Music

School of Music

elaine_dobsonElaine Dobson

Position

Senior Lecturer
Postgraduate Coordinator

Qualifications

  • 2011 FFCSME 
  • 2011 Dip SME. NSW
  • 1976.  M.Mus. [Composition]. University of Queensland. Compositions – Six Days, 1X1  and Chamber Music, Thesis ­– The Music of Gyorgy Ligeti from 1958 to 1968:Form, Notation and the Concept of Illusion.
  • 1972. B.Mus. Hons. [Composition]. University of Queensland
  • 1966. Four-year High School Specialist Music Teachers' Certificate, Newcastle Conservatorium of Music/Newcastle Teachers' College.
  • 1965. A. Mus. A, piano performance.

Room

209, Music building

Contact Details

Phone: +64 3 364-2987 ext 7635, or +64 3 366-7001
Internal Phone: 7635
elaine.dobson@canterbury.ac.nz

Postal address:
School of Music
University of Canterbury,
Private Bag 4800,
Christchurch 8140,
New Zealand

Background

Elaine Dobson lectured at the University of Queensland and Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University, prior to her appointment to the School of Music in 1984. As well as teaching composition, and twentieth-century music she is responsible for the introduction and development of the ethnomusicology courses and the establishment of the University’s Balinese gamelan Banyu Gunung Salju.
Her research into Tibetan and Bhutanese music, particularly that of the dranyen or Himalayan lute, has led to field work in Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal in since 1991, including visits to the remote areas of the eastern borders of Bhutan and the Humla region of north-west Nepal.  In 2005, she undertook a preliminary, field study of the music of the Lepchas, the indigenous people of Sikkim (north India). Recent research has focused on Bhutanese opera and the preservation and change in traditional Bhutanese music.
Her compositions explore the relationship between music and the visual arts, experimental instrumentation and music theatre and include Banten, for Balinese trompong and Tibetan ting-sha (1999), Ancient Moon, for Balinese gamelan and Japanese kotos (2001), One Thousand Lotuses Descend for gamelan, saxophone, Middle Eastern frame drums and ney, and Extraordinary Facades – Christchurch 2011 for gamelan and tuba.

Teaching Positions

  • 2001 – 2011 Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology and Composition, School of Music, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
  • 2009 Programme Coordinator New Zealand South Asian Studies Centre
  • 1984 – 2000 Lecturer in Composition, School of Music, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
  • 1982 – 1984 Chairperson of Academic Studies, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane, Australia.
  • 1979 – 1984 Lecturer in Composition, Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane, Australia.
  • 1974 – 1978 Full-time Tutor, Music Department, University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia.
  • 1973 Part-time Tutor, Music Department, University of Queensland, Brisbane Australia.
  • 1967 Graduate Music Specialist Teacher, Moree High School, N.S.W. Australia.

Awards

  • 2010 College of Arts Research Grant
  • 2007 University of Canterbury Research Grant
  • 1995. University of Canterbury Research Grant.
  • 1973 and 1975. Percy Brier Memorial Prize for Composition, University of Queensland.
  • 1972-73. Australian Commonwealth Postgraduate Award.
  • 1972. Bunbury Arts Festival Composers’ Prize, Western Australia.
  • 1968-1971. Australian Commonwealth Open University Scholarship.
  • 1970. Commonwealth Assistance to Australian Composers Inaugural Young Composers' Fellowship.
  • 1963-1966. N.S.W. State Government Scholarship.
  • 1966 G.W. Hutchinson Prize for Dramatic Work, Newcastle Teachers' College.
  • 1965. Newcastle Teachers’ College Music Prize.

Current Research Interests

Ethnomusicology, Asian Music, especially Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet, traditional music and change, festival music and musical instruments.  For a full list of publications please see Elaine's UC Research Profile

Postgraduate Research Supervision

DMA
     • Composition Through Performance: The Ecology of Soundscapes. Current

Ph.D.

  • The Philippine Rondalla: A Contemporary Resurgence in Australasia. Current
  • Goat-headed Bagpipes and Dog-Headed Folk: Expressions of the bagpipe's identity in the Chod region of Bohemia.  Current
  • Sri Lankan Low-Country Ritual Drumming: The Raigama Tradition: The Hidden Aspects of Teaching and Learning, Instruments and Musicians.
  • Aspects of the Korean traditional vocal form ‘Kagok’: Cho Soon-ja and the call for a new integrative notation.

M Mus

  • Composition

M.A.

  • Music of the Thaipusum Festival, Malaysia
  • Fiesta, Affirming Cultural Identity In A Changing Society: A Study Of Filipino Music In Christchurch, 2008.

 

Link to Gamelan page