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Music’s War-Torn World

During the 2014-15 academic year we will be mounting a series of concerts commemorating the Great War.  Here our head of keyboard studies, Professor David Owen Norris, explains the background to his upcoming concert 'Dreams of Germany: Music's War-Torn World': Mark Wilde (tenor), Joseph Spooner (cello) and I are putting on a day-full of music at St John’s Smith Square, London. It’s called A Dream of Germany – Music’s War-Torn World. Continue reading →

Congratulations

We are super proud of two of our Music colleagues who were recently honoured with awards for their outstanding service to the university.  The Vice Chancellor's Awards are presented annually to individuals who have made especially valuable contributions to the university community. Continue reading →

Summer break

After a couple of busy Open Days last weekend, we are going to close down the blog for the summer.  Congratulations to all our finalists and postgraduates who will be graduating next week - we will try to post a few pictures here after the ceremony.  And we will look forward to welcoming everyone back when the new term starts in the autumn.  Until then, happy summer from the staff and students in Maths. Continue reading →

A year in Baby SUSO

Emma Blundell and Tricia Mann (year 3) spent part of their final year as highly successful educational managers of the innovative Baby SUSO scheme.  Here's their report on how their work helped kids to participate in orchestral music: In 2010, Southampton University Symphony Orchestra's (SUSO) then President, Kat Hattersley, pioneered a pilot scheme called The Baby SUSO Project which aimed to bring orchestral music to children in local primary and secondary schools. Continue reading →

Interview with Laurence Crane

In the third and final of a series of interviews by postgraduate students with eminent composers who have come to visit us at Southampton Alex Glyde-Bates asks Laurence Crane some questions: Alexander Glyde-Bates (AGB): Your music seems to have more in common with the minimalist school of artists (Dan Flavin and Donald Judd) — a focus on letting unaltered objects simply exist as they are — rather than the process-driven musical minimalism of Reich, Riley or Glass. Continue reading →

Exchanging the Middle Ages

In one of our final posts before breaking for the summer, another recent guest talks about her exchange visit to Southampton from her university in Spain:  My name is Nuria Torres and I’m a PhD student at the Complutense University of Madrid, where I’m working on my PhD thesis on medieval music under the supervision of Carmen Julia GutiĂ©rrez. Continue reading →

Transatlantic thoughts

US scholar-performer Dr Vivian Montgomery reflects on her stay in Southampton during a Fulbright fellowship:  As I near the end of my time in the UK as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, I’m astonished by both how much has happened and how much more I could do with another 6 months. I came to Southampton in January after 5 days staying in Durham Castle for the Fulbright Forum. Continue reading →

Nationalism in the North

 PhD students Xin Ying Ch'ng and Jacopo Mazzeo report back about their trip to Helsinki, Finland, for the 'Confronting the National in the Musical Past' international conference: We were greeted with unusually sunny weather upon reaching the Finnish capital the day before the conference. Xin Ying was starting to think that bringing her coat seemed like a waste of luggage space. Continue reading →

Behind the scenes at the museum

In a companion post to Chris Lewis's blog on the Making of the Modern Harpsichord, PhD student Kate Hawnt writes about her own research for the project : Good morning from St Cecilia’s Hall, Edinburgh.  I am currently sitting in the Green Room of the Museum of Musical Instruments taking stock of the past day’s work. Continue reading →

Reviving the modern harpsichord

Harpsichordist Christopher Lewis is working on a PhD as part of our 'Making of the Modern Harpsichord' project in collaboration with the National Trust.  Here he tells us about the newest addition to our keyboard room - a magnificent revival instrument by John Feldberg - and how it fits into his research: As the Early Music world continues to grow and move from strength to strength, what has especially pleased me is the growing resurgence of interest in the pioneers of the field. Continue reading →

Written in Water: Portrait of a Town

Final year PhD composer Ben Mawson tells us about his project 'Written in Water: Portrait of a Town', which allows listeners to explore Gosport in a new and exciting way: After receiving the first prize at the SXSC3 Dragons' Den competition (November 2013) to develop 3DBARE (software to allow listeners to walk inside a piece of music), I have just completed a commission from New Dimensions, portraying the maritime history and contemporary character of the town of Gosport - using virtual... Continue reading →