Representation of Female Jazz Musicians at KUG

University of Music and Performing Arts (KUG), Graz 

Institute for Jazz and Popular Music Research

Tamara Topalović; Johann Edgar Seidel; Deniz Oral; Maria Blengino

Supervisor and Lecturer:

Prof. Dr. Jasna Jovićević

The course Gender Perspectives in Jazz Music, taught by guest lecturer Dr. Jasna Jovićević at the Institute for Jazz and Popular Music Research, in collaboration with the Jazz Institute and appointed by the Centre for Gender Studies and Diversity, investigates the persistent underrepresentation of female musicians in jazz education and performance. While jazz is often associated with creative freedom and resistance, it has historically reproduced gendered and racialized hierarchies. This project-oriented course is grounded in scientific and artistic research and framed as a socially engaged, activist initiative that responds critically to such exclusions through transdisciplinary and collaborative inquiry.

In addition to raising awareness and conducting both activist and scientific research, the project affirms female artistic expression through the performance of a composition by Alana Macpherson, arranged for students of the course and performed in collaboration with guest female instrumentalists from the Jazz Institute.

By examining the gendered structures of jazz education at KUG, the project seeks not only to document inequality but to promote institutional change. Its final presentation – in the form of a public event and this brochure – combines research results and live music, inviting inclusive reflection through sound, scholarship, and collective engagement.

Please, request a project brochure at jasnajovicevic@yahoo.com