Cristiana Palandri in Stockholm, June 2025

M4C-funded PhD candidate Cristiana Palandri has just returned from Stockholm where she was a composer in residence dividing her time between EMS (Elektronmusikstudion) and the KMH (Kungliga Musikhögskolan / Royal College of Music, Stockholm).  

During the residency Cristiana created a new composition, working in the EMS 8-channel Studio 4 with a rare original Buchla 200 modular synthesiser, with spatialisation developed at EMS and in the 3D sound system at the KMH. She was also able to network with other international composers working on projects in Stockholm with fruitful exchange on compositional methods and sound aesthetics. 

Cristiana Palandri with the Buchla 200  at EMS (L) and the 3D spatialisation room at KMH (R)

 

 

 

 

Two New Midlands4Cities PhD scholars for MTIRG

MTIRG is delighted that we will be welcoming two new M4C-funded PhD candidates in electroacoustic composition in October.

Samvaran Rai's research will address 'Ambiguity in the Disembodied: A Designer's approach to Sound Dramaturgy in Electroacoustic Music,' supervised by Profs. Young and Battey.
Sam completed his MA in music, technology and innovation with distinction at DMU in 2023. He also holds an MA in film art and has received several international awards for his work.

Jake Parry will research the topic 'Moving Beyond Immersion: Developing a critical approach to spatial audio composition' supervised by John Young and Dr Christopher Haworth (University of Birmingham). Jake completed an MMus with distinction at the University of Manchester in 2022 and this year has been working on spatial audio projects at the Institute of Sonology at Royal Conservatoire The Hague.

M4C is an AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership comprised of eight universities in Leicester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Coventry/Warwick. Samvaran and Jake join a strong contingent of PhD students in the MTIRG, as well as joining our host Institute of Arts, Design and Performance.

Congratulations both!

Jake Parry

Samvaran Rai

Edward Clijsen presents at Mikrotöne: Small Is Beautiful VI in Salzburg

PhD Student Edward Clijsen delivered a paper at the sixth Mikrotöne: Small Is Beautiful Symposium at Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, 2-6 July 2025. The paper reflected on the compositional processes and outcomes leading up to and during composing his next piece Amsterdamned (2025) for Fokker Organ, Carrillo Piano and Kingma System Alto Flute, in collaboration with the Huygens-Fokker Foundation and Carla Rees.

 

Edward Clijsen presents at Innovation in Music 2025, Bath

PhD Student Edward Clijsen delivered a paper at the Innovation in Music Conference 2025 (InMusic25) at Bath Spa University, 20-22nd June, 2025. The paper reflected on the compositional process and outcomes of composing the piece Äußern (2024) for the ’19-div’ and ‘quarter-tone’ microtonal trumpets, in collaboration with Stephen Altoft of Microtonal Projects.

 

Stefano Catena in Lyon

Stefano Catena's composition Travelling Without Moving continues to have performances having been accepted for the JIM/LAC (Journées de l'Informatique Musicale/Linux Audio Conference) artistic programme in Lyon from the 23rd to 28^th of June. It will be played at the Théâtre Astrée of Lyon 1 University in 8.1 channel format.
The full programme is here: https://jimlac25.inria.fr/program/

Théâtre Astrée, Lyon

John Young's article 'The Sound Pool' / 'Le réservoir sonore' published

A short article by Prof. John Young 'The Sound Pool' / 'Le réservoir sonore' was published today in a collection of artists' statements Did You Say Sound Library / Vous avez dit sonothèque?  edited by Valentin Sismann in both French and English.

The collection includes statements from 23 composers on ways in which they gather, categorise and organise the sounds they make in the course of composing acousmatic music. It will be of interest to anyone working creatively with sound—in composition and/or sound design in many different settings.

The 50-page collection includes statements by François Bayle, Philippe Mion, Robert Normandeau, Elsa Justel, Hans Tutschku, Jonty Harrison, Elizabeth Anderson, Annette Vande Gorne, Tomonari Higaki, Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, Daniel Teruggi, Marco Marini, Armando Balice, Régis Renouard Larivière, Christine Groult, Denis Dufour, Jean-Marc Duchenne, Christian Zanési, Stéphane Roy, Lucie Prod’homme, Åke Parmerud and Young, as well as insight into the working methods of Bernard Paremgiani by Claude-Anne Parmegiani, Maxime Barthélemy and Marco Marini.

English version: https://valentinsismann.com/Vous-avez-dit-sonotheque-ENG

French version: https://valentinsismann.com/Vous-avez-dit-sonotheque

 

Valentin Sismann

 

 

Prof Battey Concert 'Poetry of Code' at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University

On May 29, 2025, Prof Bret Battey presented a concert of his audiovisual works to students and staff at the Ankara Music and Fine Arts University, Türkiye. Entitled 'The Poetry of Code', the concert included his Clonal Colonies (two movements), Estuaries 1-4, and a screening version of the installation time, bruised, selves (a co-creation with his partner Deniz Ertan). The concert was followed by questions and answers from the audience, covering wide ranging issues in aesthetics and technique.