Leah Broad FRHistS | |
|---|---|
| Occupation |
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| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Subject | Music history, Women's history |
| Website | |
| leahbroad | |
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]
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]
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]