Research
More than a decade of research collaboration
Prof Liesl van der Merwe and Prof John Habron-James (Royal Northern College of Music, UK) first met at the International Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference in Thessaloniki in 2012, where they discovered a shared passion for Dalcroze Eurhythmics,...
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Laban effort actions as a trio rehearsal strategy to create an ‘Ecology of Practice’: A collaborative autoethnography
This project, published recently in the Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, tells the story of how the members of Trio Joie de Vivre, Dr Catrien Wentink (piano), Mr André Oosthuizen (flute), and Prof Liesl van der Merwe (bassoon), explored new ways of rehearsing...
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New themes at 19th SASRIM Conference
Reported by Dr Jaco Meyer The 19th annual conference of the South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) was held between 26 and 28 September at the University of Stellenbosch. Among the many themes of the presentations, some new and exciting categories were...
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Faculty of Humanities International Spring Week
Reported by Prof Chris van Rhyn MASARA and the School of Music were well represented at the 2025 Faculty of Humanities Spring School, held from 17 to 19 September at the Riverside Sun Hotel in Vanderbijlpark. Prof Janelize Morelli, the newly appointed Director of...
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Dr Jaco Meyer to Australia for two conferences
Dr Jaco Meyer travelled to Australia at the beginning of July to attend two conferences. The first was the World Congress on Positive Psychology of the International Positive Psychology Association in Brisbane where he made a poster presentation on "Interventions to...
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MASARA delivers consistent outputs for 2024
The research director's report on MASARA's research output for 2024 shows consistent contributions from almost all of the entity's participants. MASARA's total research output units for last year are 38.046. Although this is not our highest number in the entity’s...
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Postgraduate Graduations — 3 & 4 June 2025
Luzanne Eigelaar PhD in Visual and Performing Arts with Music Teaching and learning in first-year BMus music theory courses: the experiences of lecturers in South Africa Promoter: Prof Mignon van Vreden Co-promoter: Dr Catrien Wentink In her thesis, Luzanne explored...
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Residency Reflections
by Ms Thandeka Mfinyongo From December 2024 to March 2025, I participated in a four-month residency at the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. My residency formed part of a broader artistic-research project titled Ingoduko, a...
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From the heart of the organist: practical guidelines for improvisation during worship services
This article by Ms Rineke Viljoen on improvisation for church organists was published in the December 2024 issue of To the Director of Music, the journal of the Southern African Church and Concert Organists Society. The article explores organ improvisation as a...
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Relationality in postgraduate supervision
Prof Mignon van Vreden attended the 9th Biennial Postgraduate Supervision Conference during the last week of March in Stellenbosch which focused on the interaction and relations between the different stakeholders as they generate knowledge together. On this theme, she...
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The interplay between flow states in music listening experiences and self-actualisation: an autoethnography of a queer music educator
This study by Prof Conroy Cupido, published in SAMUS 43/44, delves into the interplay between flow states, positive emotions, and peak experiences in music listening, and sheds light on the novel application of autoethnography as method and its capacity to generate...
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The changing nature of celebrity in musical theatre: the development of star casting
Celebrity casting in musical theatre is and always will be a hot topic among fans of the genre. However, this is not a new phenomenon. Celebrities and stars have been cast in music theatre shows since the beginning of the artform. So, what has changed that has caused...
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