Makena Beyer is a graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in Musicology at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her BA in Music with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota in 2026, with Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society membership and High Distinction GPA. 

Makena's research interests revolve around nineteenth-century music philosophy and music criticism. While pursuing her Bachelor's degree, she wrote her Undergraduate Capstone on framing Louise Otto as an aesthetic philosopher through a deep analysis of her poetry. She also wrote an article on placing Ralph Waldo Emerson's aesthetic philosophy on the same axis as Franz Brendel and Eduard Hanslick's music criticism, which became a finalist for publication at Dianoia: The Undergraduate Philosophy Journal of Boston College. 

Article 

“Beyond the Teleological and Formalist: Emerson and the Morality of Music,” Finalist for Publication, Dianoia Philosophy Journal (Boston College), Jan. 2026