Managers and Research Fellows

Mohd Anis Md Nor

Mohd Anis Md Nor is the Executive Director of NusPARC and also serves as a Research Fellow. He was a Professor of Ethnochoreology and Ethnomusicology at the Cultural Centre (School of Performing Arts), University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur until his retirement in 2015, and was appointed as Adjunct Professor at the Sultan Idris Education University and Sunway University. He earned his B.A. Honours from the University of Malaya, MA (Dance Ethnology) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Ph.D. (Southeast Asia Studies and Musicology) from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Professor Anis has pioneered the study of Zapin dance and music in Southeast Asia and has published widely on said topic. Although his foremost research area deals with Malay dance and music in Southeast Asia, his current studies are on Performative Sufism in Muslim societies in Southeast Asia.

He is a member of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology, and the ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia; Past President of World Dance Alliance – Asia Pacific (WDA-AP); National Advisor to MyDance (World Dance Alliance-Asia Pacific Malaysia Chapter); and Artist-in-Residence/Consultant to the Johor Heritage Foundation from 1996-2013.  He was appointed to the Advisory Committee of the Islamic World Arts Initiative (IWAI) supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art for the period 2004-2005. Professor Anis is curator for the Zapin International Dance Festival and the International Malay Performing Arts for the State Government of Johor, Malaysia from 1996 to 2014. He was the 2007-2008 William Allan Neilson Distinguish Professor of Music, Dance, and Theatre at Smith College, Northampton, MA; and the 2011 Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan sponsored by the School of Music, Dance, and Theatre, Center for Southeast Asian Studies and Center for World Performance Studies. He was awarded a European Union Erasmus Mundus Fellowship in 2012 by the European Union to take up the position of a Visiting Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology at Trondheim, Norway, for the 2012-2013 Winter Semester.

His major publications include Randai Dance of Minangkabau Sumatra with Labanotation Scores (University of Malaya Press, 1986), Zapin Folk Dance of the Malay World (Oxford University Press, 1993), Regional Performance Tradition in Contemporary Thai Performing Arts (Chulalongkorn University, 1996), Mohd Anis Md Nor and Burridge, Stephanie (ed.) Sharing Identities: Celebrating Dance in Malaysia (Routledge, 2011), Mohd Anis Md Nor and Kendra Stepputat (eds.) Sounding the Dance, Moving the Music: Choreomusicology in Maritime Southeast Asia (Routledge/SOAS Musicology Series, 2017), and many articles in the field of ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology in international journals. 

Patricia Matusky

Patricia Matusky is an ethnomusicologist who serves as a director of the NusPARC Research Fellows and whose area of specialisation is the traditional music of Malaysia and Southeast Asia. She holds a BMusic, AMLS (Information Science) and Ph.D. (ethnomusicology) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor USA), and an MA (musicology) from Hunter College of The City University of New York. Her early research focused on the music of the Malay shadow play and other theatrical music while continuing research involves Malaysian musical instruments, folk and classical Malay music, and the music of Sarawak, Malaysia.

She has taught for many years in Malaysia, including a senior lectureship in the Malay Studies Department, University of Malaya (UM), and a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship and Associate Professorship at the Science University of Malaysia (USM) in Penang. In Singapore, she was a senior lecturer and Head of the Music School at LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, a consultant (traditional music) for the development of Theatres on The Bay venue, and has held post-doctoral affiliation at the National University of Singapore. Matusky was also a consultant in music for the Dayak Cultural Foundation in Sarawak for many years. She currently holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Ethnomusicology at the National Academy of Arts, Culture, and Heritage of Malaysia. Her current academic memberships are the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), the Asian Music Society, the American Musical Instrument Society, the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), and currently Co-Chairperson of the Publications Committee for the ICTM Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia (PASEA).

Her major publications include Malaysian Shadow Puppet Theatre and Music: Continuity of an Oral Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1993 and reprint, The Asian Centre Penang, 1997), Muzik Malaysia, Tradisi Klasik, Rakyat dan Sinkretik (1997, new version UM Press 2012) and the English translation Music of Malaysia, the Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions (Ashgate, 2004 and new edition Routledge, 2017) co-authored with Tan Sooi Beng. She has written several articles on Malay music in international journals and the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (1998), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001), and Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments (2014). She has contributed music analysis and commentary on Iban healing chants (pelian) in Clifford Sather, Seeds of Play, Words of Power, An Ethnographic Study of Iban Shamanic Chants (2001), and on the Iban funeral chants (sabak) of Sarawak (in Vinson Sutlive, Ed. Tears of Sorrow, Words of Hope. Kuching, Sarawak: Tun Jugah Foundation, 2012). 

