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Dr

Hamish Robb

Senior Lecturer

School of Music

Orcid identifier0000-0002-3231-4915
  • Senior Lecturer
    School of Music
  • +6444635416 (Work)
  • FT94 004, 94 Fairlie Terrace, Wellington, 6012, New Zealand

BIO

Hamish Robb is a music theorist, musicologist, and performing pianist—and a Senior Lecturer in Music at the New Zealand School of Music, Victoria University of Wellington. He collaborates closely with the Classical Performance Programme alongside work in his home programme of Music Studies, where he is Head of Music Theory, teaching all of the NZSM's classical theory courses.

With a PhD and MA in musicology from Princeton University, and two other Masters degrees (in piano performance and musicology) from Victoria University of Wellington, Hamish has a passion for making the appreciation and analysis of classical music accessible for audiences. He gives pre-concert talks and writes podcasts and programme notes for New Zealand's leading national music institutions. His research centres on issues of musical meaning, performance and embodiment, performance pedagogy, music-dance relationships, film music, music theory and analysis, and the musical theories and works of French pianist Marie Jaëll (1846–1925). His work has been published in 19th-Century Music, Music Theory Online, Music Theory Spectrum, Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, and in edited collections and other forums. He is currently preparing a book on Marie Jaëll's theories and works, which he plans to publish in 2025, the 100-year anniversary of Jaëll's death.

As a pianist, Hamish adjudicates regional, national, and international music competitions. He has featured as concerto soloist with several orchestras, including the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and has formed collaborations with performers from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and New Zealand School of Music. His scholarly research, piano performance, teaching, and community engagements all reinforce and inform one another.

DEGREES

  • PhD
    Princeton University, Princeton, United States1 Jan 2009 - 1 Jan 2015
  • MA
    Princeton University, Princeton, United States1 Jan 2009 - 1 Jan 2011
  • MMus Musicology
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2008 - 2008
  • MMus Performance
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2002 - 2002
  • BMus (Hons)
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand1 Jan 1998 - 1 Jan 2001
  • GDipArts Psychology
    Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand2003 - 2003

LANGUAGES

  • French
    Can read, write, speak, understand and peer review
  • German
    Can read, write, speak and understand

AVAILABILITY

  • Masters Research or PhD student supervision
  • Collaborative projects
  • Media enquiries
  • Membership of an advisory committee

FIELDS OF RESEARCH