He directs the Instrumental Collegium Musicum[4] and is active as a
Baroque cellist, performing with the Spencer Consort.[5] In August 2002, he won a University of Kansas W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.[1]
His 2004 book The Baroque
Cello Revival: An Oral History features interviews with more than 40 cellists and instrument makers.[6] His current project include two studies of the musical theater of
Stephen Schwartz and the publication of the
orchestral score of the Broadway show Gypsy.[1]
Laird was the director of the Division of Musicology at the University of Kansas from 2000 until 2009. He has taught at the University of Kansas since 1994[1] and has taught four courses on music research in
Ecuador for the
Universidad de Cuenca.[1]
Publications
Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico (Harmonie Park Press, 1997)
Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research (Routledge, 2002)
The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History (Scarecrow Press, 2004)
Res musicae: Essays in Honor of James W. Pruett (Harmonie Park Press, 2001; co-editor)
Historical Dictionary of the Broadway Musical (Scarecrow Press, 2007)
On Bunker's Hill: Essays in Honor of J. Bunker Clark (Harmonie Park Press, 2007)
The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (Cambridge University Press, 2002; co-editor with William A. Everett, second edition, 2008)
Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (Pendragon Press, 2010)
WICKED: A Musical Biography (Scarecrow Press, 2011)
Other literary works
Laird has contributed to:
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.)
^"School News Briefs", Courier News, January 30, 1976. Accessed June 27, 2022, via
Newspapers.com. "Paul R. Laird, Bridgewater, recently won a one-half cost of tuition scholarship of $1,200 to Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pa., as a presidential scholar. A senior in Bridgewater-Raritan High School East, Laird is a member of the National Honor Society, the Spanish National Honor Society, a recipient of a Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test letter of commendation and a member of the New Jersey All-State Orchestra."
^Torrente, Alvaro (February 2000). "Towards a History of the Spanish Villancico", Music & Letters81 (1): 86–88.
^Blankenship, Bill (February 6, 2004). "Using instruments common in the 17th and 18th centuries", The Topeka Capital-Journal, p. F4.
^Blankenship, Bill (February 19, 2000). "Musicians will play two blocks of Bach", The Topeka Capital-Journal, p. B8.
^Freiberg, Sarah (June–July 2005). "The Baroque Cello Revival: An Oral History", Strings20 (1): 152–53.