Music, Sound, and Culture

The theme group Music, Sound and Culture explores various intersections between music culture, sound, and media with a critical perspective on the role that music and sound perform in culture and society. Areas of study by the group’s researchers include popular music, music platforms and industries, artistic performance practices, song compositional aesthetics, music and new media (e.g. music video, music on TikTok), and sonic cultures through processes of globalization and transnationalism. Topics and genres of music examined include hip hop, electronic dance music, jazz, classical music, music festival cultures, DIY and punk music, music theatre, and soundscapes.

Research in this area entails a variety of approaches which foreground the dynamics through which sounds and sonic structures are articulated with and afford meanings or become agents in material processes. Intersecting forms of identification formation guide several projects of participating researchers through the study of the social, economic, gendered, and political outcomes of these processes. We also examine various forms of contemporary and historical engagement with music/sound while fostering an understanding of the ways specific contexts have shaped and constrained the perceptions, actions, thoughts, and feelings that constitute engagements with music and sound.

ACTIVITIES

The Music, Sound and Culture theme group organise regular work in progress talks, reading discussions, and research presentations. We also organize public lectures, especially the series "Music Matters", which makes links between performance, research, academia and the music industry, with talks from practitioners, industry specialists, and academics from across the globe. For more information, please visit our website. Our newest initiative “ESNS Talks” is a companion series to Music Matters that focuses on the intersections of issues critical to Eurosonic and the European Industry as they intersect with academic research in the area of popular music studies.

PROJECTS

Music4Change Erasmus+ (2022-2025) – Kristin McGee and Chris Tonelli

Music4Change (M4C) explores a range of open access digital and blended learning resources for PhD students, including a cross sector mentorship scheme between Higher Education and music/arts sector. These learning resources will be part of a new Curriculum for Change for PhD education (C4C) which will serve as an innovative model for PhD education in the arts nationally and across Europe. The project is based on a transnational partnership of five universities and two NGOs who are well qualified and motivated to fulfil the project objectives. M4C addresses one HE field-specific priority, stimulating innovation in Teaching & Learning practices, and two horizontal priorities i) digital transformation and readiness, and ii) inclusion and diversity in education. The project is designed so its objectives, activities and results coalesce under these priorities.

Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) research project (2023- ): The Eurosonic Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Accessibility in the European Music Sector Research Project - Chris Tonelli & Kristin McGee

This project is a cross level research project investigating the ways that ESNS has adapted to foster greater inclusion and equity within the European music industry. Each year, students from the MA music program endeavor to investigate these themes through a variety of approaches from interviews with industry representatives to theoretical analyses of programs and conference themes, to literature reviews of relevant studies of European music industry festivals. Involved students: (2023) Dan Padure and Juan Carlos Méndez Álvarez; (2024) Dan Padure, Ricardo Roebers, Eryn Kelly, Terezie Kvetonova, Aina Forteza Gomez, Lea Winzen, and Matteo Formis; (2025) Dan Padure, Michaela Kedzuchova, Noora Vettervik,and Eryn Kelly; (2026) Daria Andreescu, Olijn Boor, Amber Bosma, Clara Bouwhuis, Claudia Depaepe, Monica Intiso, Lisa Kuis, Lucy Lu, Zuzanna Nieradko, Dan Padure, Linus Pawlowski, Adrian Sirbu, Tündi Tar, Caine Zatorski.

More information.

Association for Electronic Music Research Collaborations (2023-) - Chris Tonelli

Students in our Popular Music and Sonic Cultures Master’s track gain insights into the music industry by engaging in one research collaboration with a music industry partner. As Electronic Dance Music is a popular musical style and scene that our students are passionate about researching and participating in, we established a partnership with the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM) wherein students can gain deeper insight into the electronic dance music sector of the music industry. Each year students who choose this project for their industry collaboration help AFEM answer a research question of importance to AFEM’s membership. Involved students: (2023) Maan Goedhart, Maryna Chernysh, Claudia Poli; (2024) Jete Purina, Hana Ganzarová, William Raphael, Emilia Ubak; (2025) Pierre Bentz, Octavia Georoceanu, Lorenza Incitti, Linus Pawlowski, Gheorghe Şeptelici, Elizabeth Tihomirova, Isabella Vierkant.

More information here or here.

Gender Dynamics in the Dutch Music Industry - KIEM NWO Internationalisation Grant (2018/2019) – Kristin McGee

This research supports the CLICKNL domain of Media & Entertainment in the roadmap Value Creation, as this research investigates the value of creative professionals in the ecosystem of the music industry’s labor market. By unravelling the cultural and societal practices, dominant discourses, exclusion mechanisms, specific employment requirements, and psychological barriers leading to the perpetuation of the gender gap in various stages and within different forms, this research will re-conceptualize the value of the creative professional by acknowledging the talents of women in this industry and optimizing the talents of workers of all genders. This consortium represents partners exhibiting extensive academic expertise on gender research in music with over a decade work experience in different fields of the music business within various musical genres. The private partners offer an insider’s perspective in an academic context and a unique access to the professionals of the music industry.

