Keynote Speakers
Rhiannon Giddens & Nasim Niknafs
Rhiannon Giddens
Rhiannon Giddens is a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and author, who has been hailed as one of the most influential musicians of her generation. She is a Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY award winner, and is the recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius’ grant. Her multifaceted work is dedicated to bringing to the foreground aspects of American musical history, and their people, who have been ignored or erased. Her music draws inspiration from diverse genres and explores in-depth her Black heritage as encapsulated in old American folk music and banjo tunes. She is a founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, as well as the all-female banjo supergroup, Our Native Daughters. Currently, she is the Artistic Director of the Silkroad Ensemble, hosts the TV Show ‘My Music with Rhiannon Giddens’ on PBS, and has hosted two podcasts (Aria Code and American Railroad). 2025 sees the launch of ‘Biscuits and Banjos’, her own music festival taking place in North Carolina, which will celebrate Black culture. Rhiannon is currently Artist in Residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.
Nasim Niknafs
Nasim Niknafs is Associate Professor of Music Education at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto where she also serves as the Associate Dean, Research and Coordinator of Music Education. Her interdisciplinary research concerns philosophy and cultural politics of contemporary music education intersecting with collective action, anarchism, popular music and improvisation. Niknafs’ concern for artists, musicians, and cultural workers’ lives has led to research revolving around the constructs of death and deadly living. Having concluded longitudinal research on the music education of rock musicians in Iran, Niknafs is currently conducting a SSHRC-funded project titled, Sanctuary City: Cultural Programs, Music Education, and the Dignified Lives of Refugee Newcomers in Toronto. Niknafs is the editor of the special issue on Anti-racism, anti-fascism, and anti-discrimination in and through music education for the journal Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education (ACT), and co-editor of the book, Traumas resisted and (re)engaged: Inquiring into lost and found narratives in music education.
- Rhiannon Giddens & Nasim Niknafs
