MAMU team
Professor Margaret Kartomi
Professor Kartomi is a specialist on the ethnomusicology of Indonesia and Southeast Asia and the world authority on the music of Sumatra.
She has won numerous awards and honours in Australia, Indonesia and worldwide, as well as many ARC grants.
Her research output ranges widely over such fields as the music of Indonesia, Jewish Music in the Asia-Pacific Region, organology/musical instruments, Australian Aboriginal Music, Chinese music and the world’s youth orchestras – especially the Australian Youth Orchestra.
Bronia Kornhauser MA
Bronia Kornhauser's main research interest as an ethnomusicologist was the music of Indonesia, particularly the Kroncong genre performed in the urban areas of Java. Her thesis on Kroncong music has been lauded as ‘the definitive work on that subject’.
In her role as archivist, Bronia documents and manages the music collections gathered in the field by staff and students, as well as the collections donated by members of the public. She has overseen the digitisation of some of these audio and visual materials housed in the archive, the selections being based on their fragility, rarity and uniqueness. The project was funded by two consecutive Australian Research Council grants and has established an efficient and effective means of both accessing and preserving valuable resources for future studies in the music traditions of diverse culture
Dr Annette Bowie
Dr Annette Bowie’s research focus is the music of South Korea, although in recent years her fields of interest have broadened to include China and Japan in her quest to discover how the introduction of Western music was received in Northeast Asia and how this introduction infiltrated their traditional cultures and ways of life.
From 2013, Dr Bowie has assisted MAMU’s Archivist Bronia Kornhauser by sorting and cataloguing existing materials as well as new additions in the Archive and, where necessary, checking and preparing selected items for MAMU’s exhibitions and other related events. Her most rewarding experiences involve mentoring our interns and student volunteers as they work on special projects and assist in the general operations of the Archive.
Rohan Iyer MMus
Rohan Iyer is a music researcher, performer and teacher currently based in Wurundjeri Country. Within the field of ethnomusicology, Rohan specialises in the study of music from Indonesia. He is currently pursuing a PhD at UNSW centered around the hybrid musical genre tanjidor Betawi, found in and around the outskirts of Greater Jakarta. At MAMU, Rohan's role as research officer includes digitising archival material, overseeing social media and providing research assistance.
As a performer, Rohan is an experienced Central Javanese and West Javanese (degung) gamelan musician. Furthermore, he is an active tuba player, well-versed across a number of musical styles. As an educator, Rohan freelances as a brass and piano teacher within Greater Melbourne.