Dr. Maria Acuña

Biography

Maria Virginia Acuña began her musical studies at the Conservatorio Nacional Superior de Música in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds degrees from the University of British Columbia (B.A., M.A.) and the University of Toronto (Ph.D., 2016). Her research focuses on European music history and culture from 1500 to 1750, exploring areas such as Spanish musical theatre, opera, exoticism, orientalism, and the intersections of music with gender and race. Acuña's research has been recognized with several awards including the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship and honors from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her work has been published in notable journals such as Eighteenth-Century Music and Early Music, and she co-authored the book 'Claudio Monteverdi: Research Information Guide' with Susan Lewis. Currently, she is engaged in a book project examining female operatic cross-dressing in early modern Spain, as well as studies on witchcraft in musical theatre and representations of race and ethnicity in opera. Before joining the University of Victoria, she held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University and has taught music history courses at various institutions including Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Research Interests

Courses