Sarah Benhaïm

Sarah Benhaïm, after teaching art theory and graphic design history in art schools, is currently an associate professor in musicology at the University of Tours (ICD). She specializes in the history and sociology of popular music. Her doctoral thesis in social sciences, defended at EHESS in 2018, focused on noise music and DIY (Do it Yourself). Through ethnographic research conducted in Paris, including field observations, interviews, and analysis of musical material, her work explores experimental practices (instrumental play, DIY fabrication, listening behaviors) as well as discourses and representations related to underground music. Following the release of an issue of the Transposition journal dedicated to musical flops, co-edited with Lambert Dousson, she is currently working on wild lutherie and DIY instrumentations. A member of the free-noise trio DMZ, she collaborated with the Tanzprocesz label to create the Live Series, a series of cassettes based on her concert recording archives. She is a member of the editorial board of the journal Transposition, musique et sciences sociales and a member of the IASPM (International Association for the Study of Popular Music). She also serves on the Music Expert Committee of the DRAC Île-de-France and organizes experimental music concerts.