Lydia Bangura (she/her) is a singer and a doctoral student in music theory at the University of Michigan. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree from Roosevelt University, both in vocal performance. She is the founder and host of the music research podcast series, Her Music Academia, and serves as the student representative on the Society for Music Theory's Standing Committee on Race and Ethnicity. Bangura also serves on the graduate student committee for Project Spectrum. Her dissertation, titled “Black Feminist Sound in the Past, Present, and Future: Florence Price as Collaborator,” explores the art songs and spiritual arrangements of Florence Price. A lifelong music performer, Bangura additionally has ten years of experience as a violist, and enjoys singing art song, chamber works, spirituals, and oratorio. She was recently the recipient of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Dillard Scholar Award (2023) and selected as the winner of the Fifth-Year Classical Treble division of the Michigan NATS competition (2024). Her recent operatic roles include the Mother in Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, Pamina, Papagena, and Second Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Govinda in Christopher Theofanidis’ Siddhartha, She, and the solo soprano in Judith Weir’s one woman show, King Harald's Saga.