Lawrence Ferrara
Dr. Lawrence Ferrara is a pianist, music theorist, and forensic musicologist. Dr. Ferrara is an author and/or co-author of books and numerous contributions to peer-reviewed American and foreign journals on music theory, keyboard harmony and improvisation, philosophy of music, research methodologies, and medical issues for musical performers. For example, A Guide to Research in Music Education (written with Roger Phelps) has been a standard text used throughout North America and enjoyed a Fifth Edition released in 2005.
Regarding Dr. Ferrara's critically acclaimed book, Philosophy and the Analysis of Music: Bridges to Musical Sound, Form and Reference, reviewers have written:
• "He brings to this enterprise an accomplished analytical technique...In a tour de force, Ferrara leads us through Bartok's Improvisation No. 3 Opus 20 in an eclectic analysis par excellence...the writing and presentation are often quite brilliant, i.e., lucidly conceived and written with distinct literary skills...I think this is the great merit of Ferrara's method: he works from within both the musical and philosophical experience and is expert in both." (F. Joseph Smith, founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Musicological Research);
• "One could read the chapters on phenomenology and hermeneutics, nearly a third of the book, and benefit from Ferrara's unusual ability to explain a difficult tradition in modern philosophy...One could read the chapters on referential meaning and the phenomenological analysis of music and gain an excellent sense of the issues and contributions in these areas...for his expositions are invariably clear, comprehensive, and judicious...that Ferrara undertakes all these methodically and in detail testifies to the seriousness of his undertaking and that he does it so well reveals the unusual breadth of his competence." (Arnold Berleant, review in The Canadian Review of Philosophy);
• "Lawrence Ferrara is a consummate philosopher who brings to his philosophizing both the special interpretive skills of the performer and those of the musicologist...The outcome is an excellent study, pioneering in the best sense and rewarding." (Jose Huertas-Jourda, Department of Philosophy, Wilfred Laurier University, review in the journal, Phenomenology and the Human Sciences);
• "Ferrara's book represents a truly exemplary case, from more than one perspective...The air that one breathes throughout this book is that of a new synthesis that would harmonize sense and technique...here there is a characteristic depth of discussion and thorough attention to the critical traditions that engage each successive issue as it appears. This demonstrates a rarely seen competence on both the musicological and philosophical planes...conclusively confirming the merits of Lawrence Ferrara's text...." (Giovanni Piana, Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, written in Italian in the journal, Axiomathes);
• "Ferrara's book is bold and scholarly...Its range and its quality are impressive...It is rich in its references. It is a very good book." (Thomas F. Cloonan, review in Journal of Phenomenological Psychology)
At NYU, Dr. Ferrara was The Director of Music Performance Programs and later, Director of Doctoral Studies. From 1995-2011 he was Chair and Director of Steinhardt Music and Performing Arts. Dr. Ferrara was named Director Emeritus in 2011 and continues on the full-time faculty. As a musicologist, Dr. Ferrara is a member of the music theory and music history faculties in The Steinhardt School.
Dr. Ferrara sits on the Editorial Board of the journals, Arts Praxis (NYU) and Music and Moving Image (University of Illinois Press), on the board of Editorial Consultants for the journal, Philosophy of Music Education Review (Indiana University Press), was Associate Editor of the Journal of Qualitative Evaluation in the Arts, and a member of the editorial board for the New York University Education Quarterly. He was a co-P.I. on federal and foundation grants for research in performing arts medicine and Vice President and co-founder of a non-profit federation of physicians and artists fostering research that bridges the arts to medicine. Dr. Ferrara was a winner of a Presidential Fellowship and the Daniel E. Griffiths Award for research, the latter regarding his work on Schopenhauer's philosophy of music (Cambridge University Press).
Dr. Ferrara is an active music copyright consultant for record, music publishing, motion picture companies, and individuals in the United States and abroad and has been a guest lecturer in music copyright at Columbia University Law School and Harvard Law School, a conference panelist sponsored by Harvard Law School, and a panel moderator for The Copyright Society of the United States. Music copyright issues in which he has participated have involved composer/artists in the United States and Europe including: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, Paul Simon, Jay Z, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Sean Combs, Ludacris, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, (the late) Michael Jackson, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Wyclef Jean, (the late) James Brown, Marc Anthony, Hillary Duff, (the late) Notrious B.I.G., DMX, Alicia Keys, Ice-T, (the late) Luther Vandross, Enrique Iglesias, Tom Petty, (the late) Tupac, Shania Twain, Fergie, Toby Keith, Merle Haggard, Mary J. Blige, Mtume, Usher, and Jennifer Lopez as well as numerous groups such as U2, The Black Eyed Peas, 3 Doors Down, Nirvana, Beastie Boys, Lil' Jon & The East Side Boyz, N'Sync, Filter, Wu Tang, Train, Real McCoy, SWV, Linkin Park, The Ramones, War, and Green Day.
Research Interests
Music Copyright Music History Music Theory/Analysis Music Research Methodologies Philosophy of Music