Žanna Pärtlas

Žanna Pärtlas is a Senior Researcher at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT), specializing in ethnomusicology with a focus on Finno-Ugric folk traditions. Her research examines polyphonic singing practices in Seto, Mordovian, Udmurt, and Russian cultures using anthropological, music-analytical, and cognitive approaches. She holds a PhD from the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory and a BA in Opera Singing from EAMT.

Her research interests include:

• Structural analysis of multipart singing traditions
• Ethnographic fieldwork methodologies
• Digital preservation of folk music
• Cross-cultural comparative studies of Finno-Ugric musical practices

Pärtlas's publications predominantly explore vocal polyphony, lament traditions, and computational analysis of folk songs. Recent works focus on developing digital tools for teaching Seto multipart singing and typological studies of traditional tunes.

Awards & Honors:

• 2022 Cultural Endowment Award for Seto heritage preservation
• 2022 Lokulaud Deed of the Year Award
• 2021 Baltic-American Research Scholarship

She has supervised 7 doctoral/master's students in ethnomusicology and currently leads research projects including 'Ethnogenesis of Seto People' (PRG2600) and 'Seto Song Typology' (KUM-TA32). Her extensive fieldwork includes multichannel recordings across Estonia, Russia, and Udmurtia.