Dr Richard Powell
Lecturer

Profile

Biography

I am a teacher and researcher in the areas of music education, musicology and music analysis. I studied at the University of York as both an undergraduate and a postgraduate; my doctoral thesis Articulating Time: Listening to Musical Forms in the Twenty-First Century explored the ways in which composers across the last two centuries – contemporary and canonic – have engaged with issues of temporal perception through structural approaches to sound.

In recent years I have become particularly active in the area of music education. Since 2016, I have taught on the MA in Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching, and in January 2022 I took over the role of programme leader from its founder Dr Elizabeth Haddon. I have led undergraduate modules focusing on critical approaches to nineteenth-century music, and on the exploration of critical musicology and its applications to listening and performance. I also teach regularly on various topics for the MA Musicology. As a researcher, I am currently exploring ways in which the use of analytical strategies might inform and enrich pedagogical approaches, and the relationship between the language used in instrumental teaching and tutor books.

My work on the music of John Adams has been published in Contemporary Music Review, and with Professor Tim Howell I co-authored a chapter on timescale and environment in the music of Hans Abrahamsen and Kaija Saariaho for The Nature of Nordic Music (ed. Tim Howell, 2020 with Routledge), a book project for which I also acted as assistant editor. My most recent work includes a contribution considering symphonic works by Thomas Adès and Sibelius for Thomas Adès Studies (ed. Edward Venn & Philip Stoecker, Cambridge University Press, 2021), and an article exploring Adès’s orchestral work Dawn (2020) for TEMPO (due 2021).

In addition to working as a freelance violinist and instrumental teacher, I also regularly produce concert programme notes for a variety of ensembles and organisations around the UK.

School Roles

• Programme Leader, MA in Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching
• School of ACT Learning and Teaching Committee
• School of ACT Marketing Committee

Publications

Selected publications

Book chapters:

• Powell, R. (2021). Closing the circle? Tevot and the question of symphonic resolution. In, eds E. Venn & P. Stoecker (eds.), Thomas Adès Studies. Cambridge University Press. https://doi:10.1017/9781108761451.007
• Howell, T. & Powell, R. (2020). ‘Telling the Time: Communication and Temporality in Nordic New Music’. In T. Howell (ed.), The Nature of Nordic Music (pp.193–218). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315462851

Journal articles

• Powell, R. (2021). ‘A new Dawn? Thomas Adès and the case of musical simplicity.’ TEMPO, 75(298), 52–62. https://doi:10.1017/S0040298221000395
• Powell, R. (2014). ‘Accessible Narratives: Continuity in the Music of John Adams’. Contemporary Music Review, 33(4) (2014): 390–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/07494467.2014.977028

Reviews

• Powell, R. (2023) Book review: Sound teaching: A research-informed approach to inspiring confidence, skill, and enjoyment in music performance. Music Education Research, 25(1), 118–120, https://doi:10.1080/14613808.2022.2146355
• Powell, R. (2022). First performances: ChamberMade, Vic Hoyland's 75th Birthday Concert, St Michael le Belfrey, York, 25 September 2021. TEMPO, 76(300), 90–92. https://doi:10.1017/S0040298221000966

Thesis

• Powell, R. (2017). Articulating time: Listening to musical forms in the twenty-first century. University of York, PhD. Available at: http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/17150/

Research

Overview

• Analysis of musical form and timescale
• Approaches to music analysis within instrumental and vocal teaching
• Language of teaching
• Contemporary music
• Exploring connections between old and new music

Teaching

Postgraduate

Programme leader: MA in Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching

• Module leader: Effective Pedagogy
• Module co-leader: Enhanced Student-centred Teaching

Contributes to MA Musicology modules