Book launch for a Festschrift in honour of David W. Hughes

Abstract

Dr David W. Hughes is a former member of the SOAS Music Department, teaching and researching mainly Japanese and Southeast Asian musics between 1987 and 2008. His former students, Dr. Kiku Day and Dr. Matt Gillan plus Ph.D. student Patrick Huang, have edited a volume of 10 chapters written by colleagues on their music research, often inspired by David. The book is entitled "Folk and Songs in Japan and Beyond" and will be feted at a book launch, accompanied by music performances.

Speaker Biography

David Hughes taught music at SOAS from 1987 until his retirement in 2008, and is now a Research Associate of the Department of Music and the Japan Research Centre. He has received several awards for his work:

• 2018 30th Annual Fumio Koizumi Prize for Ethnomusicology, Japan
• 2017 Decoration from Government of Japan: Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette
• 2016 Honorary Life Member, British Forum for Ethnomusicology
• 2011 Japan Society Award for outstanding contributions to Anglo-Japanese relations and understanding (UK)

David founded the SOAS Min’yo Group and co-founded the London Okinawa Sanshinkai, the major groups performing and teaching traditional Japanese folk music in the UK. He also founded the SOAS Noh Group, now part of the University of London Noh Society, which encourages the teaching of Noh performance. These three groups practice frequently at SOAS. David has also been involved with events featuring over 200 visiting performers from Japan.

David has lived for over ten years in Japan, his main research area, but has also written about aspects of music in Java, Thailand and Korea, as well as about musical grammars and oral mnemonics. His major publications include the books Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan (2008) and the co-edited Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music (2008).

Many of the writings listed in David's CV can be downloaded academia.edu.

Registration

This event is free and open to public. If you would like to attend in person, please register via Microsoft Forms.