Elina Hytönen-Ng

Elina Hytönen-Ng is an ethnomusicologist and cultural researcher. She has specialised in researching experiences induced by music. Hytönen-Ng has researched jazz musicians flow or peak experiences, that is experiences that musicians gain during playing as well as the meanings given to these experiences. She gained her doctoral degree in this topic in 2010. In addition, Hytönen-Ng has done research on the working environment of jazz musicians and the kind of mobility that their work demands.

In recent years, Hytönen-Ng has studied contemporary shamanism, the musical instruments used in that context and how they are used . She has also led a small project observing the soundscape of modern schools and studied the teachers’ experiences of the (sound?) environment. As a side project, she also looked at soundscapes of kindergartens with university lecturer Noora Vikman. In her current research project, she has been focusing on lamenting in contemporary Finnish society and the bodily experiences of the lamenters while lamenting.

Hytönen-Ng works as the principal investigator in the Kyynelkanavat-project and as one of its researchers. Hytönen-Ng is working as a pair with Emilia  Kallonen. Their collaboration aims at observing the process of lamenting circles, a form of teaching lamenting, in which the participants compose and perform laments. Hytönen-Ng is using autoethnography while observing her own learning process with laments.