In this episode, we spoke to Professor Paul Laird. Paul is Professor of Musicology at the University of Kansas where he teaches courses in Baroque music, twentieth-century music, the history of musical theatre, and American music. He has published extensively over his academic career. Select books include The Baroque Cello Revival by Scarecrow Press, The Chichester Psalms of Leonard Bernstein by Pendragon Press, and the Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein co-authored with Hsun Lin and published by Rowman & Littlefield.

This episode focussed on Paul’s biography of the American musical giant Leonard Bernstein, which was published by Reaktion Books in 2018 as part of the ‘Critical Lives’ series. In addition to highlighting the need to organise the parallel careers of Bernstein and some technical limitations in writing this biography, Paul also shared his impressions and experience with the man himself.