Sung stories in the PNG Highlands

In 2006, Michael undertook extensive research into the relationship between music and language with particular respect to the pikono genre of Duna, Southern Highlands Papua New Guinea, for which Michael received the University Medal from both the Australian National University Department of Anthropology and School of Music in 2007.

Michael’s research is influenced by the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, Franz Boas, and Roman Jakobson.  Michael worked closely with anthropologist Dr. Alan Rumsey, ethnomusicologist Dr. Kirstie Gillespie, and linguist Dr. Lila San Roque as part of the cross institutional Chanted Tales project at the Australian National University.

The relationship between music and language has been a strong influence in Michael’s own work, such as Ballad of a Highlands Man, and The Raw and the Cooked, a musical interpretation of French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss’ seminal work.