Biography
Laura Dallman is a musicologist with research interests in American symphonic music, the symphony as an institution, music and tourism, soundwalking, and music history pedagogy. Her research addresses issues of representation and accessibility, often as they relate to symphonic sound and attitudes of access within symphonic institutions. In this vein, she examines works by Aaron Copland, Michael Daugherty, and Jennifer Higdon, composers who are often labeled "accessible" by critics and listeners. Her other projects consider intersections in the fields of musicology and tourism studies, as well as soundwalking as a pedagogical tool.
Dr. Dallman received a Bachelor of Music in piano from Ball State University (2007) and both a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in musicology from Indiana University (2009, 2017). She has published book chapters with the University of Illinois Press and Routledge, and she has presented her research at conferences in the United States, Ireland, England, and Wales.
At the University of Florida (UF), Dr. Dallman teaches the entire undergraduate music history sequence, from antiquity through the twentieth century. She teaches elective graduate courses, focusing on topics such as audience, timbre, and pedagogy, as well as a Quest 1 undergraduate course on music and the environment. Dr. Dallman also serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the Southern Chapter of the American Musicological Society (AMS) and co-edits The Jigsaw, the blog of Teaching Music History, the Pedagogy Study Group of the AMS.
Aside from musicology, Dr. Dallman enjoys hiking, gardening, traveling, and running – both on pavement and after her young son, who is quickly outpacing her.
Recent Publications:
"Representation and Value in Daugherty’s Las Vegas Works," in The Possibliity Machine: Music and Myth in Las Vegas, edited by Jake Johnson, University of Illinois Press, 2023.
“Who Invented Music? The Search for Stone Flutes, Clay Whistles and the Dawn of Song”The Conversation, Curious Kids Section, 10 October 2022.
"Considering Autonomy and Collaboration in Three Concerti by Jennifer Higdon," in The Routledge Handbook of Women’s Work in Music, edited by Rhiannon Mathias, Routledge, 2021.
"There and Then, Here and Now: Higdon’s Civil Words," in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Song Cycles, edited by Gordon Sly and Michael R. Callahan, Routledge, 2020.
Conference/Symposium Presentations:
Forthcoming: “Intent and Impact of Seattle’s Saltwater Soundwalk,” Society for American Music (SAM), Tacoma, WA, March 2025
“Symphonic Photochoreography: Artistic Consonance or Dissonance?” Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900, Leuven, Belgium, September 2024
“Incorporating Soundwalking into Classrooms and Communities: An Active Listening Experience,” Teaching Music History Conference, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, June 2024
“Sonic Tourism and Authenticity in Daugherty’s MotorCity Triptych,” Society for American Music (SAM), Detroit, MI, March 2024
“Ethereality and Timbre in Higdon’s Early Symphonic Works,” OxMac, Oxford University (England), July 2023 and Society for Musicology in Ireland, Annual Plenary, TU Dublin Conservatoire (Ireland), June 2023
"Aaron Copland and the Composers’ Forum-Laboratory," American Musicological Society, Southern Chapter, February 2021
"Problematizing Michael Daugherty’s MotorCity Triptych (2000)," Society for Musicology in Ireland, Annual Plenary, Maynooth University (Ireland), June 2019
"Beyond the Score: Jennifer Higdon’s Piano Reduction of Concerto 4-3," Research on Contemporary Composition Conference, University of North Georgia, November 2018
“There and Then, Here and Now: Higdon’s Civil Words,” 20th- and 21st-Century Song Cycles for Voice and Piano Conference, Michigan State University, April 2018
“The Symphony as a Multisensory Experience,” Loewe Symposium, University of Redlands (CA), April 2018
“The Collaborative Compositional Processes of Michael Daugherty and Jennifer Higdon,” Tracking the Creative Process in Music (TCPM) Conference, University of Huddersfield (England), September 2017
“Paraphrase, Allusion, and Meaning in Daugherty’s MotorCity Triptych,” International Conference on Music Since 1900 and Surrey Music Analysis Conference (ICMSN), University of Surrey (England), September 2017
“Jennifer Higdon as an Advocate for Autonomy,” First International Conference on Women’s Work in Music, Bangor University (Wales), September 2017
“Seeing the Modern Symphony,” Music and Visual Cultures International Conference, Maynooth University (Ireland), July 2016
“The Surface and Beyond: Quotation and Allusion in Daugherty’s Orchestral Works,” Allegheny Chapter of the American Musicological Society, Spring Meeting, April 2016
“Redefining Orchestral Performance Space: Younger Audiences and Ritual in the Concert Hall,” City University of New York Graduate Students in Music Symposium, April 2012 and Indiana University Musicology Department Colloquium Series, March 2012