Michael Kahr

Artistic or pedagogical education

• 2010 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Sydney
• 2005 Master of Music (MMus) at the University of Sydney
• 2001 Mag. Art. Jazz Piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz

Teaching & research

Teaching

• Senior Scientist/Institute Director (since 2022 Institute for Jazz at the Gustav Mahler Private University of Music, Klagenfurt
• Senior Lecturer (since 2006 at the Institute for Jazz at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz)
• Dean of Studies (2018-2021) and Vice-Rector (2021-2022) at the JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music Vienna
• Postdoctoral Researcher (2011-2018, Institute for Jazz Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz)
• Lectureships at the University of Sydney (2002-2004), University of Vienna (Institut f. Musikwissenschaft, 2013/2017), University of Salzburg (2017/2019), Kunstuniversität Linz (2020)

Research

• International Center for Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music at the JAM MUSICL LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music Vienna (2022, Head of Research)
• Member of Network for Artistic Music Research (funded by German Research Foundation DFG, 2022-2025)
• Project Associate UniNEtZ II (KUG, 2022-2024)
• Project Associate UniNEtZ I (Working Group SDG 4 and Working Group Arts and Sustainability, 2019-2021)
• Postdoc (Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music) – Institute for Jazz Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, 2015-2018  
• Postdoc – Austrian Science Fund FWF-project Jazz & the City: Identity of a Capital of Jazz, AR 86 G21, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, 2011-2013
• PhD – funded position at the University of Sydney, 2005-2010                                                                                       

Publications

Artistic publications – CDs, DVDs)

• Dorothea Jaburek, Sweet Secrets, Alessa Records 1062 (2017) – comp., arr., p.
• Michael Kahr, Jazz & the City (and me...), Alessa Records ALR 1047 (2016) - comp., arr., p.
• SaxallegrO, Freequencies, Barnette (2015) - comp.
• Dorothea Jaburek, Mei eigne Wöd, Firmamendt Records fm 002 (2014) - arr., p.
• Rondo Vienna, 3, Preiser Records 91247 (2013) - p.
• High Styria Big Band, Upper Styrian Big Band Folk, Manus (2011) - comp., arr., p.
• Rondo Vienna, Strong Enough, Preiser Records (2011) - arr., p.
• missImister, Bittersweet, Cracked Anegg Records KEG LC 09587 (2008) - comp., arr., p.
• m&m, m&m, MM Records 01 (2005) - comp., arr., p.
• Black Coffe Chapter 6, Feed your Soul, Ecco Chamber EC 3112 (2003) – comp., arr., p.
• Heidi Krenn Quartett, Austrian Young Lions, Universal Music 980865-4 (2003) - p.
• Michael Kahr Quartett, Stories, Mr.D. Music 4029661023148 (2002) - comp., arr., p., tp.
• Klangdebüts, The Dukebox, KUG 17 (2000) - arr., p.
• Faton M. Macula, I Remember You, MGR 98002-2 (2000) - comp., arr., p.
• Trijok, Spring, A-Jok Records 11570394 (1995) - tp.

Scientific publications

Books

• Routledge Companion of Jazz and Gender. Co-editing with James Reddan and Monika Herzig. Routledge (2022, in print)
• Artistic Practice as Research in Jazz: Positions, Theories, Methods. Routledge (2021)
• Aspects of Context and Harmony in the Music of Clare Fischer. PhD thesis. University of Sydney (2009).

Essays (with peer review)

• With multiple co-authors (TBA). Doing Thinking in Jazz. Preparing for a Jazz Performance. 21st Century Music Practice Research Series / Cambridge Elements, ed. by Simon Zagorski-Thomas (2023 in preparation).
• “The Jazz Artist’s Knowing Voice in Historical Contexts: From Historically Informed Practice to Artistic Research”. Jazzforschung / Jazz Research 48 (2022 accepted).
• “Artistic Practice and/as Analytical Method in Historical Jazz Research”. Rivista di Analisi e Teoria Musicale 2019/1 (2020), 129–153.
• “Jazz in Graz von 1965 bis 2015”. Historisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Graz 48 (2018), 435–451.
• “Chromatic Harmony in the Music of Herbie Hancock and Clare Fischer”. Jazzforschung / Jazz Research 46 (2018), 73–90.
• “The Jazz Institutes in Graz: Pioneer in Academic Jazz and their Impact on Local Identity”. European Journal of Musicology 16/1 (2017), 45–59, https://doi.org/10.5450/ejm.2017.16.5778.
• “Künstlerische Forschung im Bereich Jazz und Popularmusik an der Kunstuniversität Graz”. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung ZfHE 10/1 (2015), 39–51, https://doi.org/10.3217/zfhe-10-01/03.   
• “Upper Styrian Big Band Folk – Exploring Local Authenticity and Identity in Jazz”. Journal for Artistic Research 3 (2013), http://doi.org/10.22501/jar.21732.

