Research Catalogue

Situated in the vast space between rigidly notated music and the realm of open improvisation, this research—embodied through a large ensemble for which I have written and conducted music—navigates the intersection of these two worlds in search of a sweet spot between fixed composition and creative spontaneity. Rather than treating the score as a static framework, the composition is approached as a living, evolving entity, where performers, conductor, and technology collaboratively shape the music in real-time. Throughout rehearsals and performances, musicians make interpretive choices, respond to cues from the conductor and their peers, and engage with interactive electronic elements, fostering an ongoing, dynamic dialogue. This process illuminates how variables such as individual interpretation, conductor influence, and rehearsal time can open new avenues for expression, allowing the written score to transcend its traditional boundaries. By embracing this fluidity and exchange, embodied through the term Comprovisation, the composition is continuously transformed, deepening the connection between musicians and the work, and unlocking new possibilities for artistic expression. Through some of my musical pieces as examples we will analyze how this experimental creative process was shaped.

Art activism is powerful. Also known as activist art, protest art, visual activism, artivism and creative activism, it changes lives, situations and is and has been a powerful weapon across a whole spectrum of struggles for justice. Teresa Sanz & Beatriz Rodriguez-Labajos(2021) relay that art activism has the unique ability to bring cohesion and diverse peoples together and it can, as Zeynep Tufekci notes, change the participants (2017). As Steve Duncombe & Steve Lambert (2021) posit, traditional protesting such as marches or squats are no longer as important as they once were. As a result of my own lived experience in activist activities, I very much agree with Andrew Boyd & Dave Oswald Mitchell (2012) that the reason people use art activism is that it works, by enriching and improving protest. In the past, when I lived in a metropolis and was not a parent, I used to be an activist. Now I no longer have immediate access to international headquarters at which to protest and I have to be concerned with being arrested, I am hindered from protesting. This project is an attempt to increase inclusion and widen access to art activism. By devising methods which include at least one of the following: that do not require on-site participation, that can take place outside the public gaze, that reduce the risk of arrest, that open up protest sites that are not “big targets”, that include remote locations, that involve irregular timing, my thesis aims to increase inclusion and widen access to art activism to those who are underserved by more mainstream methods of conducting art activism. Textiles have unique properties that enable them to engage in subterfuge and speak loudly through care and thought(Bryan-Wilson, 2017). They have strong connotations of domesticity, the body and comfort that can be subverted within art activism to reference lack of this domestic warmth and protection(O’Neill, 2022). Being a slow form of art-making, they show care and thought, attention in the making, so that the messaging is reinforced through this intentionality in slow making.

Dérive (2017) for string quartet and live-electronics explores the aesthetic consequences of different ideas of the role of subjectivity in sonification processes, the concept of dérive (drift) and the notion of musical structure as a translation of a real physical space.

Andy Birtwistle’s introduction to this special issue addresses the question "what is sonic materiality?" by examining how both "new" and "old" materialisms offer productive frameworks for conceptualizing sound's material dimensions. Drawing on work by Cox, Voegelin, and Cobussen, alongside critiques from Goh, Thompson, and Campbell, the article proposes understanding sound's materiality through texture, temporal flow, and spatiality. By engaging with Structural/Materialist film theory and creative sonic practices, Birtwistle discusses how materiality intersects with aesthetics, agency, and ethics in sound. The introduction argues that exploring sonic materiality opens new avenues for understanding sound across environmental soundscapes, artistic practices, and cultural contexts.

Is the reality perceived by someone with dementia less real than our own? Can photography give authority to this alternate reality? This research, sparked by my newfound relationship with my dementia-affected grandfather Raymond, investigates the family album - often perceived as an unquestionable document - in order to uncover its ambiguities and to question photography in itself as the most trustful record of reality. The inaccuracy of a medium that aims for objectiveness and is perceived as the bearer of truth, leads me to focus on three different ways of approaching the family archive (collection, editing and manipulation) and the relationship between mortality and memory. By using a mix of photography and photogrammetry, Ray's distorted memories - as he recounted them during his illness - became new images in order to materialise his present parallel truth. Alongside this dreamlike everyday, what has survived of Ray's past is contained in a briefcase: 254 photographs that have been transformed into postcards, travelling keepsakes, ready to be sent. If photography is in itself unreliable, why should the reality of a person who has lost his memory be any less real than our own?

This project aims to explore the ability of playing by ear in order to design a creative and stimulating teaching approach for the development of the skill in piano lessons. The goal is to devise effective strategies for piano instructors, offering guidance on how to effectively advance the abilities of their students. Consistent with Woody’s ideas, playing by ear has been described by educators as a relevant developmental prerequisite to becoming a truly fluent music reader. Nevertheless, making sounds by ear is often just the initial and playful approach to music, and its significance diminishes considerably in education as the skill level increases. In fact, one must not forget the crucial role of the skill, that is the direct connection between music and player (without any interference like the score).