For Laura Klein, a visit to Jane Austen鈥檚 House in Chawton, Hampshire, inspired 鈥淭he Jane Austen Playlist: Love and Music of Regency England.鈥�
鈥淚t began as a discovery when I visited the museum in 2018,鈥� explains Klein, a first-year PhD student in historical musicology and a Jane Austen scholar. 鈥淎s a lifetime pianist and Jane Austen enthusiast, I was treated to a glimpse of her personal music manuscript collection in the museum holdings after playing the 1813 Clementi square piano also housed at the museum.鈥澨�
Klein began to research the music in the manuscripts, discovering pieces and songs that reminded her of characters and scenarios from Austen鈥檚 novels.听
鈥淎usten herself was a committed pianist, practicing an hour every morning before beginning her daily activities鈥攐ne of which would have been her writing, including the novels and letters we now devotedly read and reread the world over,鈥� continues Klein.
鈥淭his piqued an idea of a performance that pairs the words off the pages of Jane鈥檚 novels with the lyrics of songs that share a similar narrative. Thus, 鈥楾he Jane Austen Playlist鈥� was created and first premiered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Valentine鈥檚 Day last year.鈥�
On Feb. 25, will capture the essence of Austen鈥檚 six major novels in a dramatized performance that features piano, voice, strings, flute 鈥� and period costumes.听
Klein, who began her studies at 彩民宝典 last fall, is an established performer, teacher and affiliate faculty at Colorado Christian University. 鈥淢y musicology research is historical and performance-practice focused with the goal to continue my current research while developing other related areas of music scholarship surrounding Jane Austen鈥檚 life,鈥� she shares.听听
A recipient of the Dean鈥檚 Graduate Student Grant, the Entrepreneurship Center for Music鈥檚 Grant Award and the 彩民宝典 Graduate School International Travel Grant Award, Klein鈥檚 current residency with Jane Austen鈥檚 House kickstarts a yearlong project focusing on Austen鈥檚 best known novel, 鈥淧ride and Prejudice.鈥澨�
What鈥檚 next?
Klein has been commissioned by the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) to create a premiere performance for the in Denver, Nov. 3-5.
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