Music and Performance Research
Blending applied, interdisciplinary and professional practice.
What we do
The School of Music and Performing Arts’ performance research areas are multi-disciplinary, looking at the impact of the arts on social change, the environment and notions of humanity. We have three core Research Groups which are outlined below.
Research groups
A research group that considers how cultural heritage is shared across borders and transmitted through arts practice.
An environment where creative practitioners can experiment with new approaches to scoring, creating cross-disciplinary work to support their research and practice.
A research collective that aims to celebrate and elevate knowledge that exists and emerges from our creative, embodied interactions and experiences.
A research group that considers how cultural heritage is shared across borders and transmitted through arts practice.
An environment where creative practitioners can experiment with new approaches to scoring, creating cross-disciplinary work to support their research and practice.
A research collective that aims to celebrate and elevate knowledge that exists and emerges from our creative, embodied interactions and experiences.
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Research degrees
With such a abroad and exciting range of research activity, Bath School of Music and Performing Arts is a great place to undertake study for a research degree.
If you have any questions, please contact the Higher Degrees Research Tutor for Music and Performance, Roger Apfelbaum (r.apfelbaum@bathspa.ac.uk).
Explore research degrees at BSURelated projects
Exploring the Transdisciplinary: In Search of a 'Toolkit'
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Ecotones: soundscapes of trees
Hear Water: Building Environmental Empathy Through Deep Listening
MediaWall
Interspecies listening
Mbira Hut
Word Events: Perspectives on Verbal Notation
Beyond East and West
Series as multipart pieces with regulated changes
Research outputs
book
Butterworth, J and Hunter, V, eds. (2026) Contemporary choreography: a critical reader. 3rd ed. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032645704
book
Xu, Z (2026) Dancing Chineseness and techno-choreography. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032979571
book
Richards, P, Briar, H, Mello, A and Gates, L, eds. (2025) Race, gender and disability in puppetry and material performance. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032139517
book
Hunter, V and Chubb, S, eds. (2025) Encountering environments through the arts: interdisciplinary embodiments, politics, and imaginaries. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032733791
book
Hunter, V and Turner, C, eds. (2024) The Routledge companion to site-specific performance. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032254104
book_section
Breel, A (2026) 'Evaluation as participatory design practice: extending and capturing impact.' In: Light, A and Lewis, H, eds. Designing immersive participatory practices for enacting eco-social transformations: playful encounters, recovering futures. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 252-264. ISBN 9781041114802
book_section
Orlek, J, McAndrew, C, Cerulli, C, Ferreri, M, Hunter, V, Balzarini, E, Belfield, A, Stratford, H and Wegmann, R (2026) 'Sticking with the dance, diffractive readings of care over time.' In: Lieberman, O and Zambelli, A, eds. Situated ecologies of care. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 295-316. ISBN 9781041125488
book_section
Farman, V, Hunter, V and Mitchell, B (2026) 'Embodied architectures: moving and drawing with sensory and digital data.' In: Lieberman, O and Zambelli, A, eds. Situated ecologies of care. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 270-280. ISBN 9781041125488
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Hunter, V (2026) 'Dances yet to come: the possibilities of performance that never was 鈥� or only ever lived in our imaginations.' In: Verger, N.B and Mattson, D, eds. Possibility studies and societal futures: imagination, change and preservation across disciplines. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 147-168. ISBN 9783032263780
book_section
Bayley, A (2026) 'Understanding interculturalism in music education, community and creative practice.' In: King, E and Desbruslais, S, eds. Music and interculturalism: perspectives in education, community and creative practice. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 1-19. ISBN 9781041172789
book_section
Saunders, J (2026) 'Trying to keep up: managing cognitive load in audio scores.' In: Schimana, E, ed. TENOR: Eleventh International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation, Vienna, Austria 21鈥�24 May 2026. University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, pp. 25-30. ISBN 9780648159223
book_section
Hunter, V (2026) 'Dancing places: sites, situations and taking place.' In: Butterworth, J and Hunter, V, eds. Contemporary choreography: a critical reader. 3rd ed. Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032645704
book_section
