Georgina Born facts for kids

Georgina Emma Mary Born, also known as Georgie Born, is a British academic, anthropologist, musicologist, and musician. She is recognized for her work in the band Henry Cow and her studies on culture, music, and technology. She has been awarded an OBE and is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Early Life and Family

Georgina Born was born in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England. She comes from a family of notable people. Her grandfather was Max Born, a famous physicist who won the Nobel Prize. Her father, Gustav Victor Rudolf Born, was a well-known pharmacologist. Georgina is also a cousin of the famous pop singer Olivia Newton-John.

Musical Journey

Georgina Born began her musical studies at the Royal College of Music in London. She learned to play the cello and piano. She performed in various groups, playing both classical and modern music. Some of these groups included the Michael Nyman Band and the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

In 1976, Georgina joined the English avant-rock band Henry Cow. She played bass guitar and cello for the group. She toured extensively with Henry Cow across Europe for two years.

After leaving Henry Cow, Georgina continued to play with many different musicians and bands. She worked with Lindsay Cooper, another member of Henry Cow, and played in National Health. She also played cello in the Westbrook Orchestra. In 1977, she helped start the Feminist Improvising Group. She also recorded with The Raincoats and played improvised music with other musicians in the London Musicians Collective.

During the 1980s, Georgina played cello and bass guitar for many TV and film soundtracks. She even had a small role in the film The Gold Diggers (1983).

Academic Career

Georgina Born went on to study anthropology at University College London (UCL), where she earned her PhD. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures.

She started her academic career at Brunel University. Later, she became a lecturer at Goldsmiths' College for eight years. She then moved to the University of Cambridge, where she became a professor in 2006.

In 2010, Georgina received a special grant from the European Research Council. This grant supported her research on how digital media changes music. After this, she became a Professor of Music and Anthropology at the University of Oxford. In 2014, she was chosen as a Fellow of the British Academy, which is a high honor for experts in humanities and social sciences in the UK.

More recently, Georgina Born returned to UCL. She helped write and edit a book called Music and Digital Media: A Planetary Anthropology. In 2024, she received the Guido Adler Prize from the International Musicological Society.

Key Academic Work

Georgina Born is known for using ethnography in her research. Ethnography is a research method where a researcher studies a group or culture by observing them closely. She uses this method to study how culture is made, especially in music, television, and information technology.

Her research explores many topics, including:

• How music and media are created.
• Ideas about who owns creative works (intellectual property).
• The role of technology in music.

She is an expert on computer music and modern music from the 20th century. She also studies media policy, especially about the BBC and public service broadcasting in the UK and Europe.

One of her early books, Rationalising Culture, looked at a computer music research institute called IRCAM. Her book Uncertain Vision (2004) studied how the BBC changed in the 1990s. She looked at how new management ideas affected the BBC's public service role.

Georgina has also researched how digital strategies affect public broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4. She has advised committees and given talks about the future of public service broadcasting.

She has developed a unique way of studying culture and media. She combines ideas from anthropology, sociology, musicology, and the arts. She has published many articles in important academic journals.

In 2016, Georgina Born was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award recognized her important contributions to musicology, anthropology, and higher education.

Discography

With Art Bears

• Hopes and Fears (1978)

With National Health

• Of Queues and Cures (1978)

With Henry Cow

• Western Culture (1979)
• The 40th Anniversary Henry Cow Box Set (2009, 9xCD+DVD, Recommended Records, UK)
• The Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow (2019, 17xCD+DVD, Recommended Records, UK)

With Feminist Improvising Group

• Feminist Improvising Group (1979, Cassette, UK)

With Bruford

• Gradually Going Tornado (1980)

With Stormy Six

• Macchina Maccheronica (1980)

With Mike Westbrook

• Bright as Fire (1980)
• The Cortege (1982)
• On Duke's Birthday (HatART, 1985)

With Lindsay Cooper

• Rags (1981)
• The Golddiggers – original soundtrack to the film The Gold Diggers by Sally Potter (1983)
• Music for Other Occasions (1986)

With The Raincoats

• Odyshape (1981)

With News from Babel

• Work Resumed on the Tower (1984)

With The Orckestra

• "Unreleased Orckestra Extract" (3" CD single, 2006, Recommended Records, UK)