Curriculum Vitae: Professor Dr. Franz Kerschbaumer
Head of Department, Institute for Jazz Research Graz, Austria
Education and Experience
From 1964 to 1972, I studied trumpet (classical and jazz) and contrabass at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz and, in 1977 I received a doctorate in musicology at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz (subsidiary subjects: history, philosophy). From 1970 to 1988, I worked as an assistant lecturer and research assistant at the Department of Jazz Research and the Department of Music Education of the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz. In 1988, I was appointed to a professorship for popular music and musical practice in jazz at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz and have since delivered a range of lectures in the fields of jazz history, jazz analysis and popular music. Since 1992, I have worked as Head of the Department of Jazz Research. My main publications and fields of research enclose the topics history of jazz and popular music, jazz analysis, and the confluence of Western Art music and jazz. Since 1998, I have also been working as Head of the Academic Senate of the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz. Further academic tasks comprise the membership and administration of various academic committees. As a performer, I have been the leader of several jazz bands (e.g. ‘Austria Consort’, ‘Jazz Traffic’, ‘Miles Davis Project’, ‘City Hall Jazz Band’), acting also as a composer and arranger, and playing the electric bass.
International Research Work
I have been the Editor-in-Chief of the international publication series Jazzforschung / Jazz Research and Beiträge zur Jazzforschung / Studies in Jazz Research since 1976. The series has produced 53 volumes to date and is now firmly established as one of the leading international publications for jazz studies.
In addition to my editorial duties, I have played a significant part in organising events and research activities on an international level. For example, I have been the primary organiser for the biennial Internationaler Jazzwissenschaftlicher Kongress since 1977, the most recent event (May 2009) celebrated the diversity of jazz research cultures in different European contexts.
I have worked as president of the International Society for Jazz Research since 1992 and have recently secured a contract with Northeastern University Press for an edited volume on ‘Jazz and Europe’ to be published in 2012. This will be the most extensive and wide ranging publication to date on European jazz and will provide a significant output for the Rhythm Changes project.
My editorial work has been wide ranging, expanding to the re-edition of the encyclopedias “Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart” (MGG), and “Österreichisches Musiklexikon” and I have served as a delegate of the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz at the prestigious “Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung” (FWF) of Austria, 1988 to 1992.
The scope of my research work is evidenced from the range of international invited lectures and seminars given over the past 30 years. Within this context, I have presented lectures in jazz at the University of Vienna alongside international presentations in countries including the USA, Italy, Germany, and Scandinavia.
Jazz and the City 