Dr Simone Krüger
Research...
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Ethnomusicology
Music and globalisation; music and place
Ethnomusicology pedagogy; educational anthropology
Ethnography; virtual ethnography
RESEARCH PROJECTS - CURRENT
2008 - 2009 "A Liver Bird Sang!" - Production of DVD
This project involves the production of a DVD of the musical show "A Liver Bird Sang!", which will be accompanied by a documentary of the making of the show. Written specially for Liverpool 08, this is an outstanding example of how the European Capital of Culture concept has inspired Liverpudlians and drawn out local creative talents. "A Liver Bird Sang!" is a story about modern life and love set in Liverpool's clubland. It has been written by Liverpudlian musician Geoff Lavelle and librettist/lyricist John Dixon. The cast, a mixture of professional and semi-professional singers, actors and musicians, are all from in or around Liverpool. Everyone involved has given their time and their not inconsiderable skills freely because of their enthusiam for and belief in this project. Its European dimension is its music, which is based entirely on the works of Schubert. The show was premiered in April 2008 and staged again on 22 November 08 in the New Picket when it was video- and sound-recorded by Tomfoolery Pictures Ltd and students from LJMU and Edge Hill University. I have been conducting longitudinal ethnographic research during rehearsals, meetings and performances, and organised the production.2008 - 2009 Liverpool 2008: Music, Mediation and Place
This ethnographic study will shed light into the interrelatedness between music, mediation and place during Liverpool’s hosting the European Capital of Culture in 2008. It examines the array of musical events and activities that are being mobilised as heritage myths and tourist packages, and the impact of this experience on the city and its people. This is being considered within the context of how the micro and mass media function in binding musical participants (makers, performers, consumers) together—locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Assessing the role music plays in connecting, or disconnecting, local communities from their sense of place, the study seeks an apprehension of the ways in which participants construct, operate in, experience and make sense of their musical encounters during Liverpool '08. The project focuses on three broadly defined research questions: What are the experiences, cultural values and reasons for people’s musical participation during Liverpool 08? What are the rationales behind the vitality of musical events during Liverpool 08, taking into account the contribution of relevant institutions to the creative economy? What are the changing meanings associated with the city by its diverse local communities through the positioning/ repositioning of Liverpool as ECoC? [This project is funded by a Research Grant from the UoA66, Liverpool John Moores University.]2008 - 2009 Enhancing Employability in Music: An Ethnographic Study into Students' Work-Based Learning Experiences (with Dr Siân Lincoln, LJMU)
Employability is one of the most frequent buzzwords used in discussions surrounding the student experience in higher education today, which often seek to assess the impact of education on students’ transformations and acquisition of those skills that are particularly sought by potential employers. Whilst only few initiatives seem to exist within the subject area of music that focus on students’ acquisition of skills relating to arts administration and management, and that assess the impact of such learning experiences on their employability in the music and creative industries more widely, this project seeks to assess—by applying ethnography with its attendant methods of participant-observation and informal interviewing—the impact of students’ experiences during work-based learning (WBL) placements on their employability in careers specifically related to music. Placements will run from Sep 08 until April 09 and offer opportunities to students enrolled on modules on work-based learning to participate in the planning, organising and running of the Annual Conference of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology 2009. Simultaneous and ongoing ethnographic research will seek to study and understand students’ complex and multifaceted learning experiences during placements so as to assess their impact on students’ skills, knowledge and personal attributes, and thus on their employability upon graduation. [This project is funded by PALATINE, the Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music.]
