Alexander Hunter
Composer/Researcher
As a composer/researcher I am interested in the applications of openness, indeterminacy and discontinuity in musical composition and performance. In 'open works' there exists the possibility for multiple interpretations both practically, with each performance being different in terms of structure and content, and metaphysically, with each listener and performer constructing their own relationships between superficially ambiguous sounds.
My interest in works based directly on harmonic spectra was sparked during an undergraduate class on the physics of musical instruments (taught by a student of Thomas Rossing).
I am also interested in the musical applications of anarchism and intersectional feminism. This is most commonly manifested in non-hierarchical, self-directed ensembles in which performer, composer and listener all negotiate fluid relationships between rigid and flexible roles.
Articles, Conference Papers, and Public Lectures
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Embodied Music Theory/ies: Decolonising an Australian undergraduate music theory and aural skills curriculum, conference paper with Rachael Thoms and Roya Safaei, Music and the University Conference, City University of London, July 2022
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ᐊᐧᓂᐦᑕᒼ (wanihtam): Hearing it the wrong way - Indigenising a pair of Métis ears, conference paper at the Legacies of Violence Roadshow, ANU, Canberra, ACT, June 2022
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MIDI Controllers and Magic Lanterns: Contextualising a Performative Approach to Media Archaeology, conference paper with Charles Martin and Martyn Jolly, Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology - CIM22 'Participation', The University of Edinburgh, June 2022
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Invited talk on Disability and the Arts, ANU's Bruce Hall, Canberra, ACT, May 2021
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Invited talk on collaborative work Requiem for a Reef (with glass artist Ngaio Fitzpatrick) at the 2020 ANU Network on the History and Legacies of Violence Roadshow (symposium)
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Two Perspectives on rebooting computer music education: Composition and computer science (2019), peer-reviewed article co-authored with Ben Swift and Charles Martin, Australasian Computer Music Association Conference Proceedings, 2019
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Sounding Canberra: A community sound art and acoustic ecology project. Conference paper given at the Musicology Society of Australia Conference, Monash University, 2019
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Thoughts on an ANU Laptop Ensemble: where do new media creators fit in the modern university?, paper given at the CODE 2k18 conference (Swinburne University), 2018
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Roundtable at the ANU School of Music HDR Symposium 'Where the Ocean Meets the Land' on the topic of Creative Practice as/and Research, with Professors Will Christie, Larry Sitsky and Ken Lampl, November 2016
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Invited lecture entitled 'Re-composing Mike Parr's Alphabet/Haemorrhage' given at the University of Canberra as part of 'Grace Notes: A Symposium on Musical Heritage and Creative Practice', September 2016
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Keynote lecture and feature concert at Macquarie University's 'Music, Creative Practice-Led Research and the Academy' symposium, paper entitled 'Musical Anarchy in the Academy: Using free improvisation to deconstruct musical hierarchies', May 2016
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Paper at the Australian Women's History Network Conference at the Queen Victoria's Women's Centre, Melbourne entitled: 'Intersectionality and Experimental Music', March 2016
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Paper at the Musicological Society of Austral National Conference at the Sydney Conservatorium entitled: 'Why does Pitchfork love David Lang's Pierced?', October 2015
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Paper at the ‘Modernist Musics and Political Aesthetics’ conference at the University of Nottingham entitled: ‘Open Music with Early Instruments in an Electroacoustic Environment: An exploration of innovative anarchic small ensemble performance practice’, April 2015
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Roundtable at the ‘Reflective Conservatoire’ conference the Guildhall in London entitled: ‘Reinvigorating piano pedagogy of canonical works through contemporary music performance practice and free play’, February 2015
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Paper at the ‘Music for All: Ownership in Composition, Improvisation and Performance’ conference at the Orpheus Instituut, Ghent, Belgium entitled: ‘Open Music with Early Instruments in an Electroacoustic Environment: An exploration of innovative anarchic small ensemble performance practice’, February 2015
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Paper at the ‘Compositional Aesthetics and the Political’ conference at Goldsmiths in London entitled: ‘Open Music with Early Instruments in an Electroacoustic Environment: An exploration of innovative anarchic small ensemble performance practice’, February 2015
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Openness in Musical Notation - given at a research student event, InSpace, University of Edinburgh, April 2012
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Openness in Musical Notation - given at the Royal Musical Association Annual Research Student conference, University of Hull, January 2012