Prof. Dr. Gert-Matthias Wegner

RESEARCH

1971-95 studies in tabla, dholak, and pakhavaj drumming, dhrupad, and Indian music theory with the tabla virtuoso Pandit Nikhil Ghosh in Bombay (funded by Deutsches Studentenwerk, Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, German Academic Exchange Service, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).

1981-84 art and music of the Warli people of Maharashtra

1982-84: music of the people of Gorkha and Lamjung, Nepal
(funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)

1982 to date: musical life and drumming traditions of the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley (funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Leverhulme Foundation)

1999 to 2002: music of the Sherpa people of Nepal (funded by Eco Himal)

2001 to 2002: music of the Rai people of Nepal (funded by Eco Himal)

2003: music of the Tuva and the Kasakh people in the High Altai, Mongolia (funded by German Foreign Office)

2004: folk music of Tibet

EMPLOYMENT

1976-81 Research Assistant and Presenter (part-time) for Radio Cologne(WDR III)

1979-81 Guest Lecturer for tabla, Musikhochschule Köln (Cologne Music Conservatory)

1980-81 Piano Teacher, Musikschule Burscheid

1985-90 Research Fellow, Institut für Musikwissenschaft, University of Cologne, for Newar Music Project (as above)

1990-93 Research Officer, Centre of Music Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, for Leverhulme project ‘Musical Traditions of Northern India and Nepal; a comparative historical survey’

1993 to date Research Associate, Department of Music, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (honorary)

1993-94 Consultant and Convener of the Department of Musicology Project (collaboration of Tribhuvan University and German Academic Exchange Service)

1995 to date Associate Professor and Head, Kathmandu University Department of Music

2003 to date Professor, Seminar für Vergleichende Musikwissenschaft / Ethnomusicology, Free University Berlin

OTHER INFORMATION

Founder and Director, Kathmandu University Department of Music

Workshops and invited lectures in Europe, U.S.A., India, Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia; including International Conference ‘Heritage of the Kathmandu Valley’ (Lübeck 1985), Universities of Bonn, Heidelberg (1984), Kiel, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities (Stockholm 1987), National Centre for the Performing Arts (Bombay), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris), School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1988), Tribhuvan University (Kathmandu 1990), British Forum for Ethnomusicology (Winchester 1995), Washington University (Seattle 1997), Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology, New Delhi (1999), Asian Institute of Technology (Chiang Mai 1999), Jakarta University (2000), Department of Ethnomusicology, Ethnologisches Museum SMPK Berlin (2000) and others.

Wide field-work experience including photography, sound recording, and video.

External Examiner for Linköping University, Ph.D. (I. Grandin)

Fieldwork supervision for University of Montréal (S. Laurent)

As tabla-player, percussionist and pianist concerts, broadcasts, telecasts in Europe, U.S.A., India, Nepal, Tibet and Indonesia.

EXHIBITIONS:

Lieder der Erde (Warli art and musical instruments), Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum für Völkerkunde (Cologne, 1984)

Mittelalterliche Stadtkultur im Kathmandu-Tal/Nepal, Ethnologische Sammlung der Hansestadt Lübeck (Lübeck 1985)

Musical Instruments of Nepal, permanent exhibition at the Kathmandu University Department of Music (Bhaktapur, Nepal)

PUBLICATIONS

1982a Die Tabla im Gharana des Ustad Munir Khan (Laliyana) - Studien zum
Trommelspiel in der nordindischen Kunstmusik. (Ph.D. thesis) Hamburg: Wagner.

1982b 'Musik und Malerei im Warli-Land' in P. Ausländer and J. Fritsch, eds., Weltmusik 2 -Feedback Papers. Köln: Feedback Studio Verlag

1984 Lieder der Erde. Köln: Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum.

1986a 'Anruf der alten Götter - Notation und Analyse einer newarischen Trommelkomposition' in B. Kölver, ed., Formen kulturellen Wandels und andere Beiträge zur Erforschung des Himalaya. St. Augustin. VHG Wissenschaftsverlag. pp. 312-340.

