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Music Research (UoA33)
The International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS) represents Music (UoA33) at Newcastle. This is within the School of Arts and Cultures. ICMuS can trace its distinguished history to the 1890s. It's an anchor institution in the music and culture of north-east England.
The International Centre for Music Studies (ICMuS) represents Music (UoA33) at Newcastle. This is within the School of Arts and Cultures.
Distinguished history and unique specialisms
ICMuS can trace its distinguished history to the 1890s. It's an anchor institution in the music and culture of north-east England. We have particular strengths in:
- historical and critical musicology
- vernacular and folk traditions
- global musics
- early music
- creative practice
ICMuS returns 21 colleagues to REF2021. Their work encompasses a range of specialisms and traditions unique among UK HEIs.
Overarching themes
Overarching themes of our research include:
- gender and sexuality
- philosophy
- place
- sound studies
- public policy
We have an international reputation for our:
- unique disciplinary mix
- radical approaches to musicology
Interdisciplinary work and outstanding facilities
Our work is inherently interdisciplinary. We lead, or contribute to, eight interdisciplinary institutes and research groups. We have outstanding facilities. We have:
- newly refurbished teaching spaces (including a £730,000 organ)
- Music Studios
- Culture Lab
Funded music research achievements
ICMuS has more than tripled its success in delivering funded music research projects since 2014. That's across all our specialisms. Major projects include:
- Creative Fuse NE (AHRC)
- UK Live Music Census (AHRC)
- Landscape Quartet (AHRC)
- CoHERE (EU)
Local, national, and international partnerships
Our regional partners include the:
- Sage Gateshead
- Opera North
- Seven Stories
- Northumberland National Park.
With Allenheads Contemporary Arts we have delivered collaborative projects such as Northumbrian Exchanges.
National partners include the British Library, Bodleian Library, and British Academy. We delivered Tudor Partbooks with the latter.
We have developed new links with NGOs and governments. These deliver impacts and influence public policy in the UK.
They also have an impact internationally. Our work is having an influence in the USA and Southern Africa. Taking on Violence Against Women is a good example of this.
Our inclusive values
The unit commits to the values set out in the ICMuS declaration of music research principles. We were awarded the Athena Swan Bronze award in 2018. We are seeking to equalise gender balance among senior academic staff.
We want to increase the ethnic diversity among our PGR community. We seek to do this, for instance, via ‘Inclusive Newcastle’ PGR studentships in music.
Dynamic working environment
The unit is a dynamic working environment, with:
- 52 current PGR students
- three early career researchers
- 25 permanent staff
We support career development with:
- research mentoring
- generous research allowances
- strategic institutional research funds
Collaborative research culture
Our music research culture emphasises co-production with collaborators, students, and the public.
The Live Music Census has drawn on public participation in shaping public policy. Tudor Partbooks has engaged audiences into the reconstruction of Renaissance music. One of our publications was co-authored by a community leader in South Africa.
The reach of our research
Our research reaches international audiences through our:
- scholarly publications
- public policy research
- performances and compositions
- recordings and broadcasts
Two-thirds of ICMuS staff returned in REF 2021 have contributed to the public realm. This includes radio and television broadcasts in the UK and internationally. Our creative practitioners fulfil international commissions and reach international audiences.
The impact of our research is felt at home and internationally. That's from ecology of live music performance to cultural policy statements from UNESCO.
Meeting the challenges of COVID-19
We have met the challenges of 2020-21 head-on. We've:
- adapted our teaching and research
- expanding the audience for new music
- developing learning programmes for our collaborators
- researched the consequences of COVID-19 on the careers and wellbeing of performers internationally
Research case studies
Behr’s research combines qualitative and quantitative work on live music ecologies. They see the intersection of musical and non-musical actors in a location.
We analysed their policy contexts, supporting and informing industry practice and policymaking. This protects the provision of live music.
The UK Live Music Census is a world first as a national exercise. It uses an open source approach for evaluating the concerns of venues, musicians and audiences.
Its findings affected policymaking, contributing to legislative changes. One notable impact was the introduction of the Agent of Change Principle and reviews of venue business rates.
The ‘toolkit’ developed by the project has informed research. Melbourne, Birmingham and Liverpool have taken up questions and methodological approaches from the findings.
The Experience of Tudor Music has increased public understanding of Renaissance music. The project achieved this through its work with manuscripts.
We want to understand the interaction between musical practices and the spaces and objects that shaped them. This creates new ways to experience sonic artefacts.
The project has undertaken four actions, including:
- raising public awareness of music manuscripts and their interactions with spaces and rituals
- increasing practitioners’ understanding of English Renaissance musical sources, their contexts, and contents
- enlarging the concert repertoire through innovative, historically-informed programming
- providing professional advice, leading to the Eton Choirbook’s inscription in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register