After 37 years of teaching at Southwestern, Lott continues to find joy in research

After serving Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for over 37 years, R. Allen Lott, professor of music history, continues to enjoy teaching and research at the highest levels. Writing books, researching and studying musicology, and teaching students at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels are some of the things Lott most enjoys.

Growing up in Lytle, Texas, Lott was heavily involved in church from birth. Not only were Lott’s parents involved in church, but he was specifically discipled through his grandmother who was very vocal about her faith.

When he was eight years old and attending First Baptist Church of Lytle, Lott received Christ as his Lord and Savior.

“I felt like I knew exactly what I was doing thanks to my grandmother,” Lott said, who he called his “spiritual mentor.”

During his childhood, Lott was involved in music ministry at his church as he was encouraged and taught by a fellow church member to take up playing the piano.

“I had begun playing piano for my Sunday school class starting around the fourth grade,” Lott explained. “We had a lady at our church who played the piano and made sure that my brother and I started playing it. We started out playing for Sunday night church and then eventually worked our way up to Sunday mornings.”

As music became more of an aspect of his life and not simply a hobby he enjoyed, Lott decided to make music a more formal element of what he wanted to do long-term. Lott attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in piano.

“I started out as a piano major in college, but I decided towards the end that I wasn’t really sure if I had the nerves to perform,” Lott recalled. “That’s when I got interested in music history. When that is your interest, teaching is primarily the thing we do with that.”

Lott added that even though teaching is the likely outcome for someone studying music history, he always had a natural ability to help people understand tougher topics.

“I always felt that I was able to explain things to people to help them understand. When the math teacher would leave, all of the students would ask me to help them out.”

After earning his undergraduate degree, Lott moved from Texas to New York City to pursue a Master of Philosophy and a Doctor of Philosophy with concentrations in musicology from the City University of New York.

While in New York City for nine years for his studies, Lott worked for Brooklyn College as a research assistant for his supervisor. Though he enjoyed living in New York, Lott began to feel a desire to return to where he was raised.

“Even though living in New York can be very exciting, I never wanted to stay there,” said Lott. “I hoped to come back to Texas, because of family, of course, and I feared that I would end up in the middle of nowhere because when you’re getting into teaching, it’s just about where and who will hire you.”

While finishing up his dissertation and approaching graduation, Lott heard of an opening in the School of Church Music and Worship at Southwestern. With the then professor of musicology at Southwestern retiring in the same year that Lott was graduating, Lott was offered the position of professor after an interview and finishing his doctoral degree.

“With being a Texas Baptist, I had always heard about Southwestern, and all of my pastors had gone there,” recalled Lott. “We have such a great sense of community and family in the music school. The faculty have always, you know, considered ourselves a family.”

Since beginning at Southwestern in the fall of 1986, Lott has taught multiple generations of students, all while continuing with the research that drew him into the field of church history initially.

Jon Duncan, senior professor of church music and worship, is Lott’s former student. Duncan’s decision to attend Southwestern was due, in part, to Lott’s credentials.

While studying at the University of Oklahoma, Duncan reached out to a professor to express his desire to explore more of music history.

“This says something of the scholarship of Alan because my professor recommended me to investigate Southwestern,” said Duncan. “While considering my options, I thought, ‘Alan Lott is at a seminary,’ not that I disrespected the seminary, but I saw him as one of the outstanding scholars in that area.”

After visiting with Lott on Southwestern’s campus, Duncan made the decision to begin his studies at Southwestern as a Master of Music with a concentration in music history and musicology student. Now, Duncan teaches alongside Lott and uses some of the teachings he learned from his class while he was a student.

Another student of Lott, James Cheesman, worship pastor at First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas, and Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in church music and worship student at Southwestern Seminary, has had Lott both in master’s level studies and doctoral seminars. Cheesman was the music director for the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.

“I took him for two or three history classes for my master’s degree and he is definitely knowledgeable,” said Cheesman. “He’s a very good historian as he connects you to the sources you need to know, both in the master’s and Ph.D. levels.”

Cheesman added that while Lott may not be an expert in all areas of church music and history, he is able to point those in his classes and seminars to the right resources to go deeper in their areas of interest.

Lott’s work outside of teaching consists mostly of continuing his research. He has published a well-received historical analysis on Brahms’s Requiem, titled Brahms’s A German Requiem: Reconsidering its Biblical, Historical, and Musical Context, which earned the best book award for the SCMW in the Southwestern Journal of Theology in 2020.

Lott is currently participating in research for a volume in the Music of the United States of America series of music history books. Lott’s specific volume is on 19th-century American hymnody.

Lott has served Southwestern Seminary faithfully for 37 years and continues to research to add to the body of knowledge in his discipline. Lott is following the Lord’s will in his life by continuing to provide Christian-based research for the field of music history.