Newcastle University

Background

I was educated in Norwich and at Birmingham University, where I graduated with the degree of BMus before completing my PhD dissertation on the operas of Antonio Vivaldi under Nigel Fortune. I joined the staff of Newcastle University as Lecturer in 1978, becoming first Senior Lecturer in Music and then Head of Department. In 1994 I was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts, later becoming Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Cultural Affairs of the new Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Since January 2006 I relinquished the undergraduate studies portfolio to concentrate on cultural affairs.

Roles and Responsibilities

As Dean of Cultural Affairs I am responsible for fostering links between the University and the region in all areas of cultural activity, especially relating to our museums and gallery, as well as other areas of cultural outreach such as our concerts and public lectures series. I am also responsible for co-ordinating aspects of academic activity relating to the University’s cultural assets and for situating our cultural skills developments within the national agenda, working closely with the relevant schools. Among the various committees that I chair are the Cultural Affairs Steering Group, the Museums and Gallery Board, and the Culture Committee of Universities for the North East.

I am also conductor of the Newcastle Bach Choir and Cappella Novocastriensis, and director of the Newcastle Early Festival

Qualifications

BMus (Birmingham)
PGCE (Birmingham)
PhD (Birmingham)

Memberships

Royal Musical Association
Literary & Philosophical Society
Board member of Northern Stage, Tyneside Cinema, Northern Cultural Skills Partnership, Culture North East and the Regional Board of Arts Council England.

Research Interests

My research interests lie mainly in Italian baroque opera, especially the works of Vivaldi. I have published in many of the leading British musicological journals, and have prepared scores of several complete Vivaldi operas for performances in New York, Denmark, Germany and Poland, and in England by the English Bach and Buxton Festivals and for the Chandos recording of Ottone in villa.

I have also published on Benjamin Britten, and on the contribution of Higher Education to regional cultural development.

Other Expertise

Conducting

Current Work

Editing a book on Charles Avison
An article of Vivaldi's operatic manuscripts for Naive Edition

Future Research

Further performing editions of Vivaldi operas

Undergraduate Teaching

MUS2034 Vivaldi
MUS3083 Conducting Studies

• Cross E. Vivaldi's opera 'Tamerlano'. Edition for first US performance in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York 2000, 348.
• Cross, Eric. Vivaldi: Ottone in villa. Edition for CD recording by Collegium Musicum 90 conducted by Richard Hickox and liner notes, Chandos CHAN 0614(2), 1-14 (notes) 1998.
• Cross, Eric. Vivaldi and the Pasticcio: Text and Music in Tamerlano. Con che soavità: Studies in Italian Opera, Song, and Dance 1580-1740, Clarendon Press. Edited by Iain Fenlon and Tim Carter, 275-311 1995.
• Cross, Eric. Death in War: Britten and the War Requiem. Ritual and Remembrance: Responses to Death in Human Societies, Sheffield Academic Press. Edited by Jon Davies, 124 - 151 1994.