Investigating the possibilities of electronic processing of the voice, both as a material to expand live performance and compositional options. Although I mainly focus on live processing of the singing voice and the dramaturgical possibilities that affords in operatic contexts, I also research the embodied and dis-embodied voice, in human and artificial forms, to place my compositional vocal practice in the larger sphere of vocality in late capitalism and posthuman theory. I intend for the main output of the PhD to be a chamber opera that utilises these techniques and concepts.

Alice's research examines the cello's unique history among traditional instruments in Scotland. It was central to dance music in the 'golden age' of Scottish fiddle music in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Performers such as James Oswald, Nathaniel Gow, and James Scott Skinner were cellists as well as fiddlers; famous fiddlers regularly performed in duos with cello players; and virtually every published collection of the time included 'a bass for the violoncello'. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the cello had disappeared from traditional music in Scotland. It is only over the past three decades that the instrument has been revived within the mainstream traditional music scene, dominated by performers based in North America, such as Natalie Haas, and Rushad Eggleston. While this new wave of 'folk cellists' have incorporated Scottish repertoire and worked with Scottish-based musicians, these are presented alongside techniques and sounds from a range of other traditions, including Irish, bluegrass, jazz, and popular styles. The link with the instrument's role in the Scottish music of Oswald and Gow's day is uncertain. At present, there is no known study of the cello's repertoire and importance in Scottish traditional music, and there has been a lack of a critical, scholarly, connection between the current wave of folk cello revival and historical practice in Scotland. The importance of the cello within Scottish music history is acknowledged in much of the literature on Scottish fiddle music, most notably in studies by Johnson, Alburger, Campbell, and, in this sense, its place is acknowledged in the literature. But none of these scholars has given more than a cursory description of its repertoire, style, and performance contexts. Alice's research explores the cello in Scottish traditional music, with the aim of connecting the modern-day revival to its historical roots.

In this practise-based PhD, the candidate will explore the use of sound in creating effective learning environments within a science centre. Supervised by an interdisciplinary team with expertise in composition, music psychology, public engagement, and science education, the student will embark on a thorough literature review before creating and evaluating the impact of three large-scale sound installations for long-term use at the Dundee Science Centre (DSC). This project will meet the concrete goal of providing a uniquely suitable sonic environment for the DSC, while also contributing to wider conversations about effective sound design in science education contexts.

CONTEXT: The 1709 Copyright Act provided for legal deposit of British publications into nine designated libraries, through the registration and distribution of items by Stationers' Hall in London. Whilst not perfect, and resented by the publishers, the arrangement assured a steady flow of materials to the Royal Library (later the British Museum), Sion College, Oxford's Bodleian, Cambridge University Library, the Advocates' Library (later the National Library of Scotland) in Edinburgh, and the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Trinity College, Dublin later become a recipient in 1801, with the Act of Union. Little music was registered until a landmark case involving J. C. Bach and Carl Abel in 1777, and music registration peaked in the 1790s, dropping off markedly thereafter. Documentary evidence demonstrates the difficulties experienced by Scottish universities in claiming their entitlement, and there was also some uncertainty as to what to do with the music, which in this era was not a university discipline. As extreme examples, one can cite the University of St Andrews, which bound over 400 volumes of music and allowed professors to borrow it, compared with Trinity College's request that no music or school books be sent at all, or the Edinburgh Advocates' practice of leaving all newly received material on tables for readers to view (or take). Even accepting that the legal deposit music now in libraries cannot be taken to represent the full picture of music publishing in this era, it nonetheless raises questions as to what survives, and where, since retrospective online cataloguing has not entirely captured holdings. Moreover, archival evidence at St Andrews offers glimpses of what professors borrowed (and did not always return), suggesting that other libraries may have similar records. Whilst a few papers have been written about individual collections, we lack a comprehensive overview of the surviving music from Stationers' Hall, and interpretation of what we can learn about its use, or infer about any music that attracted particular attention. AIMS & OBJECTIVES:- This networking project will raise the profile of the repertoire, encouraging musicologists, librarians, bibliographers, as well as book, library and social historians to share insights into individual collections, their reception and subsequent curation. It will aim to nurture an interdisciplinary network of interested parties with a view to further research on particular aspects of the repertoire. It aims to create a resource bibliography of archival documentation, including the availability of historic catalogues in whatever form; and also to include modern writings on the subject of Britain's legal deposit music legacy from this era. It aims furthermore to establish where online cataloguing lacunae exist, for these need to be filled before any big data analysis can be carried out. (Copac, Britain's online union catalogue of university and national libraries, has agreed that the addition of RISM numbers to relevant music, should be listed as a future project, to aid future identification of items.) The project will organise a Study Day for all interested parties, and prepare a subsequent publication either of proceedings, or a comprehensive report of issues raised; and potential big data projects and approaches will be identified for pursuit at a later date. Whilst a collaborative history would be unfeasible in the context of this bid, a network with a collaborative understanding of the repertoire, its survival patterns and its whereabouts would form a foundation for this important work. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS & BENEFITS:- Although much British music of this era is dismissed as trivial, this project will allow researchers and interested musicians to find out more about what is actually in libraries, and librarians to gain insights into the ways this repertoire can be explored.

The aim of this research project is to develop and articulate methods for triggering first-hand, somatic experiences of ecological selfhood. My methodology is Practice as Research, employing Butoh dance and phenomenological methods of self-reflection and interviews with audiences, workshop participants and other artists. The research context encompasses Anthropocene cultural theory, Butoh, and sociological theory on the dynamics of neoliberal consumer capitalism as it pertains to models of selfhood. The consumer model will be contrasted with ecologically astute practices found in Buddhism and animistic practices to show the contingency of consumer selfhood and its poor fit for times of ecological crisis.