Matthias Heyman is Senior Researcher at Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Erasmushogeschool Brussel), where he chairs the research group “Jazz, Improvised Music & Popular Music” and teaches the courses "Music History Jazz" (BA1, BA2, BA3). Also, he is Assistant Professor of Artistic Research at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), and supervises several PhDs in artistic research and musicology.
Matthias Heyman studied classical and jazz double bass at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and the Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen, before pursuing his doctoral studies at the Universiteit Antwerpen. In 2018, as first in Belgium, he obtained his Ph.D. in jazz studies, and from 2019 to 2021, he was Postdoctoral Fellow for the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO).
His research expertise lies in jazz history (with a focus on Belgium), jazz bass practices, and artistic research. Other interest include re-enactments in jazz and popular music, and the Beatles, the latter resulting in the edited volume (with Katie Kapurch and Richard Mills) for Bloomsbury, "The Beatles and Humour" (2023). As a double bassist, he freelances in various orchestras and ensembles, including Symphony of Unity (Tomorrowland) and the Belgian National Orchestra.
He has given keynotes and presentations at numerous international conferences (e.g., Rhythm Changes, Jazz Education Network) and his work has been published in such journals as Jazz Perspectives and Journal and Popular Music Studies.
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