Dr Bronwen Clacherty

PhD (Music) Cape Town – African Music

Bronwen Clacherty is a lecturer in African Music at the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town. Bronwen has a Bachelor of Music from the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town and a Masters in Community and Participatory Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She completed her PhD in 2021 through the South African College of Music and the Re-Centring AfroAsia Project, at the University of Cape Town. Her doctoral and current research investigates Zanzibari women's history, drawing on oral history, particularly songs and stories. Bronwen’s work also explores performance and creative work as an output for research studies. Bronwen is a performing musician, recording artist and composer and has released an album titled Uyandibiza with her ensemble, The Tholakele Project, which is available on streaming platforms. She has performed as a percussionist and soloist with orchestras such as the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed in musical theatre productions, chamber music ensembles, performance art pieces and experimental theatre productions. Bronwen co-directs, composes, and performs with the multi-disciplinary, cross-continental Kukutana Ensemble with musicians from South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, India and the US.