Since our foundation in 1964, the Department of Music at King’s has been driven by the innovative research and compositional creativity of our staff.
Western Societies have never spent more time creating and listening to music than today.
We make full use of music's uniquely interdisciplinary and international role. We approach this medium with the rigour and intellectual commitment of a discipline developed over thousands of years. Our work is situated at the intersection of the creative arts, humanities and social sciences. Performance is also an integral part of some of our work.
Our research projects range historically from the emergence of trouvère song in 12th-century France to issues of race in 20th-century jazz. Geographically, our research encompasses Europe, North America, the Eastern Indian Ocean and Brazil. Methodologically, we draw from music studies, history, sociology, cultural, race, gender, and media studies, as well as ethnographic fieldwork and textual criticism.
And our composers’ works are performed to international audiences.