Lloyd Whitesell challenges norms just by being himself. His academic career began with co-creating the field of queer musicology. He’s now among the leaders working to make space for diverse populations within music. Along the way, he’s won awards for research excellence and teaching. He’s also the world’s expert on singer songwriter Joni Mitchell’s talent as a composer. Listen to our conversation and consider which norms unintentionally influence you.
Today, I’m presenting an interview I did with Lloyd Whitesell, a music history professor and vice dean of the at McGill University at the end of last year.
Whitesell has written two books:
Wonderful Design: Glamour in the Hollywood Musical (Oxford, 2018)
The Music of Joni Mitchell (Oxford, 2008)
He also contributed to the essay collection:
Queer Episodes in Music and Modern Identity (Illinois, 2002)
During our interview, we spoke about the glamorous nature of Moonlight Serenade. Here are two links (original and remastered) to the song so that you can hear it for yourself.
Whitesell won an award for teaching in 2011. In 2002, he won the Philip Brett Award for excellence in LGBTQ musicology.
He’s also among the presenters for a Joni Mitchell tribute celebrating 50 years of Blue. See my story here.
To purchase Lloyd’s books