1986b The Dhimaybajaof Bhaktapur - Studies in Newar Drumming I. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.

1987 'Navadapha of Bhaktapur - Repertoire and Performance of the Ten Drums' in N. Gutschow and A. Michaels, eds., Nepalica 4/22. St. Augustin.

1988 The Naykhinbaja of the Newar Butchers - Studies in Newar Drumming II. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.

1990 'Review: Nepal - Musique de fête chéz les Newar, AIMP XIII CD-553 Archives internationales de Musique Populaire' in the world of music 3/1990

1992a 'Bauerntrommeln aus Bhaktapur' and 'Nordindische Kunstmusik' in Festival traditioneller Musik '90. International Institute of Comparative Music Studies Berlin. pp. 6-13.

1992b 'Wie ich mit den Flöhen in Bhaktapur zurechtkomme' and with U. Kölver, 'Newarische Trommel "sprache" ' in R. Schumacher, ed., Wort und Musik Nr. 12: Von der Vielfalt Musikalischer Kultur - Festschrift Josef Kuckertz. Anif/Salzburg: Ursula Müller-Speiser

1992c 'Invocations of Nasahdyah' in B. Kölver, ed., Aspects of Nepalese Traditions. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. pp.125-134.

1993a 'The Goat and the Music God' and with O.Sattaur 'Where is Shastriya Sangeet?' in K.M. Dixit, ed., Himal vol. 6 no.6. Lalitpur

1994a 'Review of Pirkko Moisala: Cultural Cognition in Music - Continuity and Change in the Gurung Music of Nepal' in Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association. University of Pennsylvania

1994b with N. D. Sharma, 'The Baja Guthi of Badikhel' in M. Allen, ed, The Anthropology of Nepal: Peoples, Problems and Processes. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point.

1995a with N. D. Sharma, 'The Baja Guthi of Badikhel' in K.W.Niemöller, U. Pätzold, Chung Kyo-chul, eds., Lux Oriente - Begegnungen der Kulturen in der Musikforschung - Festschrift Robert Günther. Kassel: Gustav Bosse

1995b 'Learning how to Become a Musician', in D. C. Regmi, ed., Sargam vol. 1. Kathmandu.

1996 'Music and Death' in S. Lienhard, ed., Change and Continuity: Studies in the Nepalese Culture of the Kathmandu Valley. Torino: CESMEO, pp. 505-513

1994 - 1998 'Nepal', 'Tabla', 'Tala' in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Kassel: Bärenreiter

2000 (online) and 2001 (printed version) 'Nikhil Ghosh' and (with R. Widdess) 'Nepal: Kathmandu Valley' in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan,

2002 Review: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5, South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent. 'Ethnomusicology Online Vol. 8', http://www.research.umbc.edu/eol/8/wegner/

2002 'Nepal: Traditional Music in a Changing World', in G. Berlin and A. Simon, eds., Music Archiving in the World. Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung

2003 (with Richard Widdess) 'Musical Miniatures from Nepal' in Marg

2004a Vintage Tablå Repertory: Drum Compositions of North Indian Classical Music.

New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal

2004b ‘Documenting Nepalese Musical Traditions’ in Anthony Seeger and Shubha Chaudhuri, eds.. Archiving for the Future: Global Perspectives on Audiovisual Archives in the 21st Century. Calcutta: Seagull Books

2004c (with Richard Widdess) 'Musical Miniatures from Nepal: Two Newar Rågamålås' in Pratapaditya Pal, ed., Marg Vol. 56, No. 2. Mumbai

2005a (with Richard Widdess) 'Musical Miniatures from Nepal: Two Newar Rågamålås' in Pratapaditya Pal, ed., Nepal - Old Images, New Insights. Mumbai: Marg Publications

