R. Larry Todd is Arts and Sciences Professor of Music and former chair of the music department at Duke University. His books include Fanny Hensel, the Other Mendelssohn (2010) and Mendelssohn: A Life in Music (2003), which was named "Best Biography of 2003" by the Association of American Publishers. He is a former fellow of the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute and recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and National Humanities Center. A graduate of Yale University, Todd studied piano at the Yale School of Music.