About the Author

Dr. Joanne Cormac spent two years as Lecturer in Music at Oxford Brookes University before being awarded, in 2015, a three-year Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship with the University of Nottingham for her project "Composer Biography: Narrative, Identity and Reception," which will explore the biographical treatment of a range of composers across written, visual, and spoken media. Joanne completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham, on the topic "Liszt as Kapellmeister: The Development of the Symphonic Poems on the Weimar Stage." Joanne's research interests include Liszt, composer biography, and the role of music in 19th-century theater in England and Germany. Her publications are available in 19th-century Music and 19th-century Music Review.

David Pickard studied Music at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, before starting his career at the Royal Opera House. After serving as Chief Executive of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and General Director of Glyndebourne, he took up the role of Director of the BBC Proms in November 2015.