My main practice is now as a composer. I’ve played piano/keyboards for 27 years. I have a B.A. (Hons) in Creative Arts Studies from University of Sunderland, and I am now in the last 6 months of my practice and dissertation for an M.A. in Contemporary Music at Dartington College. The focus of this practice is Music and Epilepsy. I’m investigating ways in which epilepsy can be expressed through various artistic mediums including, but not exclusively, music. This has most recently been successful in the composition of a piece called Internal Closure (2009) which as a music/sound representation of Complex Partial Seizures. This was played to a combination of people with and without epilepsy, and elicited a wide range of very interesting emotional and physiological responses.
My previous successful work as a composer includes the writing and recording of a charity CD single called Flying High, which was recorded in 2003 by the international soprano singer Suzannah Clarke, and sold to raise money for the charity Coping With Cancer North East.
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In creating my work I use a combination of piano, Sibelius software and other electronic media. My more recent works have been in the genre of electro-acoustic composition, though on the occasions when live musicians are available I am also keen to use this medium. My research is based around music, brain, epilepsy, and emotion, and I’ve found that there are certain conditions which link these points together directly such as Musicogenic Epilepsy. My sources of inspiration have included the work of visual artist Gus Cummins, and the work of Dr Peter Kaplan, Dr Kip Haaheim, and Martha Curtis. I’m keen to work collaboratively with visual artists, sound artists, and dance/movement based practitioners to further develop these ideas, including cross interpretation of graphic scores.
I have also created a website as part of my research. It is www.projectmea.ning.com (Music by Epileptic Artists)
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