Ethno Research

Lee Higgins
Principal Investigator 
 

ICCM, York St John University, UK

Professor Lee Higgins directs the Ethno Research project as a whole.

He is the Director of the International Centre for Community Music based at York St John University, UK. As a community musician, he has worked across the education sector as well as within health settings, prison and probation service, youth and community, adult education, and arts organizations. As a presenter and guest speaker, Lee has worked on four continents in university, school, and NGO settings and was the President of the International Society of Music Education (2016-2018). He is the senior editor for the International Journal of Community Music and is the author of Community Music: In Theory and in Practice (2012, Oxford University Press), co-author of Engagement in Community Music (2017, Routledge) and co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Community Music (2018).

Lee Higgins
Sarah-Jane Gibson
Post Doctoral Researcher 
 

ICCM, York St John University, UK

Sarah-Jane Gibson is the post-doctoral researcher for Ethno Research. She leads the Sustainability/Covid-19 and Ethno on the Road research, and is part of the History team.

Sarah-Jane graduated with her PhD in Ethnomusicology from Queen’s University in 2018. Her thesis focused on how identity is constructed through singing in a community choir, and if this influences broader identity formations, with a focus on Northern Ireland.

Her research focuses on community and identity formation through engagement in musical practice. She has an extensive background in music education, having taught a wide range of ages and abilities in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Since completing her PhD she has been teaching at Queen’s University, Belfast tutoring a variety of anthropology and music courses and conducting the University Chamber Choir. Currently, she also lectures at York St John University and runs a folk music ensemble. 

Sarah-Jane Gibson