David W Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, has passed away
Dr David W. Hughes, Department of Music, died on 4 May.
David joined SOAS in 1987 where he taught Southeast Asian and Japanese music. He worked with a small group of colleagues to transform the Centre of Music into a fully-fledged Department of Music in the early 1990s. He served as Head of Music for eight years, helping to build up the ethnomusicology programmes. David was instrumental in building a vibrant performance culture at SOAS, with student groups learning Javanese and Balinese gamelan, Thai piphat, Zimbabwean mbira, Korean pungmul, Chinese sizhu, Indian tabla, Cuban bata and many more global styles. Up until 2024, he remained an active founding member of the SOAS Min’yo and Okinawan Music groups.
Prior to SOAS, David taught Japanese linguistics and language at the University of Michigan, where he pursued a PhD in ethnomusicology. From 1977 to 1980, David appeared on stage, radio, and television in Japan over 50 times, often with his wife Gina singing or playing the bamboo flute with him. In 1981, David completed his PhD while holding a research post at Clare College, Cambridge.
David was instrumental in building a vibrant performance culture at SOAS... He brought a huge amount of energy to the department, forging a vibrant community through many extraordinary concerts.
Professor Rachel Harris described David as "a charismatic and entertaining teacher. He served as a role model and mentor, encouraging many SOAS students to go on to postgraduate study and eventual careers in ethnomusicology. He brought a huge amount of energy to the department, forging a vibrant community through the many extraordinary concerts he organised and the legendary parties he compered where students shared their diverse musical skills.
David also made important contributions to the growth of the discipline of Ethnomusicology in the UK. In 1995, he worked with a small group of colleagues to establish the British Forum for Ethnomusicology — today a large and thriving organisation — and its associated academic journal which has evolved into the internationally respected journal Ethnomusicology Forum. He was the life and soul of the music nights at BFE conferences, always making it his task to organise and encourage people to perform. Nobody who attended these conferences will forget David’s Japanese Cow Song or the comic brilliance of his original bluegrass lyrics.
David’s two major publications, among several important research articles, are Traditional Folksong in Modern Japan and The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music. Towards the end of his career, he also earned several awards: the Japan Society Award for outstanding contributions to Anglo-Japanese relations and understanding in 2011; Honorary Life Member, British Forum for Ethnomusicology in 2016; Decoration from the Japanese Government and Emperor of Japan: Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2017; and the Fumio Koizumi Prize for Ethnomusicology in 2018.
Professor Rachel Harris and Dr Hwee-San Tan have written an obituary remembering David's life and contribution to SOAS.
Image courtesy of Gina Barnes
