Official Blog | UCGPC

Stephanie Valadez PhD Student in Music at UC Santa Cruz

Scholar | Performer | Advocate for Indigenous Knowledge and Equity

Meet Stephanie Valadez (she/her), a third-year PhD student in Cross-Cultural Musicology at UC Santa Cruz, with a Designated Emphasis in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. As a researcher, performer, and advocate, Stephanie brings a unique and powerful voice to the 2025 UCGPC Board. Her work bridges scholarship, art, and activism to uplift marginalized communities and challenge systems of erasure within and beyond academia.

Scholarship Grounded in Cultural Preservation and Justice

Stephanie’s research focuses on music, dance, and ritual practices of Indigenous communities in the Valley of Mexico, exploring how colonialism, mistranslation, and appropriation have been used to distort Indigenous epistemologies. She is particularly interested in Nahuatl linguistics and poetics, and her academic work reflects a deep commitment to decolonial practices, cultural preservation, and Indigenous sovereignty.

As a Cota-Robles Fellow and Arts Research Institute Fellow, she brings scholarly rigor and lived experience to her interdisciplinary work centering voices often excluded from traditional musicology and academia.

Leadership in Service of Community

Stephanie serves as the External Vice President of the UCSC Graduate Student Association, where she advocates for graduate student rights and well being across the UC system. She is also the Executive Artistic Director of Xicameri Productions, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting justice and equity through music and dance by spotlighting underrepresented voices.

Her leadership extends across the arts and education, with a long list of acclaimed performances, original compositions, and presentations at major conferences and festivals. From performing Steve Reich’s Drumming with Steve Schick to leading multidisciplinary productions like This Is Not Our Home, Stephanie uses performance as a platform for dialogue and change.

An Artist and Educator Committed to Impact

Stephanie is an active composer, marimbist, singer, and educator, with teaching interests ranging from ethnomusicology and Latin American studies to mallet percussion and choir. She is a proud MarimbaOne Education Artist, and performs regularly with the Mecate Ensemble and in traditional Mexica danza communities.

“Art is resistance. Research is storytelling. Advocacy is how we bring those voices to the table. Through UCGPC, I am proud to help build a UC system that celebrates cultural knowledge, challenges inequity, and invests in its diverse graduate student body.”
– Stephanie Valadez

Connect with Stephanie at gsaevp@ucsc.edu or sfvalade@ucsc.edu to learn more about her research, performances, and advocacy.

🌐 Visit her work at SF Marimba