Committee

Toby Huelin (University of Leeds)

Toby Huelin is a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds, investigating the use of library music in contemporary television. He is the author of forthcoming journal articles on the role of music programming on BBC Four (Critical Studies in Television, 2022) and musical representations of Donald Trump in library music catalogues (European Journal of American Culture, 2022, co-authored with Júlia Durand). Toby is also a media composer: his music has been broadcast on Emmy Award-winning television (United Shades of America, CNN) and in a global advertising campaign for internet brand Honey. Prior to starting his PhD, Toby studied at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His research is funded by the AHRC via the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities (WRoCAH).

Elsa Marshall (University of Sheffield)

Elsa Marshall is a PhD Music candidate at the University of Sheffield, supervised by Prof. Nicola Dibben and Prof. Jonathan Rayner. Her dissertation combines archival research and audiovisual analysis to trace the business and craft behind cinematic integration in the 1954 MGM musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She holds a Doctoral Academy Award from the University of Sheffield, and a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship. She has contributed to online publications for IASPM-US and the Society of American Music. She has also presented on the relationship between music and narrative in film musicals, silent film, and concept albums at conferences of the Royal Musical Association; IASPM Canada; Song, Stage, and Screen; and Music and the Moving Image.

David Cotter (University of Cambridge)

David Cotter is a guitarist and PhD candidate in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor John Rink. His thesis is entitled 'The Collaborative Guitar' and his research explores co-performer creativity, and the past, present, and future of the guitar as a collaborative instrument. He has given lecture-recitals (Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts; University of Aveiro, Portugal; University of Cambridge, UK), delivered papers (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK; Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre; Middlesex University, UK; National Science and Media Museum, Bradford, UK; Orpheus Institute, Belgium; Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences; University of Dundee, UK), co-organised a conference (The Classical Musician in the 21st Century conference, University of Cambridge, UK), and built self-playing guitar robots (RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion, University of Oslo, Norway).

Melissa Morton (University of Edinburgh)

Melissa is a PhD student in Music at the University of Edinburgh. Her PhD research focusses on the branding of UK television channels, examining the collaborations between groups of creatives—in particular, composers and graphic designers. She previously studied Music for her undergraduate and Master’s degrees at the University of Oxford.

Georgia Brown (QMUL)

Georgia Brown is a PhD researcher in the department of Film Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. Her research studies the prosodic prominence and overall rhythms in each of Vivien Leigh's onscreen performances, by analysing the suprasegmental characteristics of accented words and the associated changes in the fundamental frequency (F0). This study will develop an understanding of how Leigh's voice was impacted by ageing and illness and how this has affected her star image. Georgia has presented her research at the University of Lincoln as part of the Extra Sonic Practice series, the Stardom and the Archive conference at the University of Exeter and, at the BAFTSS Stardom and Performance symposium.