RESEARCH PROJECTS - COMPLETED
2007 - 2008 Ethnography in the Performing Arts: A Student Guide
In order to understand the individual and group creativity, expression and experience that lies at the heart of the performing arts, ethnography is a particularly suitable tool, allowing us both to study and reach our own understandings while gathering those of the people involved and situating them within their broader social and cultural contexts. Yet what is ethnography, and how do we approach ethnography in a performing arts culture, be it in music, dance or drama? This is the concern of the student guide, which illustrates the multiple, complex steps of ethnographic research and writing, and presents them one-by-one in simple, reader-friendly language. Written with the novice fieldworker in mind, the content is informed by the multifaceted experiences of university students when conducting their own ethnographic research project in music, dance and drama. Their ethnographies, as well as fieldnotes and other collected materials serve as illustrative matter and case studies. Hopefully you will find the student guide useful and meaningful for the conduct of your own ethnographic project in the performing arts.
This project was funded by PALATINE, the Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music.
2002 - 2007 Experiencing Ethnomusicology: Student Experiences of the Transmission of Ethnomusicology at Universities in the UK and Germany
Using ethnographic research—and attendant methods of participant-observation and informal interviewing—at twelve universities in the UK and Germany, Experiencing Ethnomusicology studies the transmission of ethnomusicology, while exploring the ways in which students experience and make sense of their (world) musical encounters. Discussions begin with the contexts and broader organisational structure of higher education in which ethnomusicology is transmitted. Drawing on the voices of ethnomusicologists, the first chapter illustrates the ideological and social practices that inform the disciplining of ethnomusicology and its transmission to students at universities. Subsequent chapters focus on student experiences of the transmission of ethnomusicology and world musics. Specific emphasis is placed on how students make music meaningful and useful in their academic and personal lives, and what and how they learn when ethnomusicology is transmitted in the university classroom. This starts with discussions about students’ listening to world musics and ethnomusicologists in order to shed light into their constructing and articulating of sociocultural identity, ideas of authenticity and a heightened sense of democracy. The following part explains student experiences of performing ethnomusicology, and assesses students’ change of attitude and perspective, while drawing conclusions on the politics of representation and appropriation of world musics in the performing of ethnomusicology. Focusing subsequently on activities involving the composing of ethnomusicology, the final part discusses students’ recreation of world musics in the form of transcriptions and creation of ethnography, whilst reflecting on the ways in which composing ethnomusicology transforms students’ senses of self and others. The conclusion presents a pedagogy for ethnomusicology that resonates with a music education of the 21st century, drawing on previous discussions to illustrate some of the possibilities of a globally, contemporary and democratically informed sense of music. [The PhD research has been funded by the AHRC and the University of Sheffield.] Please CONTACT ME if you wish to read the thesis.
RESEARCH GRANTS AND PRIZES
Conference Grant of £2,410 for BFE Annual Conference 2009 (UoA66 LJMU, 2008)
Research-Informed Teaching Grant of £1,000 for research into students' use of ethnography in music studies in 08/09. (RIT Grant Scheme, LJMU, 2008)
Development Grant of £7,420 for research project entitled 'Enhancing Employability in Music: An Ethnographic Study into Students' Work-Based Learning Experiences' (PALATINE, The Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music, 2008)
Learning and Teaching Grant of £565 for attendance of the Intercultural Cities Conference in Liverpool, 2008 (LJMU, 2008)
Research Grant of £950 for attendance of the BFE Annual Conference in Cardiff, 2008 (LJMU, 2008)
Research Grant of £2500 for research project 'Liverpool 2008: Music, Mediation and Place' (UoA66, Liverpool John Moores University, 2008)
Development Grant of £4,500 for project 'A Student Guide for Performance Ethnography in Dance, Drama and Music' (PALATINE, The Higher Education Subject Centre for Dance, Drama and Music, 2007 - 2008)
International Conference Grant of £1,500 for paper presentation at International Council for Traditional Music conference in Vienna, Austria, 2007 (Edge Hill University, 2007)
Conference Grant of £550 for paper present paper at Research In Music Education conference, Exeter, 2007 (Edge Hill University, 2007)
PhD stipend/ bursary (AHRC, 2004)
Research grant of £235 (University of Sheffield, 2004)
Travel grant of £200 (University of Sheffield, 2003)
Research stipend of £8,000 (University of Sheffield, 2002)
Walker Prize (University of Liverpool, 2002)