Musicking beyond the stage: The performance of the musical persona on TikTok
Event date: 06/11/2026
Location: Musikwissenschaftliches Institut der HU, 6 p.m., in German
With music ethnologist Dr Juan Bermúdez (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz)
As has been observed with the introduction of new technologies in the past, digitalisation has profoundly transformed the way in which music and dance are created, transmitted and experienced, thereby profoundly altering (or shaping) the social conditions, artistic forms of expression and technical possibilities available to individuals and communities.
Digital technologies such as streaming platforms and apps enable new practices that challenge previous forms of expression and influence the values and worldviews associated with music and dance. The relationship between identity, spatiality, multimediality and performance in musical practices within and through multimedia environments is a field that opens up new, as yet largely unexplored avenues of approach.
In his presentation, music ethnologist Dr Juan Bermúdez from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz will draw on his ethnographic research into musical practices on TikTok to demonstrate how performances, practices and multimedia environments shape the creation and negotiation of performative artistic identities (Musical Personae [Auslander 2021]). In doing so, he will analyse how, among other things, gender, class and race are materialised through various imaginaries and meta-information into bodily and vocal performativities within multimedia musical practices. Furthermore, he will examine the ways in which this performativity offers new spaces both for the development of new forms against, and as vehicles for, discrimination and violence.
6 pm
Institute of Musicology, Humboldt University
Am Kupfergraben 5
10117 Berlin