Professor Rebekka Sandmeier

PhD Trinity College Dublin, Habilitation Münster University

Rebekka Sandmeier studied music and modern English literature at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland). In 1997 she completed her PhD in musicology with a thesis on "Text and Music in German Operas of the 1920s". From 1999 to 2008 she worked as a lecturer in musicology at the University of Münster (Germany) where she was awarded the Habilitation with a study on "Sacred Vocal Polyphony and Early Humanism in England". In 2009 and 2010 she was deputy professor of musicology at the universities of Potsdam (Germany) and Münster (Germany).

Since coming to the SACM as professor in musicology in 2011, she has initiated a range of projects relating to early music and historically informed performance. She was director of the SACM from 2014 to 2022. In addition she heads a collaborative project between the SACM, the community centre iThemba Labantu in Philippi and the Berliner Missionswerk, bringing music education into the township.

She has published widely on English music, opera, and oratorio as well as music of the 15th, 19th, and early 20th century. Her current research interest centers on oratorios in 19th century Germany, and on the history of western music and music institutions in South Africa.

In her spare time, she plays violin or viola da gamba in various ensembles and enjoys riding her motorbike.