Mary Margaret Zrull
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music
Mary Margaret Zrull is a musicologist specializing in French music during World War II, with a focus on music written by French prisoners of war in Nazi captivity. Her research centers on music performance, education, and composition within POW camps, exploring the significance music held for prisoners of war and examining how wartime governments used prisoner-of-war music as propaganda.
Zrull has presented her research at regional and international conferences, including the 13th Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900 and the annual meeting of the South Central Chapter of the American Musicological Society. She has previously taught at Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky.
Recent Courses Taught
The Art of Active Listening
Music of Conflict and Triumph
Selected Presentations
- “Learning to Teach or Teaching to Learn? Tips and Encouragement for Graduate Teaching Assistants.” Teaching Music History Conference, New York, NY, June 2025. Co-presentation with Samantha Vivian, PhD Candidate, University of Kentucky.
- “Prisoners, Performances, and Propaganda: ‘Prisoner Concerts’ in Occupied Paris, 1941-1944.” McGill University Graduate Music Symposium, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, March 2025.
- “Songs of Captivity: Music Composition as Intimate Testimony of French Prisoners of War during World War II.” 13th Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900, Leuven, Belgium, September 2024.
- “Live from Paris, Vichy, and London: Music as Propaganda on French-Language Radio during World War II.” Annual Meeting of the South-Central Chapter of the American Musicological Society, Murfreesboro, TN, March 2022.
Professional Affiliations
- American Musicological Society
Appointed to the Faculty
2025Educational Background
Ph.D. and B.M., University of Kentucky
