Paul Robert Laird (born October 26, 1958) is an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Education

Raised in

Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Bridgewater Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is both a regional commercial hub for Central Jersey, Central New Jersey (home to Bridgewater Comm ...

, Laird graduated in 1976 from

Bridgewater-Raritan High School East Bridgewater-Raritan High School (commonly abbreviated as BRHS) is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school. It is the lone secondary school of the Bridgewater ...

, where he participated in the New Jersey All-State Orchestra. Laird holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in music from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. His research interests include the Spanish and Latin American

villancico The ''villancico'' (Spanish, ) or vilancete (Portuguese, ) was a common poetic and musical form of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. Important composers of villancicos were Juan del Encina, Pedro ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, the

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

, and Baroque cello. He has taught at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...

and the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

. Reviewer Alvaro Torrente described Laird's book ''Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico'' as "a milestone in the study of the villancico."

Publications

He directs the Instrumental Collegium Musicum and is active as a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

cellist, performing with the Spencer Consort. In August 2002, he won a University of Kansas W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. His 2004 book ''The Baroque

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

Revival: An Oral History'' features interviews with more than 40 cellists and instrument makers.Freiberg, Sarah (June–July 2005). "The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History", ''Strings'' 20 (1): 152–53. His current project include two studies of the musical theater of

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

and the publication of the

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

score of the Broadway show ''

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

''. 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 and has taught four courses on music research in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

for the

Universidad de Cuenca The University of Cuenca (Spanish: ''Universidad de Cuenca'') is an Ecuadorian university located in Cuenca. University of Cuenca is the principal university of Azuay Province. The university was officially founded in 1867, being the first unive ...

Publications

* ''Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico'' (Harmonie Park Press, 1997) * ''Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research'' (Routledge, 2002) * ''The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History'' (Scarecrow Press, 2004) * ''Res musicae: Essays in Honor of James W. Pruett'' (Harmonie Park Press, 2001; co-editor) * ''Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical'' (Scarecrow Press, 2007) * ''On Bunker's Hill: Essays in Honor of J. Bunker Clark'' (Harmonie Park Press, 2007) * ''The Cambridge Companion to the Musical'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002; co-editor with William A. Everett, second edition, 2008) * ''Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms'' (Pendragon Press, 2010) * ''WICKED: A Musical Biography'' (Scarecrow Press, 2011)

Other literary works

Laird has contributed to: * ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (2nd ed.) * ''Anuario musical'' * ''Nassarre'' * ''Revista de Musicología'' * ''Early Music'' * ''Australian Journal of Musicology'' * ''CMS Symposium'' * ''MLA Notes'' * ''Historical Performance'' * ''American Music'' * ''American Record Guide'' * ''Continuo Magazine''

References

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laird, Paul 1958 births Living people Bridgewater-Raritan High School alumni Musicians from New Jersey American musicologists People from Louisville, Kentucky People from Bridgewater Township, New Jersey University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Ohio State University alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty Binghamton University faculty University of Denver faculty University of Kansas faculty