Katharine Ellis, is a British

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 m ...

and academic, specialising in

music history Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view. In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...

. Since 2017, she has been the 1684 Professor of Music at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. She previously taught at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, at

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

, University of London and at the

School of Advanced Study The School of Advanced Study (SAS), a postgraduate institution of the University of London, is the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences. It was established in 1994 and is ba ...

, University of London, before serving as Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

(2013–2017).

Early life and education

Ellis studied at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, graduating with Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degrees.'ELLIS, Prof. Katharine', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 1 Nov 2017
/ref> She also studied the violin at the Guildhall School of Music.

Academic career

Ellis's first post in her academic career was as a

junior research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a ...

in French studies at St Anne's College, Oxford Then, from 1991 to 1994, she lectured with the

. In 1994, she joined

, University of London as a lecturer. She was additionally the inaugural Director of the Institute of Musical Research, which was then based at the

, University of London, between February 2006 and July 2009. In 2013, Ellis joined the

as its next Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music. She gave her inaugural lecture on 13 February 2014. In August 2016, it was announced that she would be the next 1684 Professor of Music at the

, in succession to Nicholas Cook. She took up the chair in June 2017, and was also elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

Research

Ellis's research centres on the

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

of music in

France in the long nineteenth century The history of France from 1789 to 1914 (the long 19th century) extends from the French Revolution to World War I and includes: * French Revolution (1789–1792) * French First Republic (1792–1804) * First French Empire (1804–1814/1815) * Bo ...

. She also has interests in musical tastes and practices, women's musical careers,

music criticism ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

, and music in fiction.

Honours

In 2010, Ellis was elected a

Member of the Academia Europaea Membership of the Academia Europaea (MAE) is an award conferred by the Academia Europaea to individuals that have demonstrated "sustained academic excellence". Membership is by invitation only by existing MAE only and judged during a peer review se ...

. In 2013, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...

for the humanities and social sciences. Ellis was elected in 2017 to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Selected works

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Katharine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Women musicologists 20th-century British musicologists 21st-century musicologists British music historians Academics of the Open University Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Academics of the University of Bristol Members of the University of Cambridge Faculty of Music Fellows of the British Academy Members of Academia Europaea Academics of the School of Advanced Study Alumni of University College, Oxford Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of St Anne's College, Oxford Members of the American Philosophical Society British women historians Professors of Music (Cambridge)