research
My research and teaching specializations are the cultural histories of contemporary music and multimedia industries, with a focus on the Philippines and the US.
My current book project Pop Convergence (under contract with Oxford University Press) examines musical flows and networks in contemporary Manila. Through a combination of archival research, musical analysis, and ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how the Philippine mainstream entertainment industry has bestowed on audiences assurances of cultural and social authority.
Another major project, Listening to Caregiving, engages with global narratives of migration, cultural memory, archiving, and the digital mapping of sonic experiences of Filipino domestic workers in select international locations. I launched the project at Princeton’s Migration and Humanities Lab, led by Sandra Bermann. My exploration has continued with the support of a Faculty Fellowship with the Humanities Institute at UT Austin (2022-2024).
I’ve taught classes and supervised projects on musicology, ethnomusicology, sound studies, multimedia research methods, global culture industries, digital technologies, and audio/visual production.
My PhD dissertation was funded by a Cambridge International Scholarship and supervised by Nicholas Cook, Matthew Machin-Autenrieth, and David Trippett. My work has additionally been supported by grants awarded by Cambridge Trust, Santander, American Musicological Society, Peterhouse Cambridge, Music & Letters Trust, Princeton University, The New School, and UT Austin.
