York researchers seek world harmony in music
Posted on 27 September 2006
Four musicians - from the UK, Poland, India and China - are the first recipients of the scholarships, one of the most valuable awards available for music research in the UK. It meets the full fees for UK, EU or overseas students, and a generous maintenance allowance.
The successful candidates, who will hold the award for the full duration of their research in the University's Department of Music, are: Angie Atmadjaja (UK), Marcin Banasik (Poland), Abhay Adhikari (India) and Zhu Jie (China).
A panel, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Cantor and including opera singer Dame Janet Baker, launched the scholarship scheme by selecting the first four recipients from a 21-strong pool of applicants.
The department has also awarded four new MA scholarships - the Roslyn Lyons Masters Scholarships - to Jethro Bagust (UK), Garrett Sholdice (Ireland), Ho Ming Mak (Taiwan) and Jose Olimpo (Brazil).
The generosity of Jack and Roslyn Lyons has created life-changing opportunities for some outstandingly talented postgraduate students. The quality of applicants for these scholarships has been remarkable.
Professor Roger Marsh
Professor Roger Marsh, Head of Music, said: "The generosity of Jack and Roslyn Lyons has created life-changing opportunities for some outstandingly talented postgraduate students. The quality of applicants for these scholarships has been remarkable. All the applicants for the PhD scholarship were asked to describe, in their applications, how their research would contribute to harmony and understanding between nations.
"Music, as Jack Lyons is always keen to point out, is one of the most effective means of communication between nations, and our four research scholars all, in different ways, aim to bear witness to that fact. We look forward to the continued presence of a community of Lyons Scholars at York for many years to come."
Notes to editors:
- Angie Atmadjaja received a first class BMus degree at Trinity College of Music, and has just completed the Music Technology MA/MSc at the University of York. She is a composer, whose research in the area of microsound (or 'lowercase sound') centres on site-specific installations employing careful control of loudspeaker positioning and experimentation with psycho-acoustic phenomena. She will be supervised by Dr Tony Myatt, the Director of Music Technology Research.
- Marcin Banasik is from Poznan, Poland. He too is a composer, and his research proposes to formulate a theory of 'local harmony' within atonal music. Mr Banasik won third prize of the prestigious Lutoslawski Award in Warsaw in 2005, where he met Dr Thoma Simaku who will now supervise his research at York.
- Abhay Adhikari has already completed the first year of his PhD research at York. Abhay completed his first degree at Delhi University, India, before embarking on a MSc in Multimedia at Dublin City University. His research at York is concerned with learning and therapy through the use of music and sound, and crosses disciplines as well as cultures, drawing on both traditional Indian methodologies and modern bio-feedback techniques. His work is supervised by Dr Tony Myatt.
- Zhu Jie is from Shanghai in China. He studied composition at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, and at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he was awarded an MA. He is also a pianist, and his musical tastes and influences are extremely wide, including the music of Messiaen and Takemitsu as well as traditional Chinese music. His research will be supervised by Professor Roger Marsh.
- The Music Department at York currently supports the work of around 100 postgraduate students. It offers an outstanding environment and facilities for postgraduate study in music and research in most areas of musical scholarship and practice. The modern buildings of the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall now incorporate a new 'Music Research Centre' with an additional auditorium, new recording studios and research spaces. For more information, go to http://music.york.ac.uk/