Javier Rivas

Dr Javier Rivas is an anthropologist, educator, and cultural manager whose work explores how music and sound are constructed, theorised, and transmitted within academic, non-profit, and governmental institutions. He teaches critical theory, cultural management, and contemporary music at King’s College London, and is also a Visiting Lecturer and Researcher at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).

He received his PhD in Music, Education, and Anthropology from King’s College London, where his AHRC-funded research examined processes of progressive institutional culture change in higher music education. He has conducted ethnographic and archival work at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC). He also completed a BA in Musicology at the University of Oviedo, where he was awarded the SGAE End of Degree Prize. He later completed an MMus in Musicology and Ethnomusicology (Distinction) at King’s College London, funded by the Mutua Madrileña Foundation Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies (2019–20).

He is regularly invited to speak at cultural institutes, universities, and international forums across Europe and the United States, and his work has appeared in the International Journal of Community Music and Ethnomusicology Forum.

He is deeply committed to engaged pedagogical practice, and his teaching has been recognised through the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. He has taught BA and MA courses at King’s College London, University College London, and ESMUC. Alongside his academic work, he is an experienced cultural organiser, managing the national charity Water City Music and KCL’s award-winning King’s Music Academy, and serving on the board of trustees of the Lucille Graham Trust.

Email: javier.rivas_rodriguez@kcl.ac.uk