. She delved into the creative techniques of ethnomusicology while in Prague, Czech Republic, studying street music of the city and creating a recorded piece of the sounds she encountered in that city's environment. She went on to study Javanese gamelan, Ewe dance drumming and Irish traditional music while at the University College Cork, Ireland.  After returning from abroad, she completed her BA with her colloquium entitled, "Integrating the Foreign into the Familiar: A Look at Ethnomusicology and Improvisational Performance."  Also presented at the discussion was a mixed media artist book, one of her first visual art pieces in many years, along with an audio track.

Following her BA, Kristin taught in public schools in Hoboken and Jersey City.  Dedicated to her students and their needs both academically and personally, she sought to find ways in which to integrate teaching into her art practice.  It was also during this time that she began to dabble , then seriously work in the visual arts, primarily black and white photography. With her interests persisting in music, developing in art and demanding  social action, she decided to return to NYU for her MA.  

While working on her MA, Kristin gained a strong background in ethnography and oral history, learning from experts in the field including Judith Sloan, Yale Strom, Dr. Deborah Kapchan and Dr. Jason Stanyek.  Improvisation had always been a visible part of her life, not only as a musician, but also simply as a human interacting within the given environment. Rooted in NY immigration, Kristin became interested in how improvisation is enacted in the experience of immigration and so her research topic was born: New Americans, New Music, New York: An Ethnography of Women Improvisers.  

Currently, Kristin continues her teaching practice as an educator at the Brooklyn Museum.  She strives to empower children to think independently and critically through viewing and making art.