Allan Marett

Allan Marett, Emeritus Professor of Musicology at the University of Sydney's Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has built a distinguished career in ethnomusicology and musicology. He obtained his BA (Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington in 1970, MA in Area Studies of South Asia from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1972, and PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1976. Marett's early career included a Research Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge from 1975 to 1978. At the University of Sydney, he progressed from Senior Tutor in Music (1978-1980) and Lecturer (1980-1986) to Senior Lecturer (1987-1994), Associate Professor (1997-2003), and Professor of Musicology (2004-2006). He also held the position of Professor of Music and Head of Department at the University of Hong Kong from 1994 to 1997, and Professor of Ethnomusicology at Charles Darwin University from 2007 to 2009. Since 2007, he has been Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney.

Marett's research specializes in Australian Aboriginal song traditions, including Wangga and Lirrga from North West Australia and Arnhem Land, Indigenous performance practices, endangered languages and songs, intercultural inquiry, and Japanese court music such as the Tōgaku repertory. He led the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia and contributed to PARADISEC, the Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures, focusing on preserving endangered musical cultures. Key publications include Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts: The Wangga of North Australia (2005), 'Endangered Songs and Endangered Languages' (2003), Vanishing Songs: How Musical Extinctions Threaten the Planet, the Laurence Picken Memorial Lecture (2010), 'Ghostly Voices: Some Observations on Song-Creation, Ceremony and Being in NW Australia' (2000), 'For the Sake of a Song: Wangga Songmen and their Repertories' (2013), and 'Tōgaku: Where Have the Tang Melodies Gone, and Where Have the New Melodies Come From?' (1985). Marett received the Frederick Richter Prize from the Royal Society for India, Pakistan and Ceylon in 1972, the Stanner Prize in 2006, and election as Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2018. He has secured 16 Australian Research Council grants, held international academic appointments, and delivered keynote addresses, profoundly influencing ethnomusicology and Sino-Japanese music history.

Professional Email: allan.marett@sydney.edu.au