Nottingham Secures £1.2m for Immersive Music Research
The University of Nottingham’s Department of Music has received a £1.2 million award from the UK Research and Innovation Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The funding will expand practice-based research capacity and support the development of future audiences.
The funding supports the department’s contribution to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, particularly through innovation in music performance, production and broadcasting within the creative industries.
The AHRC award supports research involving immersive sound, performance technologies, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, music technology and digital humanities. The funding will support collaboration between practice-based researchers and musicologists.
It will also enable new research methods, outputs and knowledge exchange with organisations across the creative and cultural sectors.
The investment includes upgrades to the department’s research and performance infrastructure. Planned improvements include installing a state-of-the-art immersive surround-sound system with a dedicated control room and broadcast-quality recording facilities.
The system will support professional production and global dissemination.
Additional upgrades include advanced keyboard instruments, including a Steinway Spirio piano capable of capturing and reproducing performances at high resolution. The instrument allows performances to be recorded and reproduced with detailed mechanical playback, enabling networked and remote musical performance. The upgraded infrastructure will combine advanced audio technologies with acoustic instruments, including a new harpsichord.
The funding also supports practice-based research in music technology and cross-disciplinary collaboration with fields such as computer science.
This work includes research involving artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, virtual reality and augmented reality.
New flexible research and performance spaces will support amplified (using electric equipment to increase sound volume) and immersive work across music, film and theatre, as well as projects involving mixed reality environments (spaces combining digital and real elements). The facilities are designed to accommodate interdisciplinary activity and support research involving interactive installations and public engagement.
The infrastructure will also include enhanced digital connectivity and embedded streaming capabilities.
These systems will support cross-border collaboration and networked performances between participants in different locations.
These developments expand the department’s professional recording, broadcasting, streaming and networked performance capabilities. The facilities will support interdisciplinary research across music and related creative disciplines.
The investment also supports the department’s partnership with the BBC Concert Orchestra. This partnership has been extended for three years, until September 2029. It forms part of broader collaborations with regional arts organisations, venues, and music hubs.
Interdisciplinary engagement includes the arts, sciences, creative industries, and digital research clusters. This research, supported by the new infrastructure, contributes to innovation across the creative and cultural sector.
By adapting existing spaces into technologically advanced and flexible research environments, the Department of Music at the University of Nottingham will support new forms of artistic inquiry, collaborative research and public engagement.
The upgrades will also support the development of future arts research leaders.
