Samuel Boateng

Dr. Samuel Boateng is a Career Development Research Fellow in Music at St John’s College, Oxford. His interdisciplinary work bridges ethnomusicology, jazz studies, African diaspora studies, and visual culture, focusing on decolonial frameworks and transnational collaborations.

• Award-winning jazz pianist and composer
• Film director and playwright
• Recipient of Heinz Endowment for the Arts (2021)
• Supported by ACLS, Joseph Walsh Scholarship, and Andrew Mellon Project

His research explores:

• Black popular performance in the Atlantic world and Ghana
• Jazz history in Africa, Britain, and the U.S.
• Intellectual property in African creative industries
• Gender politics in African music and visual culture

Boateng’s 2023 article in Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa analyzes Bheki Mseleku’s artistry. His work challenges Eurocentric narratives through decolonial methodologies and transnational collaboration frameworks.

Scientific awards include:

• Heinz Endowment for the Arts (2021)
• ASCAP award for large ensemble composition (2019)
• African Libraries Student Paper Prize (2019)

As an educator, he lectures at Oxford on “African Jazz Perspectives” and has taught music/dance courses at University of Pittsburgh, Juilliard, Kent State, McGill, University of Virginia, University of Ghana, and Brooklyn Music School.