Hanafi Hussin

Professor Dr. Hanafi Hussin is a Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, and serves as a NusPARC Research Fellow. He holds an MA in Southeast Asian Studies with a thesis entitled "The Development of Philippine Political Theatre During the Marcos Regime, 1969-1972."  He received his Ph.D. in Performing Arts Studies from the Academy of Malay Studies, Universiti Malaya, in 2007 with a thesis entitled "Rice Farming Ritual and Identity of Kadazan of Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. He has conducted fieldwork in culture and performing arts in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, and his home country Malaysia. 

His research focuses on ritual and identity in the performing arts of Southeast Asia. He has performed long-term studies and research in these fields in several communities in Malaysian Borneo, such as the Kadazandusun of Penampang and the Lotud Dusun community of Tuaran in Sabah. His current research is on ritual performance among the maritime communities, particularly the Bajau-Sama people (Bajau, Bajau Laut/Sama Dilaut) of the east coast of Sabah and the Southern Philippines. 

He is also contributing his administration skills to Universiti Malaya as former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (2016-2018), Deputy Dean of Social Advancement and Happiness Research Cluster (SAH) (2019-2021). He also managed research centers as head of the Maritime Community, Law, Policy and Governance Unit, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES) (2008-present), Universiti Malaya Cultural and Heritage Research Centre (UMCHRC) (2020-present), and Head of Malaysian Population and Migration Research Centre (MPMRC) (2018-present). He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (ASWARA), Ministry of Culture Arts and Tourism, Malaysia.

Hafzan Zannie Hamza

Hafzan Zannie Hamza is an Associate Manager for NusPARC in Kuala Lumpur.  Hafzan holds a Master of Arts degree (Performing Arts-Dance) from the Dance Department, University of Malaya. He is trained in Malay traditional dances and Malay martial arts and has performed in various dance performances and workshops in Malaysia and abroad. His main research focuses on Malay dances and dances of the maritime communities along the Malacca Straits coastline and the Sulu Seas.

He has done extensive ethnographical research and published on dances of the Sea Bajau (Bajau Laut) community in Sabah since 2006, and more recently was the Production Editor for the 3rd Proceedings of the Symposium (2015) of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) Study Group on Performing Arts of Southeast Asia (PASEA). In 2015, he served as an external examiner for the Diploma and Bachelor of Dance programs at the National Arts, Culture, and Heritage Academy (ASWARA). He currently teaches Malay traditional dances at the Dance Department, Cultural Centre, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, and he is a recognized adjudicator for schools, universities and national dance competitions. He is also one of the authors of the dance textbook for Arts School Malaysia.

Christine Yun-May Yong 

Christine May Yong is an Associate Manager of Nusantara Performing Arts Research Centre (NusPARC) in Kuala Lumpur.

An ethnomusicologist and gamelan musician by training, she completed her Master of Arts (Performing Arts – Music) at the University of Malaya under the supervision of Professor Mohd Anis Md Nor. In 2013, she was selected as a recipient of the Fulbright Malaysian Graduate Study and Research Program, which allowed her to pursue her doctoral studies in the United States at Wesleyan University, Connecticut. While currently completing her Ph.D. dissertation, she is the Program Leader of the Contemporary Music (Audio Technology) program at Sunway University's School of Arts. 

Mohd Sahimi Chik

Mohd Sahimi Chik is the Music Director of Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center (NusPARC) in Kuala Lumpur.

He is a percussionist (Malay and Latin music), advisor to Persatuan Ghazal Johor Malaysia (Ghamas) and former Head of the Arts and Creative Section, Universiti Malaya. He was instrumental in setting up the Universiti Malaya Seri Perdana Ghazal Ensemble during his tenure with Universiti Malaya and was the group leader. His association with PakNgah Production Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia) and Malaysian Music Industry // Malay Cultural Heritage Society makes him one of the leading Malay music percussionists. As NusPARC’s music director, he has co-produced the Ronggeng music repertoires for the Malay Ronggeng revival programs and coordinates NusPARC’s music workshops and performance programs.

Illah Abdul Nasir

Illah is a Program Officer of Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center (NusPARC) in Kuala Lumpur.

Illah holds a double degree of M.Sc. and MBA in Arts and Cultural Management specialisation in visual art from the Paris School of Business (PSB) partnered with Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts (IESA) in Paris. Illah held an art exhibition in Paris to raise awareness of mental health problems under the name of Meanders in 2021. The exhibition project was a journey to encounter those discreet artists, creating in the occupational day centre, under the drive of their Art Therapist, or in solitude, moved by a desire to create and to cope with the pain of a psychic disorder or with a need of expression to express the unsayable.