Presentation and research foci:

1: Contemporary music and sound art - particularly in Scandinavia and Germany.

This was my point of departure in the 1980’s and I studied it with a focus on philosophical and aesthetical issues that surface in the discourses of musical modernism and avant-garde, so for instance in my PhD thesis on the concept of the musical artwork. Later the concept of performativity became of pivotal importance and led me to my second research focus:

2: History of music theory, philosophy of sound and senses.

My research in this field is motivated by an interest in the materiality of sound and involves critical readings of a broad range of sources pertaining to the histories of music theory, tuning and temperament, instruments and instrumentation.

3: Contemporary Arabic music culture

My research interest in philosophical and theoretical discourses on music was always combined with an interest in the social and institutional framings of the music in question, and this aspect is at the fore in my most recent research area. I am currently working intensively on contemporary music scenes in Arabic speaking Middle East countries. At the moment I focus primarily on Egypt and on current artistic phenomena that develop in critical or affirmative dialog with ‘classical’ Arabic music. This work is motivated by a desire to understand this music’s basis in the Arabic music and literary history (it is mostly vocal music) as well as its present reception and political implications.

Curriculum vitae

Søren Møller Sørensen. Musicologist, Associate Professor, PhD.

Department of Art and Cultural Studies.

Employed at UCPH since 1989

Year of PhD graduation:  1992

Søren Møller Sørensen, born in Birkerød 1955

Address: Allikebakken 7, Kagerup, DK-3200 Helsinge, [email protected]

Education and academic positions:

1987 master in musicology from University of Copenhagen

1988-1992 research fellow at University of Copenhagen

1992 PhD in musicology from University of Copenhagen

1992 research assistant at Department for Musicology, University of Copenhagen

1993 teacher at Kunsthøjskolen I Holbæk

1993-1997 assistant professor at Department for Musicology, University of Copenhagen

1998- associate professor at Department for Musicology, University of 
Copenhagen

2009-2012 studies in Arabic at University of Copenhagen

Management and organization experience:

1999-2002 leader of studies [studieleder] at Department for Musicology, University of 
Copenhagen

2008-2012 leader of research [afdelingsforskningsleder]: Section for musicology, IKK, 
University of Copenhagen

2009- leader of the special focus area [satsningsområdeleder]for historical studies at 
Department for Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen

2013- chairman of studies board [fagudvalgsformand] section for Musicology, IKK, 
KU

Organization of international conferences, colloquia and seminars;

“Three Seminars on Contemporary Music” as part of International Society for 
Contemporary Music’s World Music (1996) ; “Description and Interpretation”( 2000); 
“Music. Concept, writing and performance( 2002); “Performativity: a paradigm for the 
studies of art and culture” (2004); “Sound Art – Auditory Cultures” (2007)

Research training, PhD-supervision:

PhD-school for Cultural Studies and the Arts (KLIK), KU, Board member (2003-2010); 
PhD-coordinator, Department of Musicology, KU (2005-2011); associated 
Internationales Graduiertenkolleg Interart (Freie Universitat Berlin)

Contributions to PhD-seminars in Denmark, Norway and Germany

Supervisor of five PhD-projects

Editorial work:

Editor of Danish Musicology Online.

Member of editorial boards for the journals Dansk Musiktidsskrift (1990-2000); 
Positionen (Berlin) (1996-2001); Svensk Tidskrift för Musikforskning (1996-2008); 
Musik og Forskning (2002-2007); Danish Yearbook of Musicology; Seismograf/DMT.

Recent scholarships:

Three month research residency at the Danish Institute in Damascus; Scholarship from 
the Institute (2010)

Scholarship from the Danish Institute in Damascus for music research in Cairo (2013)