Great Music

Dr. Laura Moore is Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Music in the College of Arts & Sciences. In August of 2008, Moore started as an Assistant Professor after completing her M.M. and D.M.A. in choral conducting at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

In fall 2018, Moore served as Interim Chairperson for the Department of Music, and in January 2019, she was named Chairperson of the Department. Her primary motivation in serving in this position is to be of service to her faculty colleagues and students and to help in building excellence in the Department’s missions of education, performance, and outreach to the community.

Serving as the director of the Chorale and Concert Choir in the Department of Music presents opportunities and challenges. According to Moore, “The make-up of the Concert Choir changes somewhat every semester, because that’s the ensemble that non-majors tend to join.” Consequently, Moore must consider each semester music programming for the current group of singers that will “highlight their strengths and build new skills.”

In addition to teaching choirs, Moore enjoys teaching courses in music history: “I enjoy bringing together background factors – history, religion, politics, art, culture, economics, literature – that helped shape the development of Western music. I find the intersection of multiple disciplines fascinating and wish there were more time to explore these types of influences in a fast-paced lecture class.”

At age five, Moore began piano lessons, and she started participating in choirs in middle school. When asked about which professor particularly inspired her, Moore praises Dr. Eleanor McCrickard, a musicologist at UNCG, for her “continual excellence as a female scholar in a male-dominated field, as well as a mother who successfully balanced an academic career with the raising of children.”

Moore is active in community engagement. She is the chorus master for Mobile Opera, and she is part-time music director at St. Mark United Methodist Church. She is president of the Schumann Music Club, the oldest music club in the state of Alabama, and she has served as the music director or pianist for a variety of local musical theatre productions.

In her time in the Department of Music, Moore says she is proud of being able to “build the choir to the performance level necessary to be invited to perform with the Mobile Symphony. It took three years to accomplish that, but since 2011, the Concert Choir has performed six large choral-orchestral works with the MSO.” She adds that “It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience that magnificent music with a top-notch professional orchestra.”

In terms of goals, Moore says she would like to lead the University choirs on an international tour. She says students would definitely benefit from exposure to other cultures. Being able to “participate in a conductor exchange program, especially to Asia or South America,” would be, she says, an invaluable experience.

When Moore is not teaching and doing administrative duties, she loves to travel. Since 2015, she has been to Italy, Germany, Austria, and China. She also loves to read, particularly murder mysteries.