Alison Altstatt

Alison Altstatt serves as Associate Professor of Musicology/Music History at the University of Northern Iowa's School of Music, specializing in medieval chant and liturgical traditions. Her work bridges historical scholarship with performance practice.

Education:

• M.A. in History, University of California, Berkeley
• Ph.D. in Musicology with second field in Historical Performance Practice, University of Oregon

Her research centers on Benedictine convent music rituals, sequence genres, and medieval manuscript transmission. Notably, she reconstructed a thirteenth-century Wilton Abbey processional manuscript missing since 1860, forming the basis of her book-in-progress Wilton Abbey in Procession. Altstatt actively presents at major international forums including the American Musicological Society and Medieval Academy of America, while leading workshops on authentic medieval chant performance.

Scientific Awards:

• H.P. Krause Visiting Research Fellow, Yale University's Beinecke Library (2018) for English medieval liturgical manuscript research

Prior to UNI, she held instructional roles at University of Oregon, Western Oregon University, and served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Her current research examines twentieth-century reception of medieval manuscripts and their ritual contexts.