Leah Broad

Leah Broad

FRHistS
Occupation
  • Author
  • Radio and television presenter
  • Researcher
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
SubjectMusic history, Women's history
Website
leahbroad.com

Leah Broad is a British writer, broadcaster, and researcher at Christ Church, Oxford.[1] She was awarded the 2015 Observer/Anthony Burgess prize for contemporary British arts journalism[2] and was a BBC New Generation Thinker in 2016[3] She is a trustee of the William Alwyn Foundation.[4] Her writing focuses on the history of women in the arts.[5] Her group biography, Quartet, published by Faber and Faber, won the Royal Philharmonic Society's Storytelling Prize,[6] won the Presto Music Book of the Year award,[7] was shortlisted for the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography prize,[8] and was awarded a Kirkus star.[9]

Early life and education

Broad completed an undergraduate degree in Music at Christ Church, Oxford, where she ran the Christ Church Music Society[10] and founded and edited the Oxford Culture Review.[11] She holds a doctorate in musicology from the University of Oxford on Swedish and Finnish theatre music.[12]

Writing and presenting

Broad's debut group biography, Quartet, covers the lives of women composers Ethel Smyth, Rebecca Clarke, Doreen Carwithen, and Dorothy Howell.[13][14][15][16][17][18] The book argues that women have had important influences on classical composition, but that this progress is not linear and can be erased and forgotten.[19] Broad has discussed the book at festivals including the Hay Festival[20] and Edinburgh International Book Festival.[21] Alongside violinist Fenella Humphreys and pianist Nicola Eimer, Broad presented performances of works by the composers covered in the book at venues including the Barbican Centre.[22] She has a second book under contract with Faber and Faber.[23]

Broad has presented for BBC Radio 3 including appearances on Record Review, Composer of the Week, Music Matters, the Sunday Feature, and the BBC Proms.[24][25][26][27][28] Broad's journalistic work covering music and the arts has featured in newspapers including The Guardian, the Financial Times, and the London Review of Books.[29][30][31] Broad's academic work has been published in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Music & Letters, Tempo, and Music and the Moving Image as well as collected volumes from the Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and Boydell and Brewer.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Leah Broad". Faber and Faber. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  2. ^ Robert McCrum (2016-02-28). "2015 Observer/Anthony Burgess prize-winner announced". The Observer. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  3. ^ "New Generation Thinkers 2016". BBC. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  4. ^ "The William Alwyn Foundation". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  5. ^ Leah Broad. "People: Dr. Leah Broad". Christ Church, University of Oxford. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  6. ^ "2024 RPS Awards winners announced". Royal Philharmonic Society. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  7. ^ "Books of the Year - Winner 2023". Presto Music. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  8. ^ "Broad and Cargill-Martin among Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize shortlist". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
  9. ^ "Quartet - A stellar work of social and music history sprinkled with emotional dashes of love, sex, and politics". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  10. ^ Terence Handley MacMath. "Interview: Leah Broad, music lecturer, Oxford". Church Times. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  11. ^ "Contributors". The Oxford Culture Review. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  12. ^ Leah Broad (2017). Nordic incidental music: between modernity and modernism (Thesis). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  13. ^ George B. Stauffer (2023-10-05). "Where Are the Women Composers?". The New York Review. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  14. ^ Flora Willson (2023-03-10). "The Muses at a football match". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  15. ^ Ivan Hewett (2023-02-27). "Did these four female composers really change music history?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  16. ^ Annalena McAfee (2023-02-21). "Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  17. ^ Alexandra Cochlan (2023-02-05). "Quartet by Leah Broad: The four female composers that history forgot". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  18. ^ Erica Jeal (2023-03-01). "Quartet by Leah Broad review - Britain's great female composers". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  19. ^ "Interview Q&A with Leah Broad Author of Quartet". The London Magazine.
  20. ^ "Leah Broad and Alice Farnham talk to Gavin Plumley". Hay Festival. 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  21. ^ "Leah Broad: Singing Women's Praises". Edinburgh International Book Festival. 2023-08-24. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  22. ^ "Fenella Humphreys & Leah Broad Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World". The Barbican. 2023-11-05. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  23. ^ Ruth Comerford (2022-12-02). "Faber bags feminist history of trailblazing composers". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  24. ^ Copland's Clarinet Concerto with Mark Simpson and Andrew McGregor. BBC Radio 3. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  25. ^ Composer of the Week: Doreen Carwithen. BBC Radio 3. 2022-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  26. ^ International Women's Day Celebrations. BBC Radio 3. 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  27. ^ Hidden Women and Silenced Scores. BBC Radio 3. 2023-08-13. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  28. ^ BBC Proms 2022 - Prom 13: Ethel Smyth's The Wreckers. BBC Radio 3. 2022-07-24. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  29. ^ Leah Broad (2022-04-19). "Fashion, fabrics and fishtails – why we need to talk about what female classical performers wear". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  30. ^ "Leah Broad". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  31. ^ "Leah Broad". London Review of Books. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  32. ^ "Leah Broad: Quartet". Hidden Notes. 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2023-11-19.