Dr. Brana Mijatovic

Director of World Music Studies

Brana Mijatovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, whereshe played classical piano, orchestral percussion, and  began studying jazz drums. She got her M.A. in Musicology. During that time her research wasfocused on classical music of the 20th century, including the music of prominent contemporary Serbiancomposers, which is evident in her thesis and her publications of that period.

Upon coming to the United States, she has continued her study of jazz drums in the Washington, D.C. area,
where she performed with various jazz combos. Upon receiving a full scholarship, she moved to Los
Angeles to study ethnomusicology at University of California, Los Angeles, where she received her M.A.
and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology. During this time period she played in the free jazz band Surrealestate, and in
the UCLA Balkan music ensemble. She also occasionally performed with the World Music/Latin Jazz Band, led
by Dr. Steven Loza.

During her studies at UCLA, she has also worked forseveral years as the instructor and mentor for theArtsBridge program, as a curator of the worldinstruments exhibition at the Hollywood Bowl museum, and as a teaching assistant for a number of differentcourses at UCLA.

Her research interests of that time period include therelationship between music and politics, which is reflected in a number of papers and conference presentations, as well as her doctoral dissertation, titled Music and Politics in Serbia (1989-2000).

Her current interests include relationships between music and globalization processes, which is reflected
in the courses she teaches at Christopher Newport University (Passionate Politics: Music and Social Movements; Global Transformations: World Music and the
World; and The World’s Music).

Dr. Mijatovic has presented papers and chaired and organized panels at a number of national and
international conferences (SEM, SEM-SSC, SEM-MAC, Experience Music Project Pop Conference, IASPM). She
has been invited to present her work at University of California, Los Angeles; at University of California,
Santa Barbara; and at the American Embassy in Belgrade, and has been interviewed for Belgrade radio
shows “Gradinar” and “Kako slusate muziku” as well as for an online article for Voice of America.