Prof. Dr. Tiago de Oliveira Pinto

Tiago de Oliveira Pinto, musician, musicologist, anthropologist, and cultural manager earned a PhD in musicology from the Free University Berlin in 1990. In the same year he joined the International Institute for Traditional Music (Berlin), where he was in charge of the renowned UNESCO Collection musical record editions. He later served as CEO of the Brazilian Cultural Institute in Germany for the Brazilian Foreign Ministry and became a professor of Social Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (USP) in 2001.

From 2009 to 2024, Tiago de Oliveira Pinto held the Chair on Transcultural Music Studies at the University of Music Franz Liszt, Weimar, which in 2016 was promoted to the first UNESCO-designated musicological Chair worldwide. He still holds this UNESCO designation of the Transcultural Music Studies Chair.

Prof. Pinto’s research and projects have since been devoted to the questions on music as a cultural heritage, in different social and cultural settings in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and in South America. His research treats music as a living practice, defined by skills and knowledge passed down through generations. He is the author of numerous articles and books, among them “Music as Living Heritage. An Essay on Intangible Culture” (Berlin, 2018). 

The Kronberg Academy Musical Heritage Chair is dedicated to developing art music projects and course content that align with sustainability goals and reflect the humanitarian values outlined in UNESCO’s Conventions on cultural heritage.