STAFF PROFILE
Dr Shelley Brunt
Shelley is a Senior Lecturer in the BA (Music Industry) programme, and the Media programme.
Shelley’s research and publications concern ethnomusicological approaches to popular music and cultural studies. Her research trajectory began in the discipline of ethnomusicology, focussing on expressions of identity, community and gender in a televised Japanese popular music song contest—an ongoing study since 1999, which has been funded by competitive research grants. More recently, she extended her background in ethnography and performance analysis to the area of media studies, and is examining televised ‘posthumous duets’ (where a living singer is paired with a deceased singer generated by digital means). She is also exploring the educational role of digital musical instruments, and in 2010 was co-awarded an an e-learning grant to create an online Central Javanese gamelan.
Shelley’s fields of interest also include the cultural function of urban music festivals, and has published writing on Wellington’s Cuba St Carnival (NZ). Her current research projects involve the industry of ukulele festivals, and the instrument’s resurgence in popular music in Australia and New Zealand.
Her creative musical practice is varied. Shelley is a ‘retired’ cellist and chorister, and performed as a guitarist, keyboardist and singer in bands in 1990s–2000s. More recently, she practices Japanese taiko and Central Javanese gamelan.
Personal website: rmit.academia.edu/ShelleyBrunt
Shelley is primarily involved with academic courses, and coordinates the 2nd year BA (Music Industry) students.
Research supervision
Shelley is an external supervisor for a ‘PhD by research’ postgraduate student at the Department of Music, University of Otago (New Zealand), for the thesis titled ‘Wes Anderson’s Cine-Musical Method: A Poetics of Film Music Soundtracks’.
Shelley is available to supervise research topics relating to:
Ethnomusicology /World music
Music and Diasporas
Popular Music in Asia
Film music
Music and television
Popular music and popular culture
Music festivals
Community music-making
Ukulele
Gender studies and music
Research projects
- 2013 - Japan Foundation Fellowship
Awarded to conduct research about the relationship between natural disaster and song on the music television programme ‘Kouhaku Utagassen’ (Red and White Song Contest), at broadcaster NHK Studios, Tokyo, Japan, ($10,000)
- 2007 - The Sasakawa Conference Travel Award, The Sasakawa Fellowship Fund for Japanese Language Education
Awarded to present research on Japanese postwar enka singer Misora Hibari in an Australasian context.
- 2005 - The Athol Lykke Award for Postgraduate Studies in Music, The University of Adelaide
Awarded for PhD research.
- 2005 - Postgraduate Prize, Australia/New Zealand Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM–ANZ)
Awarded for the best postgraduate research paper at the annual meeting
- 1999–2003 - Australian Postgraduate Award for PhD research
- 2000 - Research Abroad Scholarship, The University of Adelaide
Awarded to present research on Japanese popular music to a European audience.
- 2000 - The Naomi Cumming Postgraduate Conference Musicology Prize, Musicological Society of Australia
Awarded by the South Australian Branch for the best postgraduate research paper
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PhD, Ethnomusicology, Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide
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BA (First Class Honours), University of Adelaide
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BA University of Adelaide
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Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning
Researcher for the music television programme ‘Kouhaku Utagassen’ (Red and White Song Contest), by broadcaster NHK, Tokyo, Japan www.nhk.or.jp
Researcher for Wellington’s Cuba Street Carnival, a free live music festival in New Zealand.
External Assessor for Creative New Zealand’s contestable funding for the Arts and Sector Investment www.creativenz.govt.nz
‘World Music’ contributor to Radio New Zealand Concert’s ‘Upbeat’ programme www.radionz.co.nz
Professional interests
- Chair, (2007–2012), Australia/New Zealand Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM–ANZ)
- Reviews Editor, (2008–present) Perfect Beat: The Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culturehttp://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/PB.
- Performer (2010–2012), ‘O-Taiko’, Japanese taiko drumming ensemble, New Zealand
- Director and performer (2008–2012), ‘Puspawarna Gamelan’, Central Javanese percussion ensemble, New Zealand
- Representative (2012–present) for the Australia/New Zealand Branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM–ANZ) on The Australia/New Zealand Regional Committee of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM–ANZ).
Memberships
International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM)
Musicology Society of Australia (MSA); National Membership Secretary 2005–2006;
New Zealand Music Industry Centre (NZMIC) Research Committee.
Accomplishments
Japan Foundation Fellowship for research on ‘Kouhaku Utagassen’ (Red and White Song Contest) ($10,000) 2013–2014
E-Learning Enhancement Grant, co-awarded to Shelley Brunt and Henry Johnson, to create an interactive Central Javanese online digital gamelan ($4,000), 2009–2011
Performing Arts Fund Grant, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, to fund a performance by a visiting international sound artist ($980), 2010
Performing Arts Fund Grant, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, to fund a Javanese gamelan wayang kulit shadow puppet performance ($1,000), 2010
Performing Arts Fund Grant, Division of Humanities, University of Otago, to fund a Central Javanese gamelan performance ($1,500), 2009
- Brunt, S. (2015). Performing Beyond the Grave: The Posthumous Duet In: Death and the Rock Star, Ashgate, Surrey, United Kingdom
- Brunt, S.,O'Reilly, E. (2015). Shaping a journal for emerging researchers in Japanese Studies: insights from an editorial perspective In: New Voices in Japanese Studies, 7, iv - xix
- Brunt, S. (2014). The infinite power of song: Uniting Japan at the 60th annual Kohaku song contest In: Made in Japan: Studies in Japanese Popular Music, Routledge, New York, United States
- Bartleet, B.,Brunt, S.,Tait, A.,Threlfall, C. (2013). Community music in Australia and New Zealand Aotearoa In: Community Music Today, Rowman and Littlefield Education, United States
- Brunt, S.,Johnson, H. (2013). Click, play and save: The iGamelan as a tool for music-culture sustainability In: Musicology Australia, 35, 221 - 236
- Brunt, S.,Johnson, H. (2011). Southern gold bars: the gamelan community in Dunedin In: Dunedin Soundings: place and performance, Otago University Press, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Brunt, S. (2011). Performing identity and place in Wellington's Cuba Street carnival In: Home, Land and Sea: Situating Music in Aotearoa New Zealand, Pearson, New Zealand
- Brunt, S. (2011). Introduction: New perspectives on popular music in Asia In: Perfect Beat: The Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture, 12, 103 - 106
- Brunt, S. (2010). Sounding out the streets: performance, cultural identity and Place in Wellington's Cuba street carnival In: Many Voices: Music and National Identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, United Kingdom
- Brunt, S. (2009). When Black Tears Fall: image-making and cultural identity in a case study of Japan's hip-hop/enka singer Jero In: Stuck in the Middle: the Mainstream and its Discontents: Selected Proceedings of the 2008 IASPM-ANZ Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 2008
- Can Songs Heal Japan? Building National Identity and Societal Resilience through a Televised Song Contest. Funded by: RMIT Cash Contribution from (2013 to 2014)
1 PhD Completions2 PhD Current Supervisions