Fredara Mareva Hadley, Ph.D. is an ethnomusicology professor in the Music History Department at The Juilliard School where she teaches courses on ethnomusicology and African American Music. Her work has been featured in academic journals and the press including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Billboard Magazine. Her commentary is included in documentaries including Little Richard: I am Everything , The 1619 Project, PBS' The Black Church, and others. Fredara's current book projects include her forthcoming book, I'll Make Me a World, which centers on the musical culture of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and its impact on Black music and beyond. Her other research project focuses on composer and activist, Shirley Graham DuBois, her life in Ghana, and her contributions to musical Pan-Africanism.

Fredara is a proud alumna of two Historically Black Colleges: Florida A&M University and Clark-Atlanta University. She completed her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at Indiana University and taught at Oberlin College & Conservatory before joining the Juilliard faculty in 2018.