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Biography
Since completing her PhD in 2013, Sophie has held teaching positions at the University of Edinburgh, King's College London, the University of Nottingham, the University of Sheffield, and Liverpool Hope University. She also spent several years as a Research Assistant at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, contributing to projects on music criticism and contemporary music.
In addition to academic roles, Sophie has worked for a number of arts organisations, including as Head of Music at Benslow Music, Curator at the European Opera Centre, and in marketing and communications at Music in the Round and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
As a freelance writer and speaker on music, she has collaborated with, among others, the Aldeburgh Festival, BBC, Longborough Festival Opera, Royal Ballet & Opera, and Wigmore Hall.
Expertise Summary
Sophie specialises in twentieth-century music, with particular expertise in ballet, opera, and musical theatre. She has an interest in North American music and dance, and to date has focused on the nature of theatrical collaboration. Her first book, Bernstein and Robbins: The Early Ballets (Eastman Studies in Music, 2021) was named a 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title; a paperback edition followed in 2023.
In recent years, she has contributed to The Cambridge History of Music Criticism and The Cambridge Stravinsky Encyclopedia, and written on the relationship between Bernstein and Copland for Leonard Bernstein in Context. Her current projects include articles on American Ballet Theatre's 1946 Covent Garden tour, on the set designers Jo Mielziner and Oliver Smith, and choreographer Michael Bennett's collaborations with Stephen Sondheim. She is also developing a larger book project examining the presence of international music and musicians in postwar London, exploring questions of transnational identity and cultural exchange.
Teaching Summary
Sophie is an experienced teacher who has convened undergraduate and postgraduate courses on music history, performance, theory, and analysis in addition to supervising dissertations on topics related… read more
Research Summary
Sophie's current projects include articles on American Ballet Theatre's 1946 Covent Garden tour, on the set designers Jo Mielziner and Oliver Smith, and choreographer Michael Bennett's collaborations… read more
Sophie is an experienced teacher who has convened undergraduate and postgraduate courses on music history, performance, theory, and analysis in addition to supervising dissertations on topics related to music since 1900 and music for the stage. At Nottingham she is teaching music history courses related to twentieth-century music, the history of music and technology, and the Broadway musical. She also leads first-year Global Music Studies. She was nominated for a King's College London Education Award in 2023 and during her time at the University of Sheffield was nominated for a Vice-Chancellor's Award for Learning and Teaching.