My dissertation was on the genesis of memorization as a piano performance practice, an astonishingly unexplored historical topic. Initially, I had no intention of making any statement about social/historical injustice on racial and gender inequality. I chose the topic for purely musical interest. It turned out to be an extremely complicated subject I needed to contextualize within the major technological, political, aesthetic, and philosophical movements of the nineteenth century. For the purpose of this blog, I will say (although this is a gross generalization) that memorization became a way for non-composing performers – often women, child prodigies and/or ethnic minorities – to transform themselves as conduits to the canonized white male composers.