SOAS University of London

Department of Music, School of Arts

Music Department Staff

Head of the School of Arts 

Professor Shane McCausland

Professor Lucy Durán
Professor of Music
Lucy Durán
Music in the Mande world; Music of Mali, Guinea, Guinea Bissau; gender and music in West Africa; popular musics of Atlantic Africa; childhood music learning in West Africa; Cuban music, especially son and rumba; radio as a medium; and the world music industry.
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4374
  • Email: ld@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 596
  • Academic Support Hours: By email appointment
Professor Rachel Harris
Professor in Ethnomusicology, Director of Research
Rachel Harris
Ethnomusicology; musics of China and Central Asia, especially Uyghur; Silk Road narratives; cultural and heritage policy, Islamic soundscapes; gender; minority rights and identity politics
  • Tel: 020 7898 4513
  • Email: rh@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 513
  • Academic Support Hours: Thursdays, 11am-1pm
Dr Angela Impey
Reader in Ethnomusicology
Angela Impey
Music of southern Africa and the African Horn (Sudan); advocacy ethnomusicology; sound/music, memory and place; forced migration, cultural mapping and borderland identities; human rights and development
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4433
  • Email: ai6@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 518
  • Academic Support Hours: Wednesdays, 11am-1pm
Dr Ilana Webster-Kogen
Joe Loss Senior Lecturer in Jewish Music
Ilana Webster-Kogen

Ethiopian music; music and religion in north Africa; Biblical cantillation; ritual and gender; Diaspora.

  • Tel: 0207 898 4334
  • Email: iw4@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 503
  • Academic Support Hours: Mondays, 9-11am
Dr Richard Williams
Lecturer in Ethnomusicology
Richard Williams

Music of South Asia; Hindustani classical music; historical ethnomusicology; cultural history; historical musicology and musical aesthetics; lyric, song, and musical literature; music and gender; music and religion; history of emotions

  • Tel: 020 7898 4687
  • Email: richard.williams@soas.ac.uk
  • Room: 515
  • Academic Support Hours: Terms 1&3: On Leave; Term 2: By email appointment

Emeritus Staff

Professor Keith Howard
Emeritus Professor of Music
Keith Howard
Ethnomusicology; anthropology; Korean music; music traditions in Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Thailand, and Siberia; studies of religion; composition; education; shamanism; early keyboard instruments, players and restorers
Professor Richard Widdess
Emeritus Professor of Musicology
Richard Widdess
History and theory of Indian classical music; dhrupad; Newar music of Nepal; historical ethnomusicology; analysis of musical performance; cognitive approaches to music; music and meaning; music and religion

Professors of Practice and Global Community Fellows

Musical Instrument Curators

Teaching Fellows/GTAs

Mr Kadialy Kouyate
Senior Teaching Fellow
Kadialy Kouyate

Kadialy Kouyate comes from a very large African musical family of dialis, who are well known in Mandinka history. Since 2005 he has been teaching the Kora to undergraduate and postgraduate students at SOAS.

Mr Sanju Sahai
Senior Teaching Fellow (Performance)
Sanju Sahai
Sanju Sahai represents the distinguished lineage of tabla players and teachers from Banaras. He performs internationally as a soloist and in a variety of ensembles, and has been teaching tabla at SOAS for many years.

Research Associates

Dr Nick Gray
Research Associate
Nick Gray

Music of South East Asia, Indonesia, Bali, especially music for the Balinese shadowplay; composition; improvisation; analysis; music and religion

Dr David W Hughes
Research Associate
David Hughes
Ethnomusicology; music of East Asia especially Japan; Japanese folk and theatre music; music and linguistics; Indonesian gamelan and Javanese street music
Dr Hwee-San Tan
Research Associate
Staff Silhouette

Ethnomusicology, Buddhist music in China, Taiwan, diaspora studies, intangible cultural heritage preservation, music in Singapore and Malaysia.