Alison DeSimone

Alison DeSimone serves as Associate Professor of Musicology and Acting Chair of Conservatory Faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where she teaches Renaissance and Baroque music, opera history, and eighteenth-century specialization courses. Her academic leadership extends to Faculty Senate governance and editorial roles for The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation.

Her educational foundation includes a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from the University of Michigan (2013), underpinning her research on cultural identity formation through musical practices in early eighteenth-century Britain.

DeSimone's scholarly focus centers on musical miscellany's role in shaping British cultural identity during London's transformation into a cosmopolitan capital, examining pasticcio operas, public concerts, songbooks, and criticism through interdisciplinary lenses including gender studies and political history. Her work consistently reveals how marginalized voices—particularly female musicians—navigated professional landscapes through musical innovation.

Analysis of her publications shows persistent investigation into London's musical ecosystem (1700-1750), with increasing emphasis on intersectional approaches combining reception theory, economic history, and performance studies to decode cultural power dynamics embedded in musical practices.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• Faculty Excellence Award from UMKC Conservatory (2017)
• Ruth Solie Prize for Outstanding Article on British Music (2018)

Research support from the American Musicological Society, American Handel Society, Handel Institute, and University of Missouri Research Board fuels her monograph project on musical miscellany. She actively contributes to academic communities as treasurer of AMS Midwest and board member for the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music, while maintaining performance practice as a harpsichordist in Kansas City's musical landscape.