Contact:
(519) 885-0220 ext. 24247
ljgray@uwaterloo.ca
Office: CGUC 1104
American Musicological Society
Canadian University Music Society
North American British Music Studies Association
Education:
BMus, University of Western Ontario, 1987
MA, University of British Columbia, 1989
PhD, Yale University, 1997
Research Areas:
Sibelius, Early Twentieth-Century British Music Criticism, British Symphony
Courses Taught:
Undergraduate
Music 100 – Understanding Music
Music 110 - Music in Cultural Contexts
Music 245 – World Music
Music 254 – Monteverdi to Mozart: Music from 1600-1800
Music 256 – Music Since 1900
Music 261 - Opera
Music 332 – Aesthetics of Music
Music 390 – Special Topics: Music and Landscapes
Music 491 – Senior Honours Seminar
About:
Laura Gray has studied music from coast to coast, earning her Bachelor’s degree at Western, Master’s at UBC, and PhD at Yale. Her interest in Music History was sparked studying Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, delving into the music and looking at each layer and its deeper meaning.
Her areas of research focus on British music culture between the wars, the music of the Finnish composer Sibelius, and landscape and music. Laura teaches courses on music of the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries, opera history, seminars on landscape and music, aesthetics and research.
In her spare time Laura likes to read, spend time with friends, cook, and travel. Some places she has visited include the Black Forrest in Germany, the UK, Italy, Finland, Spain and anywhere warm during the winter months.
Selected Publications:
Writing
- January, 2008: contributed an article on the music programme at Grebel to The Music Times: “A Lively Life of Music at The University of Waterloo”
- “The Idea of North: Sibelius, Gould and Symbolic Landscapes,” Conrad Grebel Review (Winter 2010): 28-42.
Conference Papers
- June 8, 2008: presented a paper entitled "Inventing Sibelius: Aspects of Myth-Making in the 'Sibelius Cult'" at the 2008 meeting of The Canadian University Music Society at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver
- 2009 Benjamin Eby Lecture, November 27, 2009: “The Idea of North: Sibelius, Gould and Symbolic Landscapes”
Selected Activities:
Teaching
- February, 2008: recognized as Faculty of Arts Professor of the Month by the Arts Student Union - September, 2008
- Music 390: Music & Landscape (Winter 2011)
Service
- Preaching on "Faith and the Arts" at Wilmot Mennonite Church - October 26, 2014.
- Serving as UW Internal Reviewer on the Applied Language Studies program review, 2014.
Listen to Professor Gray speak about her favourite parts of teaching Music: