Josh Opoku Brew

Josh Brew is an African and African diasporic music and sound scholar. His theoretical and practical approach to research focuses on how music and sound sustain humans and how humans, in turn, sustain music, the natural environment, and non-humans. Thus, his research is located within the discourses of music sustainability, sound studies, and economic ethnomusicology. His other areas of interest include music industries, Black studies, African indigenous knowledge systems, popular music fandom, and ecomusicology.

Josh is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. His project, “Gifts from Nature,” is at the nexus of palmwine music, indigenous knowledge, economies, and ecological sustainability in Ghana. His project is a response to the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch characterised by human dominance over the planet and resulting in climate change and other environmental crises. His project aims to critically localise this global problem by examining the intersection of musical and ecological sustainability.

As an applied ethnomusicologist, he is interested in extending his research to benefit the communities with whom he works. He has hosted workshops, worked with young musicians and bands in Ghana to explore music career strategies like contemporary music business models, and assisted in establishing their digital presence. He is currently collaborating with the Legon Palmwine Band In using music as a tool for ecological sustainability in Ghana. Josh is also a composer and performer of Afrobeats, highlife, jazz, and classical guitar.