About lily

Lily Shababi is a musicologist, electronic musician, and violinist based in Los Angeles, CA.

As a classically trained musician, Lily has played with orchestras such as Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Philharmonic, and the Seattle Symphony. However, as a violinist Lily focuses on the performance of experimental and contemporary repertoire. This has been executed through mediums such as alternative tunings and electro-acoustic sound. Notable repertoire includes Philemon and Baukis by Lou Harrison (for violin and Javanese gamelan), Sotto/Sopra by Richard Karpen, and Vespers for Violin by Missy Mazzoli.

Lily’s knowledge of the contemporary field can also be traced through her compositions. Her works range from intimate chamber music to electronic pieces using digital softwares such as MAX/MSP, REAPER, and Audiomulch.

Her musicological research focuses on the relationships between voice, technology, and subjecthood that are cultivated by queer and trans musicians. Situating ethnographic methods amongst gender and technology studies, Lily demonstrates how material and practice-based approaches are essential to the research of electronic pop music. Lily has presented her work at the American Musicological Society, the Society for Ethnomusicology, the Internet Musicking conference and the Pacific Southwest Chapter of the American Musicological Society, where she received the Ingolf Dahl Award in May 2023.

Lily holds a BM with a focus in Violin Performance and Composition from Cornish College of the Arts and a MA in Musicology from UCLA. She is currently a PhD student in Musicology at UCLA.