Staff in the Department of Music, Theatre and Performing Arts are active in traditional scholarship – writing articles, books and book chapters and also active through theatrical and musical performances, compositions and recordings. Many of these are collaborative ventures as staff share their expertise with each other.
Research in Music
We are involved across the range of research activity, from community music to music technology, from classical music and contemporary music performance to conducting.
Classical Music
- Nineteenth-century music
- Dr Graeme Downes
- Analsyis of music
- Associate Professor Peter Adams, Dr Graeme Downes
- Twentieth-century music
- Associate Professor Peter Adams, Professor Anthony Ritchie
- Opera
- Professor Terence Dennis
Contemporary Popular Music
- Film music
- Associate Professor Peter Adams, Associate Professor Rob Burns, Professor Henry Johnson
- Folk music
- Associate Professor Rob Burns
- Popular music studies
- Associate Professor Rob Burns, Dr Jennifer Cattermole, Dr Ian Chapman, Professor Henry Johnson
World Music
- Music of Aotearoa, Māori Music and Taonga Pūoro
- Dr Jennifer Cattermole
- Asian music, especially the traditional and popular music and culture of Japan
- Professor Henry Johnson
- Pacific music
- Dr Jennifer Cattermole
- British folk music
- Associate Professor Rob Burns
- Diaspora music
- Professor Henry Johnson
New Zealand Music
- Vocal music and singing teaching
- Associate Professor Judy Bellingham
- Community musics
- Professor Henry Johnson
- NZ Classical music
- Professor Anthony Ritchie
- New Zealand cultural policy
- Dr Jennifer Cattermole
Music and Visual Culture
- Popular music iconography
- Dr Ian Chapman, Associate Professor Rob Burns, Professor Henry Johnson
Find out more about postgraduate study in music
Research in Theatre
We are involved in a strong and diverse range of research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and explores topics and issues specific to theatre and drama. Theatre involves multiple materials, sights, sounds and historical periods and the research of our staff and students reflects this diversity.
Practice-led Research
We are committed to promoting our practical theatre work as
- a form of research as well as
- a laboratory for, or complement to, research
The close links between practice and research questions is demonstrated by our projects on site-specific theatre and on verbatim/documentary theatre.
Our staff and students are involved in research that includes:
Theatre from New Zealand and other cultures
- New Zealand drama and theatre
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington, Professor Stuart Young, Associate Professor Hilary Halba
- Bicultural and intercultural theatre
- Associate Professor Hilary Halba
- Pacific Islands drama and theatre
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington
- Russian drama and theatre and translation studies
- Professor Stuart Young
- Modern British theatre
- Professor Stuart Young
Design and site specific theatre
- Light and set design
- Dr Martyn Roberts
- Site specific theatre
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington
Documentary/verbatim theatre
Gay/queer drama
Performance
- Performance as research
- Dr Suzanne Little
- Contemporary performance
- Associate Professor Hilary Halba
- Performance and politics
- Dr Suzanne Little
- Representations and the ethics of trauma and violence in performance
- Dr Suzanne Little
Shakespeare
- Shakespeare in performance
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington
- Adaptations of Shakespeare
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington
- Post-colonial Shakespeare
- Associate Professor Lisa Warrington
Theatre directing
Theatre theory and critical studies
- Theatre and theatre theory
- Dr Suzanne Little
- Historical and critical studies
- Associate Professor Hilary Halba
