Another four years
Extension of the mandate for the UNESCO Chair in Transcultural Music Studies
The Weimar Chair in Transcultural Music Studies – ‘UNESCO Chair on Transcultural Music Studies’ – was accepted into the renowned UNESCO network in 2017 as the world's first musicology chair. Now, in an official letter to the President of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, Prof. Anne-Kathrin Lindig, UNESCO has announced the extension of this mandate until 30 June 2029.
The chair was established on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Tiago de Oliveira Pinto and has since developed into a central platform for international dialogue on music as a living cultural heritage. With the upcoming handover to Prof. Dr. Matthias Lewy, a new phase is now beginning in which collaborative research and communication of musical processes in a South-South-North context will be further strengthened.
As an independent profile within a broad-based musicology programme, Transcultural Music Studies examines musical performances in their specific socio-cultural, historical and global contexts on an equal footing, regardless of the origin or national affiliation of the music. Field research, methods of editing and post-processing audio and video materials are among the components of data collection.
Collaborative research with partners in Germany and abroad and music as ‘intangible cultural heritage’ (in the sense of the 2003 UNESCO Convention) are further focal points of the study and research profile. For example, as part of the continuation and handover at the University of Music in September 2025, the research project ‘Resocialisation of Sound: Collaboration with Collectives in the Amazon Region in Research, Archiving and Mediation’ will be launched under the direction of Prof. Dr. Matthias Lewy, which will investigate indigenous music in the space between material and immaterial culture in a forward-looking manner.
Transcultural Music Studies at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar thus provides important impetus for the work of UNESCO, both nationally and internationally. With its interdisciplinary orientation and project-oriented approach, the department's research and teaching make a significant contribution to the study and communication of music as a living cultural heritage.
This requires working in related disciplines and applying empirical methods. Transcultural Music Studies is divided into four main areas: cultural theory, musicology/music research, archiving and applied projects. On international excursions, students acquire important research skills in practice. Career fields include international cultural mediation, bilateral research cooperation and cultural policy.
[25 July 2025]