Christopher Lynch

Christopher Lynch, PhD, leads the Theodore M. Finney Music Library in the University of Pittsburgh Library System. As a musicologist, he challenges us to see music not just as art, but as a battleground for American ideals. His book Formulating Foster: Stephen C. Foster and the Creation of a National Musical Myth (Oxford, 2025) redefines how we understand the “father of American music” and the memories we build around our cultural icons.

Dr. Lynch is currently on a quest to resurrect the lost gospel music of Charles Henry Pace (1886–1963), meticulously working from the composer’s original printing plates. He’s also the co-editor of the insightful Listening Across Borders: Musicology in the Global Classroom (Routledge, 2022), and his influential research has been featured in scholarly journals like the Journal of the Society for American Music, Musical Quarterly, and American Music. He has also engaged wider audiences through publications like Salon and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and his work has garnered global media attention.