Poster-Su, T (2025) 'A real American wife, a Japanese object: critical puppetry and the construction of the Orient in Anthony Minghella鈥檚 Madam Butterfly.' In: Richards, P, Briar, H, Mello, A and Purcell-Gates, L, eds. Race, gender, and disability in puppetry and material performance. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 33-50. ISBN 9781032139517
book_section
Poster-Su, T (2025) 'Beyond representation: a conversation with Jummy Faruq on decentring puppetry practice and design.' In: Richards, P, Briar, H, Mello, A and Purcell-Gates, L, eds. Race, gender and disability in puppetry and material performance. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 120-129. ISBN 9781032139517
book_section
Reading, K (2025) 'Chapter Arts Centre in the 1970s: a radical shift for theatre.' In: Hindson, C, Cochrane, C, Reid, T and Goddard, L, eds. The Routledge companion to twentieth century British theatre and performance: volume II 1950鈥�2000. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 136-148. ISBN 9780367495725
book_section
Hunter, V (2025) 'Researching site dance: entangled enmeshments.' In: Harman, G, ed. Practitioner perspectives on dance research. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 126-142. ISBN 9781032566795
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Gates, L (2025) 'Notes on a material dramaturgy.' In: Posner, D.N, Orenstein, C and Mello, A, eds. Making meaning in puppetry: materials, practice, perception. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 32-41. ISBN 9781032458120
book_section
Lovett, M (2024) 'The streaming curve: streaming, the S curve and super-abundance.' In: Gull枚, J-O, Hepworth-Sawyer, R, Paterson, J, Toulson, R and Marrington, M, eds. Innovation in music: adjusting perspectives. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 11-25. ISBN 9781032500249
book_section
Hunter, V (2024) '鈥楢 holding space鈥�: emergence and entanglement in tree spaces.' In: Hunter, V and Turner, C, eds. The Routledge companion to site-specific performance. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 361-374. ISBN 9781032254104
book_section
Gates, L (2024) 'Y奴rei and puppetry in Japanese ghost stories: (mis)perception and ambiguous bodies in kaidan.' In: Orenstein, C and Cusack, T, eds. Puppet and spirit: ritual, religion, and performing objects. Volume II Contemporary branchings: secular benedictions, activated energies, uncanny faiths. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 155-166. ISBN 9780367713799
book_section
Connolly, R (2024) 'Ulster Kitchen Comedy: 鈥榓 faithful if unpleasant picture of the national fragments鈥�.' In: Cochrane, C, Goddard, L, Hindson, C and Reid, T, eds. The Routledge companion to twentieth century British theatre and performance. Volume one: 1900-1950. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 318-330. ISBN 9780367487898
book_section
Saunders, J (2024) 'Perfect information: scores as self-evident processes.' In: Kocher, P, ed. TENOR: Ninth International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation, Zurich, Switzerland 4鈥�6 April 2024. University of the Arts, Zurich, pp. 53-57.
book_section
Lovett, M (2024) 'Artificial creativity and tools for understanding: music, creative labour and AI.' In: Gull枚, J-O, Hepworth-Sawyer, R, Paterson, J, Toulson, R and Marrington, M, eds. Innovation in music: technology and creativity. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 267-277. ISBN 9780367633363
book_section
Hunter, V (2024) 'Danser la plage : entre terre, mer et ciel.' In: Clavel, J, Levain, A and Revelin, F, eds. Des vies avec des plages: exp茅riences, relations, devenirs. University of Rennes, Rennes, pp. 131-142. ISBN 9782753594739
book_section
Gates, L (2024) 'Staging corpses: reanimating medical history through puppetry.' In: Bouchard, G and Mermikides, A, eds. The Routledge companion to performance and medicine. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 358-367. ISBN 9780367477738
article
Bayley, A, Hinde, K, McCree, M and Thornhill, I (2026) 'Hear Water: creative, technology-enhanced pedagogy for the arts and nature connectedness.' Impact, 27. ISSN 2514-6955
article
Mazanek, M.P (2025) 'Integrating the popular in nineteenth-century improvisation: immaterial labour and learning.' Performance Research, 29 (6). pp. 17-23. ISSN 1352-8165
article
Hunter, V, Perazzo, D and Elliott, M (2025) 'Dancing otherwise: new assemblages for pluriversal practices.' Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 5 (2). pp. 59-80. ISSN 2767-6013
article
Bayley, A, Clough, N, Dirwai, C, Manatsa, P and Tarr, J (2025) 'Understanding community engagement in forest restoration in rural Zimbabwe through intercultural dialogue and participatory action research.' Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 27 (2). pp. 79-104. ISSN 1520-5509
article
Thornhill, I, Bayley, A, Collins, T.M, Goto, R, Hinde, K, Hunter, V, Kang, J, Kim, H, Kim, J, Kim, J.G, Lawfull, S, Lee, T, O'Brien, L, Rabiey, M, Shin, W.S, Sochacka, A, Walton, S, Wishart, S and Yu, J (2025) 'Natural soundscapes as a disciplinary bridge in pursuit of sustainability: research themes and priorities.' Ecosystems and People, 21 (1). e2571450. ISSN 2639-5916
article
Gates, L (2025) 'AI thresholds: puppetry, monstrosity and human-machine hybridity.' Puppetry International, 58. pp. 32-35.
