Background and activities

I am Associate Professor in Ethnomusicology at NTNU with particular specialisms in LGBT music ensembles and Sámi music. Shaped by feminist, queer and postcolonial perspectives, my research, teaching and outreach projects focus on the interface between music and social justice. I obtained my PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London in 2011, and have held postdoctoral posts at the Center for World Music, University of Hildesheim (2011-2014) and at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen (2015-2017). Committed to ethnographic method and interdisciplinary inquiry, my work has investigated a range of issues, including queer activism, Indigenous cultural appropriation, cosmopolitanism, virtual reality, and the environmental crisis.

I am currently researching LGBT choirs and orchestras in London, Rome and Warsaw, exploring the transformation of queer European citizenship and transnational activism in a post-Stonewall era. My monograph ‘Sámi Musical Performance and the Politics of Indigeneity in Northern Europe’ (2015) examined the role of Sámi popular music in shaping the politics of sovereignty, time, place, cultural heritage and transnationalism. I was lead editor of the book ‘Music, Indigeneity, Digital Media’ (2017) which drew together the work of leading international scholars of Indigenous music. In addition, I have published articles and book chapters on Indigenous feminism, festivals, television music documentaries, Eurovision, and the politics of cultural repatriation. More recently, I have begun to explore the medium of the blog to disseminate current work, knowledge and embodied experiences.

I am co-founder and chair of the LGBTQ+ Music Study Group which promotes academic inquiry into issues of gender and sexuality, creates a support system for members of the LGBTQ+ community, and serves as a consulting body for wider issues of diversity and inclusion. Currently, I serve on the editorial board of the Journal of the Royal Musical Association (JRMA). In 2015 I was programme committee member for the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) Annual Conference. Academic events I have co-organised and co-convened include the Grieg Research School (Trondheim, 2018), the Berlin ethnomusicology research group BEAM (2012-5), and the International Doctoral Workshop in Ethnomusicology at the Center for World Music (2012-4). I am often invited to speak at academic and public events, including as a keynote speaker at a symposium on Nordic popular music at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen in 2013.

In Trondheim, I have been nurturing engaged pedagogical practice, pursuing forms of social and artistic outreach, and developing ideas to transform institutional structures. I teach BA and MA courses on ethnomusicology; music, gender and sexuality; music in Europe; music and social justice; and Nordic music. I currently supervise one PhD candidate and several BA and MA students with projects on a range of topics especially those employing ethnographic method. At the Department of Music, I am a member of a working group which explores issues of inclusion, equality, and diversity (RILM). In addition, I am chair of the local queer choir, Kor Hen.

Scientific, academic and artistic work

Displaying a selection of activities. See all publications in the database

Journal publications

  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2016) Sámi Popular Music, Indigenous Feminism, Environment: Mari Boine as Grenzgängerin. Jahrbuch Musik und Gender. vol. 8.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2012) Repatriation, Revival and Transmission: The Politics of a Sámi Musical Heritage. Ethnomusicology Forum. vol. 21 (2).

Books

  • Hilder, Thomas Richard; Stobart, Henry; Tan, Shzr Ee. (2017) Music, Indigeneity, Digital Media. University of Rochester Press. 2017. ISBN 978-1-58046-573-1.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2015) Sámi Musical Performance and the Politics of Indigeneity in Northern Europe. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2015. ISBN 978-0-8108-8895-1.

Part of book/report

  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2019) Sámi Musical Performance, Media and the Politics of Globalization: The Case of Sápmi Sessions. In the Balance: Indigeneity, Performance, Globalization.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2017) Music, Indigeneity, Digital Media. Music, Indigeneity, Digital Media.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2017) Nordic Sexual Exceptionalism and Indigenous Rights: Sámi Alternative Visions of Europe at the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing Sexual Identities: Nationalities on the Eurovision Stage.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2017) Sámi Festivals and Indigeneity. The Oxford Handbook of Popular Music in the Nordic Countries.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2017) Sámi Music. Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World Volume XI Genres: Europe.
  • Hilder, Thomas Richard. (2017) The Politics of Virtuality: Sámi Cultural Simulation through Digital Musical Media. Music, Indigeneity, Digital Media.