Stephen Cottrell

Stephen Cottrell is Professor of Music at City, University of London, where he has held various leadership positions including Head of the conjoint Departments of Music and Culture & Creative Industries (2010-15) and Assistant Vice-President responsible for establishing the City Doctoral College (2019-22). Previously, he was Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Music at Goldsmiths College. His academic journey began with studies at the University of East Anglia, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Paris Conservatoire, followed by an M.Mus. in Ethnomusicology and PhD at Goldsmiths College, supported by a British Academy scholarship.

His research spans ethnographic approaches to musicians and music-making within Western art music tradition, the study of musical instruments (particularly the saxophone), and musical performance analysis. Cottrell's scholarly output includes seven books, fourteen book chapters, twenty-nine conference papers, nineteen journal articles, twenty-nine performances, and thirteen other publications. His recent work includes the 2024 article 'Musical Instruments and Palimpsestic Identity' which explores the transtextual relationships between musical instruments through Gérard Genette's literary theory of palimpsests.

Cottrell serves as a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and as an external assessor for the Hong Kong Research Grants Committee and the Irish Research Council. He has examined over 25 PhD theses and held external examiner appointments at multiple institutions. His research interests bridge ethnomusicology, organology, and performance studies, with a particular focus on the saxophone and Western art music traditions.

• Member of British Forum for Ethnomusicology executive committee (2005-2012)
• Member of Royal Anthropological Institute ethnomusicology committee
• Associate editor of Twentieth-Century Music (2008-13)
• Artistic advisor to Saxophone Classics record label

As a supervisor, Cottrell has guided numerous PhD students through research on diverse topics including ethnographic studies of live classical music concerts, networked jazz performances, the history of the Hang/Handpan, and the Yehudi Menuhin School's legacy. His work demonstrates significant impact across academic, performance, and cultural sectors, with research that connects historical music practices with contemporary performance contexts.