Dr Matthew Machin-Autenrieth

Matthew Machin-Autenrieth is Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of Aberdeen and the Principal Investigator for the European Research Council-funded project ‘Past and Present Musical Encounters across the Strait of Gibraltar’ (2018–23). Matthew completed his Masters and PhD in Ethnomusicology at Cardiff University. Following his studies, Matthew was appointed as a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge (2014–17) before becoming Senior Research Associate from 2018-20. He has taught ethnomusicology at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University and the University of Plymouth. Matthew welcomes enquiries from potential PhD students working in areas related to his research interests.

Matthew’s research spans three main areas: the relationship between music and regional identity in nation states; heritage studies; and music, diaspora and postcolonial studies. His doctoral research examined the relationship between flamenco, regionalism and heritage in Andalusia. Based on extensive fieldwork and engagement with political geography, the thesis explored how flamenco has been ‘regionalised’ as an emblem of Andalusian identity and the ways in which this process has been received by flamenco communities, most notably in the city of Granada. This research was published in the monograph Flamenco, Regionalism and Musical Heritage in Southern Spain (Routledge).

Matthew’s new ERC project ‘Past and Present Musical Encounters across the Strait of Gibraltar’ explores how the notion of a collective European-North African cultural memory has been articulated through music for different sociopolitical ends in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Music has been employed as a means of social control and representation during French-Spanish colonialism in North Africa (1912–56) and as a model for multiculturalism and cultural diplomacy among North African communities in Europe today. The project will analyse how modern-day practices of musical exchange in the region are shaped by discourses and networks formed during colonialism. Combining archival research, oral history and ethnographic fieldwork, it brings together different geographical, linguistic and musical specialisms, leading towards an integrated understanding of musical exchange in the region.