Rate My Professor Henry Johnson

Professor Henry Johnson is a Professor of Music in the School of Performing Arts within the Division of Humanities at the University of Otago, where he joined in 1995. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford, an MMus from the University of London, a BA (Hons) from Dartington College of Arts, and LTCL qualifications in teaching and performance from Trinity College London. His research specializations encompass ethnomusicology, the anthropology of music, Asian studies with a focus on Japanese musics and musical instruments, island studies, diaspora studies, performance studies, and cultural studies. Johnson utilizes ethnographic methodologies, conducting original field studies in diverse contexts across Europe, Asia, and Australasia, including current work on the history of Chinese music in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Johnson has held key appointments at Otago, including Head of the Music Department from 2006 to 2012, Programme Coordinator for Performing Arts Studies from 2002 to 2004, Associate Dean International for the Division of Humanities from 2014 to Semester 1 2016, and currently Associate Director of the Centre for Global Migrations. Externally, he served as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow, Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford, Visiting Professor at Kagoshima University, and Visiting Researcher at Seikei University. He was past President of the New Zealand Asian Studies Society and past Chair of the International Council for Traditional Music Australia-New Zealand Regional Committee. Johnson has received grants from the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. His major publications include authored books such as The Shakuhachi: Roots and Routes (Brill, 2014), The Shamisen: Tradition and Diversity (Brill, 2010), and Handbook of Japanese Music in the Modern Era (2024); co-authored A Dictionary of Traditional Japanese Musical Instruments: From Prehistory to the Edo Period (2012); and edited volumes like Performing Japan: Contemporary Expressions of Cultural Identity (2008) and Asia in the Making of New Zealand (2006). Additionally, he performs on koto, sitar, and taiko, including with O-Taiko in Dunedin and on BBC television and radio.