Paul Laird

Paul R. Laird (born October 26, 1958) is an American musicologist at the University of Kansas born in Louisville, Kentucky.

Laird holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include the Spanish and Latin American villancico, Leonard Bernstein, the Broadway musical, and Baroque cello. He has taught at Pennsylvania State University, State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Denver. Reviewer Alvaro Torrente described Laird's book Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico as "a milestone in the study of the villancico."[1]

He directs the Instrumental Collegium Musicum[2] and is active as a Baroque cellist, performing with the Spencer Consort.[3] In August 2002, he won a University of Kansas W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.

His 2004 book The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History features interviews with more than 40 cellists and instrument makers.[4] His current project include two studies of the musical theater of Stephen Schwartz.

Laird was the director of the Division of Musicology at the University of Kansas from 2000 until 2009. He has taught at the University of Kansas since 1994.

Publications

Laird has contributed to:

References

  1. ^ Torrente, Alvaro (February 2000). "Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico", Music & Letters 81 (1): 86–88.
  2. ^ Blankenship, Bill (February 6, 2004). "Using instruments common in the 17th and 18th centuries", The Topeka Capital-Journal, p. F4.
  3. ^ Blankenship, Bill (February 19, 2000). "Musicians will play two blocks of Bach", The Topeka Capital-Journal, p. B8.
  4. ^ Freiberg, Sarah (June–July 2005). "The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History", Strings 20 (1): 152–53.