Min Yen Ong

Dr. Min Yen Ong is a Departmental Lecturer in Music at the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Music and a Lecturer at St Hugh’s College. She previously held positions at the University of Cambridge and other UK institutions. Her expertise spans ethnomusicology, focusing on Pacific Island cultures (especially Hawaiʻi and Fiji) and East Asian music, particularly China’s intangible cultural heritage.

Dr. Ong holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from SOAS, University of London, alongside undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Bristol and SOAS. Her research explores music’s role in identity assertion, resistance, and decolonization, including China’s cultural heritage policies and Pacific communities responding to climate change through music and media.

She has worked with UNESCO and the global music industry, including roles in publishing, recording, and composer management. Her practice-based initiatives aim to empower communities facing global inequality. As a British-Chinese individual with Singaporean and Guyanese roots, her interdisciplinary work bridges academia, activism, and artistry.