Sonya Lawson
Professor of Music History and Viola

Biography

Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dr. Lawson has lived all over the United States- attending universities in Michigan, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Oregon as well as working as a professional violist in Colorado, Wyoming, and Massachusetts.

Education

  • University of Oregon, Ph.D. in Music History, September 1995鈥揗arch 2003

  • University of Minnesota, M.M. in Viola Performance, September 1991鈥揙ctober 1993

  • University of Memphis, B.M. in Viola Performance, Magna Cum Laude, August 1989鈥揗ay 1991

  • Western Michigan University, August 1986鈥揂pril 1989

Publications

Book: Bowed Strings in 20th-Century Jazz in the United States: It Don鈥檛 Mean a Thing if It Ain鈥檛 Got Those Strings. Published April 1, 2026 by Routledge. ISBN 9781032804293

鈥淚nclusive Jazz History Pedagogy鈥 chapter in Reddan, James, Monika Herzig, and Michael Kahr, eds. 2022. The Routledge Companion of Jazz and Gender. Routledge Music Companions. New York: Routledge.
ISBN 9780367534141

鈥淒efy(n)ing Categorization: Moving Beyond the Jazz History Canon鈥 chapter in Kurkela, Vesa & V盲kev盲, Lauri (eds.) 2009. De-Canonizing Music History.
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-1391-5, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-1391-4

鈥淎lternative Styles: Strings in Jazz, Part Two.鈥
Journal of the American Viola Society 21:1 (Spring 2005), 19, 21-24.

鈥淎lternative Styles: Viola Jazz: A Longer History Than You Might Imagine.鈥 Journal of the American Viola Society 20:2 (Fall 2004), 21-24.

鈥淵es, Virginia, There Really ARE Jazz Violists.鈥
American String Teacher 54:1 (February 2004), 92-97.

Community Engagement

  • Assistant Principal Viola, Pioneer Valley Symphony 2018- present
  • Member of Programming Committee for Pioneer Valley Symphony, 2021-present

Professional Service

Professional Service and Memberships:

  • American Musicological Society
  • American String Teachers Association
  • American Viola Society
  • Jazz Education Network
  • Music History Pedagogy subgroup of American Musicological Society
Headshot of Sonya Lawson.