Brian Diettrich

Lecturer in Ethnomusicology

Brian Diettrich is Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the New Zealand School of Music, where he teaches courses in music and culture, regional musics, and contemporary approaches to ethnomusicology, and also supervises graduate research projects.  Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Brian received both the PhD and MA in ethnomusicology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and a BM in Theory and Composition from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, in Berea, Ohio.   

Brian’s research focuses on the music cultures of Micronesia, especially that of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), where he has undertaken field projects over the past nine years in Chuuk, Pohnpei, and among Micronesian migrant communities residing in Hawai‘i.  Brian was awarded a Field Research Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropology in 2006 for his doctoral research in Chuuk, and his resulting dissertation, which explored the intersection of music, cultural heritage, and colonialism, was the first in-depth scholarly study of music from this region of the Pacific.  Brian has also regularly undertaken various collaborative and educational community projects in Micronesia.

Brian’s research interests and scholarship target interfaces of colonialism and postcolonial theory, agency and power relationships in the performing arts, as well as issues of authenticity, cultural transformation, missionization, and transnationalism.  He has presented his research at international conferences and symposia in the U.S., China, Japan, the U.K., New Zealand and the Pacific.  Current forthcoming projects include a co-authored book on Pacific Island music as part of the Global Music Series (Oxford University Press), a study and re-evaluation of the importance of musical instruments in Micronesia, and a project exploring the Christian heritage and popular music styles of Chuuk.   

Brian is an active member of the Society for Ethnomusicology, the International Council for Traditional Music, as well as its Study Group on the Music and Dance of Oceania.  He also sits on the Board of Rekii Chuuk, a private educational Institution in the FSM.        

Contact details
Room 303C, Music Block, Victoria University Campus
Phone: +64 4 463 5863
Email: brian.diettrich@nzsm.ac.nz

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