creative dialogues between the fields of Fine Art and Music
The Sonic Art Research Unit provides a forum for dialogue between the fields of Composition and Sound Art; including acousmatic, collaborative, electroacoustic, experimental, interdisciplinary and site-specific practices alongside engagement with field recording, and soundscape studies.
LATEST audiograft is now over for another year - what a fantastic array of sounds we heard. watch this space for documentation...
LATEST AHRC Masters and PhD Studentships available. Find out more here.
SARU is currently supporting a series of research projects including the launch of a new label consumer waste curated by Stephen Cornford and Samuel Rodgers; Aeolian Sound a project led by AHRC Research Fellow Max Eastley; an ongoing project with harpsichordist Jane Chapman WIRED; the Sound Diaries Project which explores everyday life in sound; LOST & FOUND which is an examination of the use of found materials in arts practice; whilst a recent project featuring [rout] & Okeanos has commissioned a series of new works for Japanese traditional instruments, amplified ensemble and live electronics.
SARU also promotes and curates Audiograft an annual festival of Experimental Music and Sound Art. You can find full details of SARU activities here.
About Us
The Sonic Art Research Unit builds on established creative dialogue between the fields of Fine Art and Music at Oxford Brookes University. Key staff in the Unit include: Stephen Cornford whose research interests include improvisation ad bespoke electronic devices; Dr. Paul Dibley whose research interests include acousmatic and electroacoustic composition alongside live electronics; Max Eastley whose research projects explore Aeolian devices; Felicity Ford whose areas of research include the domestic soundscape and field recording; Ray Lee a sound artist specialising in kinetic sound works; Paul Newland is a composer who works with improvisation, collaborative practice and acoustic composition; and Dr. Paul Whitty who specialises in collaborative, experimental, interdisciplinary and site-specific compositional practices.
Doctoral researchers associated with SARU include Mike Blow; Efthymios Chatzigiannis; Patrick Farmer; Shirley Pegna; and Samuel Roberts.
Staff in the Centre
Postgraduate study:
There are opportunities for Postgraduate study via the MA Composition & Sonic Art, the MA Contemporary Arts & Music, the MA Music, and the practice-led PhD programme. If you would like to discuss any of these opportunities please contact Paul Whitty.
PhD projects currently being supervised include: The development of compositional method within the context of the Anglo-American experimental music tradition; The future is interdisciplinary? Creating, investigating and evaluating interdisciplinary art in electronic popular music and related art worlds; Touching the intangible: An investigation of the creative possibilities of the physiology of sound; The Domestic Soundscape; Music Composition as Interpretation of Natural Phenomena; Sounding Severn: landscape and music.