Leah holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology as well as MAs in Irish Traditional Music Performance and Ethnomusicology, all from from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick in Ireland.
She also holds a BM in Commercial Music Performance and Music Business from Belmont University in Nashville, TN.
The Neoliberalisation of Cultural Production: An Ethnography of Professional Irish Traditional Music
Doctoral Dissertation (2016)
Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick
Through the theoretical lenses of agency, autonomy, resistance, and resilience, this ethnographic study reveals how professional musicians and cultural workers experience the neoliberalisation of cultural production in their careers and everyday lives.
Download PDF from the University of Limerick’s Online Repository: https://ulir.ul.ie/handle/10344/5216
Selected publications and papers
(2016) The Neoliberalisation of Cultural Production: An Ethnography of Professional Irish Traditional Music, University of Limerick, Doctoral dissertation.
(2020) “Off the record: Irish traditional musicians and the music industry” Ón gCos go Cluas - From Dancing to Listening, Voices from the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention conference held in Derry City, 2012, Edited by Liz Doherty and Fintan Vallely. ISBN 978-0-9511569-9-5. p.218.
(2015) "Capitalism and Resistance in Professional Irish Music" (2015) FocaalBlog, Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology, Apr 9.
(2017) “Success in the Culture Industries: Entrepreneurial Neoliberal Rhetoric and Resilience” Irish Council for Traditional Music – World Conference, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Limerick, Ireland.
(2016) "Navigating the Neoliberal Music Industry: A Case for Resilience" Working in Music Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.
(2014) '“I Want the Moon”: Negotiating Capitalism and Creativity in the Commercial Music Industry through Discursive Acts of Resistance" Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference, Music and Labour, Pittsburgh, USA.
Academic media
Ethnomusicology PhD fieldwork 2013/2014, professional Irish & Celtic music Show Reel
