Lauren Molloy is a percussionist, music theorist, and educator exploring the intersection of music with adolescence and competition. Drawing from her experiences in steelbands and competitive high school marching band, her research incorporates a wide range of musical practices from Afro-diasporic traditions such as Brazilian samba and batá, to contemporary percussion literature and pedagogy, to the gendered curation that occurs in pop music production. Previous research has examined the musical output of Olivia Rodrigo and her producer, Dan Nigro, as well as other recent collaborations between older male producers and younger nonmale artists.
Lauren’s time in high school marching band in Texas has especially informed her research in competitive marching arts organizations such as Drum Corps International (DCI) and Bands of America (BOA). Her work in this area has thus far examined the role of music selection and arrangement in codifying exclusionary tastemaking practices.