article
Lovett, M, Land, T and Reeder, P (2025) 'EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION: The everyday is every day.' International Journal of Creative Media Research, 11. ISSN 2631-6773
article
Breel, A (2025) 'Meaningful agency in participatory performance: a contextual approach.' Studies in Theatre and Performance, 45 (1). pp. 23-44. ISSN 1468-2761
article
Bayley, A and Parsons, J (2024) '"Listening to nature" 鈥� the rewards of an eco-creative curriculum.' Teaching Times, 23 (4). ISSN 2105-6625
article
Hughes, D and Bayley, A (2024) 'Pedagogical considerations: facilitating agency in the vocal recording of early career singer-songwriters.' Journal of Popular Music Education, 8 (2). pp. 179-196. ISSN 2397-673X
article
Poster-Su, T (2024) 'If you call for papers, the papers call back at you: some thoughts on CfP and selection processes.' Studies in Theatre and Performance, 44 (1). pp. 142-145. ISSN 1468-2761
article
Adewole Elliott, F, Antonia, A, Burt, R, Poster-Su, T, Ladr贸n de Guevara, V, Stanton, T and Tahsili, N (2024) 'Decolonisation and solidarity roundtable discussion.' Studies in Theatre and Performance, 44 (1). pp. 155-164. ISSN 1468-2761
conference_item
Xu, Z (2026) Dancing with machines: humanoid robots and techno-choreographic co-agency. In: TaPRA Conference 2026, 2-4 September 2026, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
conference_item
Reading, K (2026) The boundaries of my body in the academy: the performer/witness. In: ISTR Conference 2026 - Stages of Knowledge: Site, Struggle, and Transformation, 4-5 June 2026, TU Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
conference_item
Gates, L (2025) AI thresholds: puppetry, LLMs and uncanny performance. In: Bristol Festival of Tech, Creativity and Culture, 6 - 11 October 2025, Bristol, UK.
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Gates, L (2025) From ELIZA to GPT: how the uncanny shaped human-AI interaction鈥檚 hidden history. In: PyCon UK, 19 - 22 September 2025, Manchester, UK.
conference_item
Saunders, J (2025) Taskmasters and purposeless instructions: make-work as a compositional frame. In: Royal Musical Association 61st Annual Conference, 10 - 12 September 2025, University of Southampton, UK.
