Artistic Research in Jazz and Popular Music
This new SIG (est. 2026) is based on and will extend the activities of the International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ, est. 2019), which was initiated in reaction to the increasing relevance of artistic research perspectives in the academic discourses in jazz studies.
The SIG will continue to provide a platform for knowledge exchange and connection between artistic researchers worldwide by organising regular conferences, projects and publications including the peer-reviewed ARJAZZ Journal for Artistic Research in Jazz via the Research Catalogue.
The SIG was formally launched during a dedicated panel discussion at the 17th SAR Conference (International Forum on Artistic Research) at the University of Galway, 23-26 June 2026.
Interested SAR members are invited to join the SIG by contacting one of the team coordinators via email (details below).
Contact:
Core team members:
- Sebastian P. D. Bailey (University of Toronto)
- Dr. Andrew Bain (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama)
- Dr. Birgitta Flick (independent researcher)
- Dr. Matthias Heyman (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Erasmus University College))
- Dr. Piergiorgio Pirro (Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Erasmus University College))
Organisers
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Michael Kahr
Dr. Michael Kahr is a jazz pianist, composer/arranger, musicologist and artistic researcher. He serves as Professor for Artistic Research, Chair of the Center for Artistic Research and Dean at JAM MUSIC LAB Private University in Vienna. He is also Senior Artist at University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. He currently leads a project funded by the city council of Vienna focusing on artistic research, urbanism and cartography. Key publications include an award-winning monograph, several articles, chapters, CDs and scores. He edited Artistic Research in Jazz (Routledge, 2022), co-edited the Routledge Companion to Jazz & Gender (2023) and ARJAZZ Journal (2025). Kahr is founder of INARJ, board member of the International Society for Jazz Research (ISJ) and working group member of AEC PJP and ARTinRARE.
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Monika Herzig
Dr. Monika Herzig is Professor for Artistic Research and Vice Rector at JAM MUSIC LAB Private University in Vienna. Author of “David Baker – A Legacy in Music” (IU Press, 2011) and “Experiencing Chick Corea” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), she co-edited “Jazz and Gender” (Routledge, 2022). She chairs the Jazz Education Network (JEN) research committee, co-edits ARJAZZ, and serves on the JAZZ editorial board. As a jazz pianist, she has toured worldwide, opened for Tower of Power, Sting, and Yes, and earned DownBeat awards with NPR and JazzWeek features. Her supergroup Sheroes was voted one of the world’s best jazz groups of 2018 by DownBeat. Her composition “Just Another Day at the Office” is featured in “New Standards” (Berklee Press, 2022). Awards include a 1994 DownBeat Best Original Song, 2015 JJA Hero, and grants from NEA and others. She is a CASIO Artist.
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Mike Fletcher
Dr. Mike Fletcher is a woodwind multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and researcher. He is a Research Fellow at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, and engages in research spanning jazz, traditional, and improvised music practice, musicology and philosophy. He is a founder committee member of the International Network for Artistic Research in Jazz (INARJ), has presented his work at conferences across Europe, and his academic writing has been published by Routledge and Leuven University Press. His most recent research project, funded by AHRC, investigated the musical and cultural impact of saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s early music. He was recently awarded Arts Council England funding to develop an improvisation methodology based on the bagpipe traditions of Northumbria and the Scottish borders.