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| Janet Mathews | |
|---|---|
| Name | Janet Mathews |
| Birth date | 1914 |
| Death date | 1992 |
| Birth place | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Pianist, music teacher, ethnomusicologist, field recorder |
| Known for | Field recordings of Aboriginal music and oral histories |
Janet Mathews
Janet Mathews (1914–1992) was an Australian pianist, music teacher, ethnomusicologist and field recorder noted for her extensive work documenting Aboriginal music, oral histories and languages in New South Wales and beyond. Her recordings and transcriptions provided foundational source material for researchers at institutions such as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, the University of Sydney, and the National Library of Australia, and influenced scholars in anthropology, linguistics and musicology.
Mathews was born in Sydney and educated in institutions linked to the cultural milieu of New South Wales. She studied piano and theory with teachers associated with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and performed in venues across Sydney Opera House precursor circuits including salons connected to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and societies such as the Australian Music Examinations Board. Her early influences included exposure to performers and composers active in Australia between the World War I and World War II eras, and she developed pedagogical ties to music education networks that intersected with the University of Melbourne and the Australian Council for the Arts.
As a concert pianist and accompanist Mathews collaborated with performers and ensembles connected to institutions such as the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and chamber groups influenced by European émigré musicians from the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. She taught at studios frequented by students who later attended conservatoria including the Curtin University Conservatorium and the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. Her repertoire engaged works by composers linked to the British Commonwealth repertoire, and she performed in events affiliated with the Festival of Sydney, the Canberra School of Music circuits, and regional arts festivals that brought her into contact with cultural organisations like the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Transitioning into ethnomusicology, Mathews worked closely with researchers and archivists at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), collaborating with figures connected to the Australian Museum, the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, and university departments at the Australian National University and the University of Sydney. She conducted fieldwork across New South Wales regions including the Hunter Region, the Riverina, the Blue Mountains, and coastal areas near Byron Bay and Grafton, recording Aboriginal song, ceremony and storytelling. Her field recordings were created using portable technologies similar to those employed by contemporaries associated with the British Museum sound archive, the Smithsonian Institution, and researchers trained in methods popularised at the Linguistic Society of America conferences. Mathews liaised with anthropologists and linguists who had links to the Australian National Maritime Museum collections and to scholars connected with the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Mathews' recordings and transcriptions became primary resources for language revival programs linked to institutions such as AIATSIS, university language centres at the University of New England (Australia), and community projects supported by the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council. Her archival deposits were used by linguists and cultural workers affiliated with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies collections staff, researchers at the National Film and Sound Archive, and academics in departments at the University of Queensland and the University of Western Australia. Her work informed broader heritage initiatives involving groups like the National Trust of Australia (New South Wales), the Aboriginal Studies Press, and the networks of Aboriginal community-controlled organisations that partnered with museums including the Powerhouse Museum and the State Library of New South Wales.
In later decades Mathews’ collections were consulted by scholars and community members associated with the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the Humanities Research Centre at the Australian National University, and international researchers from institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the University of California, Berkeley. Her archival materials are held in major repositories like AIATSIS and the National Library of Australia, and they continue to support projects by the Indigenous Languages Unit and cultural programs funded through bodies such as the Australia Council for the Arts and state cultural agencies. Mathews’ legacy endures through citation in scholarly works produced within networks including the Australian Anthropological Society, the Linguistic Society of America, and musicology circles tied to the International Council for Traditional Music.
Category:Australian ethnomusicologists Category:20th-century Australian musicians Category:1914 births Category:1992 deaths