Jane Austen's Desk Kickstarter Campaign: Interview with Laura Klein
- Delicia Johnson
- 16 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Jane Austen's Desk (JAD), our award-winning digital humanities platform, provides users with a window into Austen's world and a space for scholars, fans, and general readers around the world to explore and learn, as well as connect and collaborate. This interpretive vision of Austen's writing space and traveling desk hosts historical, musical, literary, material culture, and philosophical sources in as interactive a manner as possible. The website simulates Jane Austen's imaginative world and network of influences as of Tuesday, March 30, 1813.Â
With the loss of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), JAD has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $9,000. This money is necessary to give tribute to the specific music Austen knew, loved, and transcribed by hand. The JAD team will add interactive tools with access to this music, making it come alive for all kinds of Janeites, by using historical instruments, professional performers, historic illustrations, information about composers and specific pieces, and images of Austen’s own sheet music.
The project will only be funded if we raise $9, 000 by Sunday, December 28 at 11:59 PM ET. To help spread the word and encourage support, we interviewed Laura Klein, historical musicologist and pianist. If you've followed JASP and Jane Austen & Co for a while, she may be a very familiar face! Laura gave a brilliant lecture recital at JASP 2025 titled “Sense and Sensibility in Song". She was featured in our Janeite Spotlight project  and gave a talk titled 'From Air to Arrangement: The Evolution of Keyboard Music in Austen’s Era' as part of Jane Austen & Co.'s 'Music & the Regency' series. Laura founded The Austen Playlist in 2019, in which she researches and performs music contained in the Austen Family Music Books. She holds two performance degrees and serves on faculty at Colorado Christian University. Laura gives frequent concerts and lecture recitals online, throughout the United States, and in the United Kingdom.
What is your role with Jane Austen's Desk?
I am the historical musicologist & pianist: I provide pertinent details about the music in the Austen Family Music Books, including historical context, performance practices, and connections to Austen's literary output.
Why did you choose to become involved with JAD?
I chose to become involved with JAD because of the scholarly, historical, and educational aspects that the project provides in a unique way. It offers an interactive, integrative way of exploring the social and cultural context of Austen's era through engaging and creative methods while preserving the historical and literary integrity of Austen's work.
What is your favorite JAD feature?
The pianoforte! Although I also love the newspaper clippings, too!
Why is adding music to JAD important?
Music was an incredibly vital part of Jane Austen's life! Writing and practicing are both disciplines as well as creative outlets, and playing and singing were primary activities for Austen that provided a means of thinking, processing, and creating aside from writing. It was also a way she engaged with her family and close friends. Adding music allows the public to engage with the music and musical culture of Austen's era, not only by experiencing the music she played and sang but also how it impacted her literary output.
Why should people support JAD's Kickstarter campaign?Â
Without the support of federal funding, the humanities are suffering. And without the humanities, we suffer. The impact of music from the past informs the present; understanding the role of music in Austen's life and time creates context for its impact then and today, and offers a channel for shaping the humanities for tomorrow.
If you're interested in supporting JAD's goal of adding music to the site, please make your donation here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/janeaustencoll/adding-music-to-jane-austens-desk.
Thank you for your support!