ECHO (Beate Peters)

Music, sound and culture research is also represented in the university’s heritage network, and more prominently in the newly established research ECHO research group (Exploring Cultural Heritage of Arts, Media & Identity). The group was established as a result of the university’s sectorplan appointments with a focus on cultural heritage and identity as produced and expressed through media, popular culture and the cultural industries. Beate’s work is concerned with the role of popular music as intangible cultural heritage, in particular with regard to

Groningen Research Center for Health and Humanities

Arts-Based Research in Vocal and Choral Improvisation – Chris Tonelli

Building on his experience as a soundsinger, leader of improvising community choirs, and research he completed as post-doctoral fellow with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation Chris Tonelli published the book Voices Found: Free Jazz and Singing. His book is the first book-length study of what he refers to as "soundsinging," a singing practice which grew out of free jazz, sound poetry, and other practices in and beyond the 1950s and 1960s. Singers and improvising choir directors discussed in the volume include Yoko Ono, Jeanne Lee, Christine Jeffrey, Maggie Nicols, Phil Minton, Paul Dutton, Jaap Blonk, Shelley Hirsch, Anna Homler, Tomomi Adachi, David Moss, Christine Duncan, DB Boyko, and Joane Hétu. Alongside its historical components, the book offers a theory of the symbolic functions of unconventional vocal sound.

A component of this research is based on the ongoing offering of free vocal improvisation workshops (in person in Groningen, online, and in person on occasion in special workshops in collaboration with interested organizations) open to all. For more information, or to join, see here or email Chris Tonelli to be added to the Groningen Vocal Exploration Choir email list and/or the Transnational (online) Vocal Exploration Choir email list.

Recent Research Symposia, Conferences and Workshops

Things Done Changed: Hip Hop Futures for a World on Fire

European Hip Hop Studies Conference 9.0. Groningen Museum. March 18-21, 2026.
Resonant Ecologies: Sound, Art, and Cultural Heritage. Agricola School for Sustainable Development. Symposium. USVA. Nov. 7, 2025.
Music4Change: Sustainable Cities and Cultures of Music. International Conference. University of Groningen. November 6-8, 2024.
Voices of Women: Materialities, Cultural Transfer, and Musical Authorship. International Conference. University of Groningen. 1-2 December 2023.
Book Launch - Alex de Lacey: Level Up! Live Performance and Creative Practice in Grime Music (with Dr Kristin McGee and Razor). October 6, 2023.
Listen Here Now: A Soundscape Approach to Biodiversity, Creativity and Well-Being. Agricola School for Sustainable Development Symposium. Symposium. House of Connections. August 23, 2023.
Graduate Music Workshop and Networking Event with the University of Groningen Music Track Section and the University of Oldenburg Media and Cultural Industries Department: “Northeast Meets Northwest.” University of Oldenburg and University of Groningen. 20 May and 1 June, 2022.
Double Book Launch Chris Tonelli and Kristin McGee: Remixing European Jazz Culture and Voices Found: Free Jazz and Singing. Co-organized book launch and presented Remixing European Jazz Culture as part of the IASPM Benelux Pop Talks Series. 21 January 2021.
Gender Dynamics in the Music Industry. Two-day International Conference funded by NWO/KIEM project: Exploring Gender Barriers in the (Dutch) Music Industry. University of Groningen. 18-19 May 2019.

Activities

The Music, Sound and Culture theme group organise regular work in progress talks, reading discussion, and research presentations. We also organize public lectures especially the series "Music Matters", which makes links between performance, research, academia and the music industry, with talks from practitioners, industry specialists, and academics from across the globe. For more information, visit www.musicmattersatrug.nl.

Participating Researchers

Current PhD Candidates

PhD projects (past and present)

Dima Alkateeb. Gestures, Power, and Identity: A Comparative Linguistic and Multimodal Analysis of Global Rap Battles. PhD start: 2025.
Nathan Julius. Queering Opera: The Countertenor reimagined in Romantic Operatic Context. PhD start: 2025.
Icaro López de Mesa Montoya. Sonic Treasures of the Sun: Music and Sound Instruments Providing Alternatives to the Agency of Gold Used in Electronics. PhD start: 2024.
Karen Campos McCormack. Jazz Dancing Across the Atlantic. PhD start: 2023.
Joanna Zienkiewicz. Transcending the Divide: Contesting Authoritarian Populism in Protest Music.
Marjan Wynia. Investigating the Gender Gap in the Dutch Music Industries. PhD start: 2020.
Ruby Schofield. Rethinking Empowerment, an Ameliorative Analysis: Empowerment Narratives in Contemporary Euro-American Feminist Discourse. PhD start: 2021.
André Arends. Imagining Bodies: The Impact of Listening to Disembodied Voices in Electronic Music and Sound Art. University of Groningen, 2024.
Niels Falch. From Oy to Joy: Jewish Musical Style in American Popular Songs, 1892 – 1945. University of Groningen. 2020.
Rob Ahlers. Showcasing European Music Networks: The Case of Eurosonic Noorderslag. University of Groningen. 2020.

Last modified:12 December 2025 11.52 a.m.