About
Kenneth Levy (1927–2013) was best known for his contributions to the study of Latin, Byzantine, and medieval Slavic chant. He also published on thirteenth-century Western polyphony and the sixteenth-century French chanson. Levy was a beloved teacher fondly remembered by generations of Princeton students who studied with him or taught alongside him in “Introduction to Music” (Music 103). Born in New York City, Levy served in World War II and earned his bachelor’s degree from Queens College in 1947. He earned his MFA at Princeton in 1949. After a year studying at the Sorbonne on a Fulbright fellowship, he returned to Princeton to complete his Ph.D. in 1955 and was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship that same year. After 12 years as a faculty member of Brandeis University, he joined the faculty of Princeton in 1966, serving as chair of the music department from 1967 to 1970 and again in 1988, the same year in which he became the Scheide Professor of Music History. Levy received a senior Fulbright award and the 1989 ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. In 1988, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In 1994, he was elected a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. Levy served on the board of directors of the American Musicological Society, as well as on the editorial board of JAMS. He was married to Brooks Emmons Levy, who was a lecturer in classics at Princeton and served as curator of numismatics in Firestone Library’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections from 1967 to 2004. They had two children, Helen and Robert.
The Kenneth Levy Fund, established in 2014, supports the publication of scholarship on medieval music, including edited volumes and electronic publications and databases. The subventions awarded from this gift will be an honor for the recipients, creating the first AMS award that specifically recognizes the contributions of medievalists to our field. The new fund will complement the Martin Picker Endowment, which supports publications in the field of Renaissance music.
Proposals appropriate for the Kenneth Levy Fund are accepted by the AMS Publications Committee regularly. See AMS Publication Subventions for further details. Contributions to the Kenneth Levy Fund are warmly invited. Your support demonstrates an important commitment to the ideals and legacy of Kenneth Levy.

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