Degrees Held
- 2009: Doctor of Philosophy (Music) University of KwaZulu-Natal
- 2001: Master of Arts (cum laude) University of Natal
- 1998: Bachelor of Arts Honours (cum laude) University of Natal
- 1997: Bachelor of Arts (cum laude) University of South Africa
- 1992: Teacher’s Diploma Trinity College of Music (London) (LTCL)
- 1988: Teacher’s Diploma Trinity College of Music (London) (ATCL)
Research Interests
- Maskanda music
- Music, cosmology/religion and the marketplace
- Music, identity, politics and power
Teaching Interests
- Musicology
- Ethnomusicology
- Popular Music Studies
- Music Research
Selected
Publications
Books
- 2014: Music and Social Change in South Africa: maskanda past and present. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press.
Conference Papers
- 2016: “Anything is possible!!” – a discussion of the ideologically provocative positions that permeate the world of a maskanda hero. SASRIM conference University of the Free State, Bloemfontein
- 2015: Disclosures of Economic Development and Social Transformation in Culture Practice: Maskanda Music in Post Apartheid South Africa. Conference in Leeds, UK
- 2014: Reviewing the impact of transformation in post apartheid South Africa on maskanda performance and maskanda research. Unisa colloquium: Contesting Freedom at Unisa, Pretoria
- 2011: “Double Take”: a dialogue on Zulu popular music on a world music platform. Joint paper with Dr Barbara Titus (University of Utrecht. IASPM: Haarlem, Holland and Grahamstown, South Africa
- 2011: What do we do with ‘the West’? What do we do with ‘Africa’? : Identity politics in South African popular music. Conference: ‘Negotiating the West Music(ologic)ally’: Utrecht University and SASRIM conference , Rhodes University, Grahamstown
- 2010: Seventy Years of maskanda practice: a musical mapping of social experience. On the Off Beat Seminar Series, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
- 2009: Ethnomusicology and the politics of transformation in post- apartheid South Africa. SASRIM conference, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
- 2007: “Playing for change”: political, musical and ethnographic representations of change in contemporary South Africa, South African Music Project (SAMP) conference- Wits University, Johannesburg
- 2005: “Representations of Female Identity and Experience in Contemporary Maskanda”. Ethnomusicology/Musicology Conference – Cape Town
- 2004: “Ethnomusicology, World Music and Shiyani Ngcobo: reflections on the production of tradition and the dynamics of change in post-apartheid South Africa”. Ethnomusicology Symposium- Grahamstown.
- 2003: “Maskanda- Popular or Traditional Music?” Musicology Conference- Johannesburg
- 2002: “Constructions of Zuluness in Contemporary Maskanda”. Ethnomusicology Conference- Grahamstown
- 2000: “Marking Time- Discourses on Identity in Contemporary Maskanda”. “Playing with Identities in Contemporary Africa” – Turku/Abo, Finland
- 1999: “Contradictions and Paradoxes: reflections on tradition as an identity marker in ‘World Music’”. University of Natal Graduate Conference. Durban
Journal Articles
- 2001: “Mina Ngizokushaya Ngengoma” (I will challenge you with a song): Constructions of Masculinity in Maskanda. Agenda.
- 2002: “Constructions of Zuluness in Contemporary Maskanda”. Ethnomusicology Symposium, Grahamstown
- 2004: “Ethnomusicology, World Music and Shiyani Ngcobo: reflections on the production of tradition and the dynamics of change in post-apartheid South Africa”. Ethnomusicology Symposium, Grahamstown.
- 2005: “Representations of Female Identity and Experience in Contemporary Maskanda”. Ethnomusicology/Musicology Conference – Cape Town
- 2017: Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Musics of the World – Entry on Maskanda
Teaching Expertise
- Developing critical thinking through the study of a range of different musics – from hip hop to Rachmaninoff
- Exposing students to varied research methodologies, particularly ethnography and constructivist grounded theory
Student Supervision
- I have supervised a variety of Honours, Masters and PhD projects. The topics of these projects include Electronic Dance music, Life Stories of members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the Analysis of radio playlists and the local/ global debate in popular music, Music and Disability, An Harmonic Perspective of Rhythm, the Analysis of South African Jazz characteristics, Popular music and Christian ideology. I have also co-supervised Performance Masters in Jazz, and Opera and Composition