Olivia Carter Mather is a musicologist of American popular music who has written on rock, country, blues, and the medieval nun Hildegard von Bingen. Her bachelor's is in history from Vanderbilt and she holds master's degrees in musicology and cultural studies from the Claremont Graduate University. She earned a PhD in musicology from UCLA in 2006. Since 2016, she has taught at Chapman University in Orange, CA. Olivia lives in Long Beach, CA with her husband and three teenaged children. She enjoys collectibles like coins and baseball cards. Olivia serves TEND as Executive Assistant.   

Olivia on growth:

For musicians to grow, they must practice. It’s a commitment that is mostly under the musician’s control. The timing of growth may be unpredictable because it comes in fits and starts, but some kind of improvement is guaranteed. But what happens when you can’t control the environment, when distractions distract, intrusions intrude, and our faults take over? What happens when “life happens”? This is the critical moment of potential. I can kick and scream against reality or I can let it expose my frailty. The choice becomes more difficult when what’s at stake are the important things in life, the things I most want to control. My most powerful seasons of personal growth have been unpredictable to me. They’ve happened after my initial kicking and screaming, when I’ve moved forward in vulnerability by God’s grace.