Rizky Sasono

Artist Lecturer in Ethnomusicology, Music

Bio

Rizky Sasono is an ethnomusicologist and popular music scholar. He earned his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the Music Department at University of Pittsburgh, with certificates in Cultural Studies and Global Studies in 2025. Prior to that, he earned an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Performance Studies from Universitas Gadjah Mada.

His primary research interests include popular music, politics, arts, and sound studies.

During his PhD pursuit, he participated in an Anthropology of Music workshop on Acoustemology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany and a workshop on Social Movement at Ca’ Foscari University, Venice, Italy. He was the recipient of University of Pittsburgh’s Humanities Engage Program - Immersive Dissertation Research Fellowship 2023.

Rizky has regularly presented his research at major international academic conferences, including The Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), The International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM), The Association for Asian Studies (AAS), and The European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS).

A native of Indonesia, Rizky is also a renowned indie-rock and experimental musician. He is a member of the award-winning Indonesian avant-garde theater group Teater Garasi and has performed at music and art festivals across Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia.

He has taught at Universitas Gadjah Mada and the University of Pittsburgh. At Carnegie Mellon University, he teaches World Music and special topics in Global Popular Music.