Elizabeth Lyon

Hi!  I am excited to join the Cornell Campus Ministry team as co-director of music and liturgy for the 2018-2019 school year.  It was, perhaps, inevitable that liturgical music be a part of my life, as all four of my grandparents were church organists and music directors.  Several generations back, there was even a violin-playing nun in the family.  My debut as a church musician began at the age of 5 playing the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" with my sister for school Mass at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church.  It was a big hit (not to brag), and our "Ave Maria" became a fixture of liturgies for all the Marian feast days.  Currently, I am working towards a PhD in musicology with a dissertation entitled "Theorizing Music as Spiritual Practice: Perspectives from Augustine to Tinctoris" in which I examine medieval philosophical and theological theories of the ethical and spiritual value of music (both in and out of liturgy).  Before coming to Cornell, I earned a B.A. in Classical Studies from Columbia University and a M.M. in cello at the Juilliard School.   

I am passionate about helping to foster a loving, inclusive, and diverse Catholic community at Cornell, and I look forward to serving the community not only through my musical work, but through organizing small groups (such as Bible Study and special topic discussion groups) and public fora for "big questions" such as empowering women in the Catholic church, living in a global Catholic church, and trauma and healing after the Catholic clergy sexual abuse crisis.  I also look forward to working together with my fellow students to develop healthy, spiritually-based approaches to thriving in the (often) stressful environments of college campuses.  

In my free time, I enjoy learning new languages (I have studied French, Italian, German, Latin, Ancient Greek, and a little bit of Sanskrit), dancing, gardening, hiking, and trying out new recipes.  I love learning about contemplative and meditative practices from traditions all over the world, and have been a (novice!) practitioner of Zen meditation.  Meeting the incredible people at Cornell is a great privilege, and I can't wait to grow together with the inspiring individuals who make up Cornell Catholic Community.  Please don't hesitate to stop by my office (Anabel Taylor, G15) or send me an e-mail at  ell67@cornell.edu