Helen Rees

Helen Rees is Professor of Ethnomusicology at UCLA and Director of the World Music Center, specializing in Chinese musical traditions with emphasis on southwest China's ethnic minorities, ritual practices, and intellectual property frameworks within intangible cultural heritage policies.

Her academic foundation includes:

• B.A. in Chinese, Oxford University, 1987
• M.A. in Chinese, Oxford University, 1991
• Ph.D. in Music, University of Pittsburgh, 1994
• Diploma in flute teaching, Royal College of Music, London
• Diploma in baroque flute performance, Trinity College, London
• Diploma in recorder teaching and performance, Trinity College, London

Rees's research integrates fieldwork from southwest China and Shanghai to examine tourism's impact on musical traditions, organology (instrument studies), and transnational transmission of Asian musics. Recent scholarship critically engages East Asia's intangible cultural heritage policies and material culture frameworks, reflecting deep interdisciplinary connections between musicology, anthropology, and legal studies.

Her publication trajectory reveals consistent focus on Naxi musical traditions and evolving methodological approaches—from historical analysis in Echoes of History (2000) to contemporary multimedia projects like the award-winning documentary Playing the Flute in Shanghai (2021) and the cross-cultural edited volume Instrumental Lives (2024), demonstrating expanding scope from regional studies to pan-Asian material culture networks.

Through the World Music Center, Rees bridges academic research and public engagement by facilitating international cultural exchanges at venues including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, while maintaining active performance practice in Chinese flutes and recorder as integral to her scholarly methodology.