Dr. Elizabeth Medina-Gray is associate professor of music theory in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Ithaca College, where she teaches courses in music theory, aural skills, and (in Fall 2017 and Fall 2019) analysis of video game music. Dr. Medina-Gray received her Ph.D. in Music Theory from Yale University in 2014. In her dissertation and subsequent research, she has focused on developing novel analytical approaches to music and sound in video games. She has presented her work at national and international conferences, including national meetings of the Society for Music Theory, the American Musicological Society, and the North American Conference on Video Game Music (NACVGM). She has served on the program committee for NACVGM and serves on the executive committee for the international Society for the Study of Sound and Music in Games (SSSMG). She is co-Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Sound and Music in Games, which is published quarterly by SSSMG and University of California Press. Her work appears in Music Theory Online (2019), The Oxford Handbook of Video Game Music and Sound (2024), The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music (2021), and other edited volumes.
Prior to arriving at Ithaca College in 2016, Dr. Medina-Gray taught courses in music theory and aural skills at Yale University, Oberlin Conservatory, and Humboldt State University. She has worked with a diverse body of students in a wide variety of academic environments, and she aims to encourage high levels of musicality and critical engagement in her classrooms. Dr. Medina-Gray also holds M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in Music Theory from Yale, as well as a B.A. in Music and Chemistry from Swarthmore College. Outside of her professional pursuits, she enjoys nature, bird watching, and gardening.