Dr. Nick Braae
Principal Academic Staff Member
Music and performing arts, research methods, postgraduate supervisor, research leader
Contact info
Phone
Location
About
Awards
Qualifications
PhD (Music)
Master of Arts (1st Class Hons; Music)
Bachelor of Music (1st Class Hons)
Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)
Advanced Performance Certificate (Piano, Trinity College of London)
Adult Tertiary Teaching Practice
Areas of expertise
Industry experience, affiliations, and achievements
Research activity
My research focuses on the analysis of popular music and musical theatre repertoires. I am particularly interested in the way styles develop, whether in the context of broader movements and eras (such as contemporary musical theatre) or individual artists (such as Queen). My work also seeks to connect the sounds we hear to wider cultural influences and ideologies. Recently, I have started to explore aspects of music and musical theatre pedagogy, which helps to contextualise and frame what we do as teachers on a day-to-day basis.
Nick Braae, Orcid:
Nick Braae, Wintec Research Archive
Select publications
What do you enjoy about teaching/your job?
I love the many opportunities that arise every year for working collaboratively with my fantastic colleagues, whether team teaching, putting on a school musical, or offering guidance and support as a research leader and programme coordinator. It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated and talented group; these people bring a lot of joy to the work environment. With students, it is great to witness their growth over the degree. The annual end-of-year shows are a wonderful celebration of how much they’ve developed and brings immense pride to us as teachers.
What do you love about your area?
Most days of the week, I get to turn up to work and play piano for students, which is quite special by itself! Generally, though, what’s great about music and performing arts is that there are always new and different creative ‘answers’ to the same questions or tasks. I can play the same song for theatre students each year and they will find new nuances to bring out; or I can work through the same assessment with music students and their creative outputs will go in completely different directions. Because of this, I never feel bored in my teaching; if anything, there’s always a degree of anticipation and excitement as to what our clever students might produce.
Tell us about your experience in the industry
I have been playing piano for almost 30 years and have worked semi-professionally in and around Hamilton since 2010. Nowadays, much of my industry work is as a musical director. This ranges from small shows at The Meteor through to large-scale musicals that have been performed in Hamilton, around New Zealand and internationally. Occasionally, I’ll find myself appearing as a session musician in a band, having played keyboards in performances for a range of artists across indie rock, jazz, country and funk genres.
What keeps you busy outside of Media Arts?
Outside of my teaching and other professional work, I play squash in the winter months and have represented Waikato at various national tournaments. In the summer, I enjoy running, hiking with my partner and, when time allows, watching the odd day of cricket on the embankment at Seddon Park. I am also the Chair of the Waikato Community School of Music, a fantastic charitable trust that offers affordable music education to people in Hamilton.