Book articles

• With Wolf-Georg Zaddach. “Methods for the 21st Century: Artistic Research and Popular Music Studies”. Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies. Intellect (2023 in preparation).
• “Artistic Research into Jazz and the City”. Urban Music Studies: Theories and Methods, ed. Alenka Barber-Kersovan (2022 in preparation).
• “Constructing a Diverse and Inclusive Jazz Tradition: A Uchronic Narrative of Jazz in Graz, Austria”. Routledge Companion for Jazz & Gender, ed. James Reddan, Monika Herzig and Michael Kahr. Routledge (2022 in print).
• “Die Analyse als kreatives Werkzeug für eine zeitgenössische, historisch informierte Aufführungs- und Kompositionspraxis im Jazz“. Stuttgarter Musikwissenschaftliche Schriften, ed. Bernd Asmus. Schott (2022 in print).
• “Artistic Research in Jazz: An Introduction”. Artistic Practice as Research in Jazz: Positions, Theories, Methods, ed. Michael Kahr. Routledge (2021), xvi–xxii.
• “Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music: Historical Contexts”. Artistic Practice as Research in Jazz and Popular Music: Positions, Theories, Methods, ed. Michael Kahr. Routledge (2021), 46–64.
• “Jazz in Graz der 1970er Jahre: Institutionen, Personen, Entwicklungen”. Auf dem Weg zur Kunstuniversität: das Kunsthochschul-Organisationsgesetz von 1970, ed. Susanne Prucher, Silvia Herkt, Susanne Kogler, Severin Matiasovits and Erwin Strouhal. Hollitzer (2021), 204–220.
• “Zur historischen Entwicklung der deutschsprachigen Jazzforschung. Wissenschafts- und kulturgeschichtliche Rahmenbedingungen in der Stadt Graz”. Jazzforschung heute. Themen, Methoden, Perspektiven, ed. Martin Pfleiderer and Wolf-Georg Zaddach. Berlin: Edition EMVAS (2019), 261–282, https://e-pub.uni-weimar.de/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/3868.
• “Artistic Research in Jazz: A Case Study and Potential Developments”. Music and Sonic Arts: Theories and Practice. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, eds. Mine Doğantan-Dack and John Dack (2018), 184–199.
• “Zur musikalischen Entwicklung des modernen Jazz in Graz (1953–1955)”. Anklaenge 2016. Studien zur Österreichischen Popularmusik im 20. Jahrhundert (Wiener Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft). Hollitzer Verlag, eds. Christian Glanz and Manfred Permoser (2017), 161–176.
• “50 Years of Academic Jazz in Central Europe: Musicological and Artistic Research Perspectives in a Case Study of Local Jazz History in Graz”. Continental Drift. 50 Years of Jazz from Europe, Edinburgh Napier University, eds. Haftor Medbøe, Zack Moir and Chris Atton. (2017), 57–65.
• “Chromaticism and Identity in the Music of Clare Fischer”. Darmstädter Beiträge zur Jazzforschung 14. Wolke Verlag, ed. Wolfram Knauer (2016), 71–84.

Further work experience

• Board Member, International Society of Jazz Research (IGJ)
• Editorial Board Member, Journal for Jazz Education in Research and Practice (IU Press)
• Reviewer for Research Council South Africa, Journal for Artistic Research, Samples, Jazzforschung/Jazz Research and Transnational Jazz Studies (Routledge)

Prizes, awards, miscellaneous

• Erzherzog Johann Research Award, County of Styria 2018
• Grants for CD-productions, scientific conferences and research projects
• Austrian Science Fund FWF PEEK Grant (2011-2013)
• Morroe Berger – Benny Carter Jazz Research Award, Rutgers University Newark, USA (2011)
• Fulbright Scholar Award, Los Angeles 2010