Graduating senior Olivia Moyana Pierce will address the Bienen School of Music class of 2024 as student speaker during the school’s convocation on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.

Olivia Moyana Pierce is a musicology major at Northwestern with a minor in performance studies. Her primary focus centers on the avenues through which Black artists engender social change and transformation through music. She has conducted more than two years of award-winning research on addressing the cultural appropriation of Black music in education.

Outside of the classroom, Olivia has been releasing music independently for seven years under the name Moyana Olivia, with proficiency in voice, piano, guitar, and bass. She became certified as Moyana Music, LLC in 2023. Highlights of her career include being recognized as one of These Days Magazine’s 2024 Artists to Watch, performing at the 50th and 51st annual Dillo Day, and working as an intern with the Recording Academy, which allowed her to attend the 66th annual GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles.

Originally from Minnesota, Olivia is a member of the Royal Family Music Group Collective in Minneapolis, an alum of the 2022 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, and an intern at Studio Shapes, where she is recording her first full-length album set to release in fall 2024. Her work has been recognized by the Best Buy Corporation, the ACLU, CITIBank, GLAAD, Harvard Art Museums, and The View. You can find her music on all platforms.

As previously announced, George Lewis will present the keynote address at convocation.

Photo by Alex-Jibaja