Asian Music: Music and Ritual, Politics and Praxis
Participants: Margaret Kartomi, Made Mantle Hood, John Garzoli, Qmars Piraglu, Sam Evans
The Asian Music Research Group aims to advance the School’s long history of research in this region by bringing together individual and collaborative projects from staff and postgraduate researchers. The cluster goes beyond the limitations of ‘area studies’ in the region to see Asia as an interconnected region with common issues and agendas. These include music and identity, social, economic and political policies as well as diversity in musical systems. Recent scholarship has dealt with Music in Aceh, Bali, and Thailand and India.
Current Projects
Margaret Kartomi
Book
The Musical Arts of Sumatra, the Land of Many Rivers (contracted by the University of Illinois Press to be published in 2009).
Book Chapters
‘About the history of the musical arts in Southeast Asia’, commissioned for the Cambridge History of World Music ed. Philip Bohlman (forthcoming)
‘“Art with a Muslim theme” and “Art with a Muslim flavor” among Women of west Aceh’, commissioned for Music, Gender and Islam (Oxford University Press) eds. David Harnish and Ann Rasmussen (forthcoming)
Article
‘Effects of the armed conflict, the tsunami, and the Helsinki Peace Accord on the musical arts in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam’
Reference
Commissioned to write for the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Culture online edition ed. Suad Joseph, for Brill, Leiden
Made Mantle Hood
a restudy of forgotten drumming and vocal styles, as well as the negotiation and construction of Balinese self-representation in the Muslim majority Indonesian nation state
repatriation of historical recordings of early 20th century Indonesian music practice in collaboration with the Berlin Phonogram Archive
an analysis of pan-Asian change and transformation in traditional vocal qualities
a survey of Musical Diversity in music ‘systems’ (instruments, tuning, melodic, modal) in marginalized Indonesian
John Garzoli
John's PhD is exploring the intersections and divergences in improvisation theory and practice between Thai pipat ensembles and professional Jazz artists. He has a background in engineering, is a practising Jazz musician, has conducted fieldwork in Southeast Asia.
Qmars Piraglu
Qmars is a virtuoso santour player from Iran who has recently submitted his PhD thesis on the repertoire and practice of this traditional Middle Eastern instrument. He is an active performing musician from Melbourne.
Sam Evans
Sam is undertaking a Masters in Performance Research and is transcribing and notating the most extensive repertoire for the Hindustani tabla lahara repertoire. Sam performs in both traditional and contemporary contexts and travels to India frequently for study and concerts.
Recent Higher Degree Completions
Masters
Stephanie Helm (2007), ‘Gamelan in Japan: Expressions of Japaneseness in Pedagogical Infrastructure and Practice’
Ahmad Naser Sarmast (2004), ‘A Survey of the History of Music in Afghanistan from Ancient times to 2000AD with Special Reference to Art Music from c.1000AD’
PhD
Annette Bowie (2009), ‘Syncretic Korean and Western Elements in Works of Selected Korean and Korean Expatriate Composers 1975-2004’
Iwan Dzulvan Amir (2006), ‘Sing, Adapt, Persevere: Dynamics of Traditional Vocal Performances in the Islamic Region of Aceh from the Late 19th to the Early 21st Century’
Vicki-Ann Ware (2006), ‘Stylistic and Cultural Transformations in Bangkok Fusion Music from 1850 to the Present Day, Leading to the Development of Dontri Thai Prayuk’
