About Katie
I am a Research Fellow the University of Birmingham and Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, specialising in the musical culture of early modern England. My research reflects an interdisciplinary attention to the role of music and music making within European intellectual history, particularly music's intersection with natural philosophy, the passions, and concepts of sense perception. I have published articles in journals such as Early Music, Arts Journal, Renaissance Studies, and the Hakluyt Society Journal, as well as a monograph, Knowledge Building in Early Modern English Music (Routledge, 2021), and several edited collections. Though a musicologist and historian by training, I am also the UK subgrant PI on a primarily sociological John Templeton Foundation project studying beauty, sacred music, and meaning making in people today.
I have been awarded grants from the Leverhulme Trust, the National Endowment for the Humanities/Newberry Library (USA), the AHRC, Arts Council England, the John Templeton Foundation, UKRI, and the British Academy. I collaborate regularly with galleries as well as professional and amateur choral ensembles. I also sing a lot.
Selected Fellowships and Awards
John Templeton Foundation
Can Beauty Save the World? UK-based sub grantee ($634,666USD) of a larger US-based project (totalling $3,890,275USD) researching aesthetic engagement among the spiritual but non religious. Our sub grant focuses on historical, philosophical, and sociological approaches to understand meaning making for choral singers.
REMArkable Award (2024) – European Early Music Network
Funded by the European Union and the French Ministry of Culture, REMA’s 3-year scheme selects 10 young professional artists and scholars annually who will shape the future of the early music sector.
Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant
£28,636 grant for ByrdCentral and 'Reasons to Sing' education outreach project celebrating the 2023 anniversary of the death of William Byrd as well as other research-led performance activities in conjunction with ensembles Stile Antico and Horizon Voices.
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship - University of Birmingham
Four-year postdoctoral research fellowship (c.£180,000) to work on my second monograph, Sight and Song: Musical-Visual Culture in Early Modern England.
Long-term Fellow – The Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
Awarded 9-month National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship ($37,800/£30,000) to pursue archival research at the Newberry Library as a residential long-term fellow.
The Hakluyt Society Essay Prize Won the Society's annual essay prize competition including £1,000 and society membership.
AHRC Collaborative Skills Development Award - Courtauld Institute
‘Renaissance Art & Music: the space between’ - investigation into the co-study of art history and musicology.
Teaching and Supervision
I believe that the development of critical thinking is the crux of humanities study, both within the university and for society at large, and that diversity and inclusivity enrich our community.
I have taught undergraduates and/or postgraduates on music, history and literature topics at the University of Oxford (Magdalen, Lady Margaret Hall, Oriel, Somerville, Exeter/St Hughs), University of Birmingham, UCL (MA in Early Modern Exchange), and Royal Holloway, with guest lectures at University of Surrey and Imperial College London. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Royal Holloway University of London
Musicology
Master of Music, King's College London (Distinction)
Musicology
Master of Teaching, University of Southern California
Master's degree in music education and teaching qualification
Bachelor of Arts, Bowdoin College
Double major in history and music with a minor in English literature
Media & Consultancy
I regularly give pre-concert talks and have appeared on radio and podcasts, including BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4.
I am available for historical and specialist consultancy, particularly in the following areas:
- Renaissance composers, music, and music-making
- The Tudors in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
- Music and art in Tudor England
- Early music industry, music education, and outreach
I also write programme notes and CD liner notes.
Sample: The Sixteen Masters of Imitation and Choral Pilgrimage.