Genevieve Robyn Arkle is a final-year Ph.D. researcher at the University of Surrey, writing her thesis on the musical allusions to Richard Wagner’s Parsifal in Gustav Mahler’s songs and symphonies. She has worked as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Surrey and a Visiting Lecturer at City, University of London, and has had her work published in British and European academic journals and newsletters. She is Deputy Director of the Institute of Austrian and German Music Research (IAGMR,) and a founding member of the Gustav Mahler Research Centre Postgraduate Forum. In January 2020 she was the winner of the Wagner Society Young Lecturer’s Prize and in November 2020 she was recently awarded the title of ‘PGR Student of the Year’ for the University of Surrey, 2020.

Alongside her research, Genevieve has used her platform as a young, black-mixed female academic to speak out on issues of BAME representation in Music Higher Education. She currently sits on the board for the EDI in Music Studies Network (EDIMS) and is Digital Communications Team Lead for the organisation. Equally, she has been invited to speak at a number of different organisations, such as City, University London, King’s College, London, the Birmingham Conservatoire and Goldsmiths University, to discuss issues of race in musicology. She is passionate about creating a safe and inclusive spaces for people of colour in music academia, and she is thrilled to be speaking at the Shining a Light event.