Music and ecosystems

Our theoretical and practice-based research explores relationships between music and ecosystems, with reference to the environment and the more-than-human world.

Bringing together researchers in the fields of composition, performance studies, historical musicology and applied ethnomusicology, our research responds to contemporary concerns around environmental justice - including climate emergency, sustainability, loss of biodiversity and associated human costs - while exploring the many ways in which music can invoke the wonder and complexity of the natural world.

We also engage in collaborative projects with researchers in other areas of the university, including Human Geography, English and American Studies, and Creative Writing.

In our practice-based research we explore compositional techniques and technologies that engage with environmental sounds, patterns, textures, and contours not merely as raw material but as generators of new formal and aesthetic possibilities. Taking inspiration from decolonial pedagogy, we seek to advance innovative and ethical artistic practices and research methods that recognise the agency of our co-creators in the more-than-human world.

In public, community and educational fora, we use our research to promote environmental awareness, connection and resilience, and to demonstrate the role of musical practices in mediating human-environment relationships.

Our research in this area includes:

• Richard Whalley’s investigation of compositional techniques that translate environmental shapes and patterns into musical processes and depict the sensory experience of nature.
• Henry McPherson’s research into how kinesonic performance and improvisatory practices can foster sensory engagement and meaningful connection with the more-than-human world, and his promotion of the text score as ecopedagogical resource.
• Ricardo Climent’s development of Keep•It•Human, a social venture and digital games studio that uses gamification to engage the public in environmental challenges, contribute to environmental conservation projects, and provide a gateway to action through collaborative altruism.
• Sarah Keirle-Dos Santos’s use of animal sounds, other forms of biophony, and extracts from interviews with people involved in conservation livelihood work to create sonic experiences that engage listeners with nature.
• Caroline Bithell’s analysis of the aesthetic, affective and socio-political dynamics of amateur political choirs that engage in climate activism and her research into how environmental factors shape folk dance traditions in highland Georgia.