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Staff profile

Overview

Yan Xin Ng

Biography

Biography

Yan Xin Ng is a PhD candidate in the Department of Music at Durham University. Her ethnomusicological research examines Korean music and dance practices in the United Kingdom, including p’ungmul, samulnori, K-pop dance classes and community-based Korean cultural activities.

Drawing on participant observation, interviews and embodied participation, her doctoral research explores how people learn, perform and sustain Korean music and dance in Britain. Her research focuses on embodied learning, pedagogical authority, group dynamics, intercultural participation and belonging, with particular attention to the relationships formed through rehearsals, classes, performances and social activities.

Yan Xin has conducted fieldwork with Durham P’ungmul Society, Cambridge University Samulnori Society and K-pop dance communities in several British cities. Her wider academic work includes teaching, research impact and postgraduate community representation.

Research Interests

  • Ethnomusicology
  • Embodiment and movement
  • Musical learning and pedagogy
  • Music, belonging and wellbeing
  • Cultural transmission
  • Musical socialisation
  • Popular culture and heritage

Selected Presentations

  1. “Beyond Heritage: Idioculture and Belonging in UK Korean Drumming Ensembles.”49th ICTMD World Conference, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile, January 2027. Accepted paper.
  2. “Rehearsing Belonging: Participation, Wellbeing, and Group Dynamics in a UK University P’ungmul Ensemble.”RMA Southeast Asia Chapter Conference, 2026.
  3. “Learning, Moving, Belonging: ‘Doing’ Korean Music and Dance in the UK.”Postgraduate Symposium, Department of Music, Durham University, 2026.