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Xu, Z (2025) The river of no one: telematic choreography and postdigital performance. In: TaPRA Conference 2025, 27 - 29 August 2025, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
conference_item
Gates, L (2025) Puppetry, monstrosity and non-normative bodies. In: International Festival of Puppetry and Animated Forms (FIMFA): Puppetry Arts - Memory and Identity Conference Cycle, 8 May - 1 June 2025, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
conference_item
Reading, K (2025) Unveiling the body: a creative exploration into (re)connecting with the body using performance-based practices. In: Embodied Voices Research Network Conference, 24- 25 April 2025, Warwick University.
conference_item
Gates, L (2024) Notes on a material dramaturgy. In: Performance Studies International (PSi) #29: Assemble!, 20 - 23 June 2024, London, UK.
thesis
Burke, D.W (2026) Persistence, coherence and vernacular practice in 2020s heavy metal culture. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Yelding, P (2026) The body as musical archive: sustaining the embodied knowledge of the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana through translations between sarod, sitar and cello. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Lane, S (2025) Constructing emotional intelligence: technologically mediated interdisciplinary collaboration in telematic performance. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Dicken, M.J.Z (2025) The Paraguayan polca: adoption, adaption and reimagination. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Rowley, C (2025) Studio/Stage: entangling private and public creative spaces through interdisciplinary composition. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Ginger, O.D (2025) Borders: investigating liminality, outsiderness and solitude through an exploration of the sound environments of Andover. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Farrally, N (2025) Evaluation practices in community music: a constructionist approach to exploring community musicians鈥� perspectives. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Yakubov, D (2025) Revitalising the musical past of the Nogai through song: a contemporary interpretation of the Epic of Edige through Nine Rhapsodies. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Chatzimakris, V (2025) Interfacial scores: indeterminacy of performing means as composition strategy. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Steadman, M.E (2025) Embodying the Eerie: an investigation of the Eerie as a dramaturgical concept in processes of directing devised performance. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Guinn, M (2025) Gilgamesh and the ancient Near East: adapting ancient texts for modern musical stage works. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Kanellos, E (2024) Immersive visual music: how contemporary visual music practices have evolved and how immersive technologies can be employed to compose visual music works. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Moorehouse-Everett, A (2024) Post-sonic and psychosocially engaged: developing a decentred, impact-focused approach to open-score composition. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Matthews, H.W.J (2024) New methods for developing collaboration in environmental composition. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Polyzoidis, A (2024) Blending rebetiko with blues, jazz, and rock: intercultural songwriting and analysis. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
thesis
Turner-McMullan, C.J (2024) "These signs forerun the death or fall of kings": renegotiating masculinities and centrality in Shakespeare's second tetralogy through adaptation, direction and performance. PhD thesis, 黑料正能量.
composition
Saunders, J (2025) just trying to do what I鈥檓 told and keep up and do the best that I can.
composition
Saunders, J (2025) something happens then something else happens then all sorts of other things happen.
composition
Saunders, J (2025) having to carry out the repetitive, mind-numbingly boring but still very necessary tasks required to manage increasingly complicated processes of production.
composition
Saunders, J (2025) it鈥檚 as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working.
performance
Villierezz, P (2024) Day of the Dead ceremony / live music from Panther Panther. In: Letters To My Dead Mother (part of PAPAYA Fest), The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol, UK, 17 October 2024.
performance
Villierezz, P and Gutarra, S (2024) Panther Panther live performance. In: Allen Valleys Folk Festival, Village Hall, Allendale, UK, 28 September 2024.
performance
Poster-Su, T (2024) The Lonesome Death of Eng Bunker [creator, performer]. Omnibus Theatre, London, UK, 17 - 27 September 2024.
performance
Xu, Z (2024) Being River. University Theatre, 黑料正能量, Bath, UK, 3 July 2024.
performance
Villierezz, P, Lapes, J, Gutarra, S and Zubieta, M (2024) Xaman X live at The Jam Jar. Bristol, UK, 15 April 2024.
performance
Lewis-Smith, C (2024) Don't worry, this is England ... In: Embodying Ecocide: Between Hope and Hopelessness, University Theatre, 黑料正能量, Bath, UK, 21 March 2024.
performance
Villierezz, P, Gutarra, S and Zubieta, M (2024) Panther Panther live at The Jam Jar. In: Worm 'Valentines' Club: Pachyman // Miss Mash // Panther Panther, The Jam Jar, Bristol, 14 February 2024.
video
Lewis-Smith, C and Hearne, V (2024) Adrian's party.
other
Sorensen, N (2024) Raymond Williams and education: history, culture, democracy [book review]. Journal of Education for Teaching, 50 (3). pp. 538-539. ISSN 0260-7476