2005b ‘Rhythmus und Trommelspiel in Südasien’ in Rolf W. Stoll, ed., Neue Zeitschrift für MusikVol. 2. Mainz: Schott Musik International

2006a Review of Bruno Nettl’s ‘The Study of Ethnomusicology’, in Bettina Berlinghoff-Eichler, ed., Die Musikforschung Vol.4

2006b ‘Madhu Krishna Chitrakar’ in Pratapaditya Pal, ed., Marg Vol. 57, No. 4. Mumbai

2006c ‘Madhu Krishna Chitrakar’ in Pratapaditya Pal, ed., Chennai not Madras: Perspectives on the City. Mumbai: Marg Publications

2006d ‘Bhaktapur: Musical Change in a Newar Town in the Kathmandu Valley’ in Shashi Mahaju, ed., Matina. London

2006e ‘Die Stadt als Partitur - Buddhistische Prozessionsmusik in Bhaktapur, Nepal’ in Christa Brüstle and Matthias Rebstock, eds., Reflexzonen/Migration - Musik im Dialog VI: Jahrbuch der Berliner Gesellschaft für Neue Musik 2003/2004. Saarbrücken: PFAU Verlag

2007 'Nepal: Music and Performing Arts', in World and its Peoples. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation Reference

2009 ‘Music in Urban Space: Newar Buddhist Processional Music in the Kathmandu Valley’ in Richard K. Wolff, ed., Theorizing the Local: Music, Practice, and Experience in South Asia and Beyond. Oxford, New York, etc.: Oxford University Press

2011a 'The Town as Musical Score' in Kanak Mani Dixit, ed., Himal South Asia Vol. 24, No. 1. Lalitpur

2011b (with C. Tingey), 'The Music of Nepal', in Saṅgīt Mahābhāratī, eds., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Music of India. Oxford University Press

2011c 'Musikwelten Tibets' in Claudia Braun, Michael Tellenbach, Alfried Wieczorek and Hermann Wiegand, eds., Musikwelten – Mannheimer Geschichtsblätter Sonderveröffentlichung 3. Mannheim: Publikationen der Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen Band 45

2012 'Die Telefonnummer des Musikgottes', in Archiv für Musikwissenschaft, Band 69, Heft 2 (2012). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag

unpubl. The Songbooks of Krishna Gopal Gaine. 4 vols.

unpubl. The Yachen Navadapha Songbooks. 2 vols.

under preparation:
The Drums of Bhaktapur: Newar Music in Ritual and Urban Space
(with U. Kölver), 'Newar Drum Languages'
Newar Music Dictionary (with U. Kölver and I. Shresthacharya)

DOCUMENTARY FILMS

1985 Navabaja von Bhaktapur (38') UMATIC Lowband

1987 Endzeitmusik (28') UMATIC Highband

1989 Totentanz von Bhaktapur (20') UMATIC Highband

Films produced in collaboration with Worldview Foundation Nepal (WIF), funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

COMPACT DISCS

1998 Yamdrok Tso (piano)

1999 Music of the Sherpa People of Nepal I: Shebru Dance-Songs from the Everest Region. Vol. 1: Shebru dance-songs from Namche (Khumbu)
Vol. 2: Shebru dance-songs from Thamo (KBC staff).
Funded by Eco Himal

2001 Masterdrummers of Nepal: Auspicious Drumming Traditions of Bhaktapur
Funded by Pro Musica Viva

2002 Music of the Sherpa People of Nepal II: Ritual Music and Masked Dances
Funded by Eco Himal

2002 Rai Songs and Rituals
Funded by Eco Himal

2003 Music of the Sherpa People II: Ritual Music and Masked Dances.
Funded by Eco Himal

2006 Tibet: Folk Songs From Lhasa
Funded by Eco Himal

All CDs are distributed by
Eco Himal, Salzburg, Austria,
SAC Music International, Kathmandu, Nepal,
Kathmandu University, Department of Music, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

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