Brona Martin

Dr Brona Martin BA, HDip, MA, PhD

Lecturer in Music and Sound

Dr. Brona Martin is an Electroacoustic composer and sound artist from Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland. Her compositions explore narrative in Electroacoustic music, acoustic ecology and spatialisation techniques through the creation of metaphorical and real-world representations of soundscapes where the aim is to reveal particular sonic characters that are not normally the focus of listening. Brona's portfolio of works explore the layers and textures of sounds that contribute to the overall sonic-makeup of specific places both real and imaginary. Through listening, recording, analysing and processing, the layers of a soundscape are studied in great detail.

Brona's artistic portfolio offers an in depth and alternative listening perspective and experience where the complexity of everyday sounds are examined and rearranged into a new context. References are also made to the design of the acoustic environment where noise pollution often masks the more pleasant sounds of the natural environment. 

Her research also explores ways in which creative music technology can be more inclusive and diverse through the facilitation of community engagement projects and also thinking about ways in which her research can be presented to wider audiences. She is currently exploring ways in which different media are being used to bring soundscape studies into the wider community through VR projects, smart phone applications and streaming technologies.

Her works have been performed internationally at EMS, ACMC, ICMC, NYCEMF, ISSTA, ZKM, BEAST, Balance/Unbalance, SSSP, iFIMPaC, Sonorities and MANTIS. She has been guest composer at EMS, Stockholm and Associate Artist in Residence at Atlantic Centre for the Arts, Florida.

Brona is a Lecturer in Music and Sound at the University of Greenwich where she teaches on the MA in Music and Sound Design course on the module ‘Audiovisual Composition for Film, Games and Media.’

She is also a researcher within the SOUND/IMAGE Research group where she is involved in research activities such as:

  • Exploring spatial audio applications and workflows in electroacoustic music and VR and gaming technologies.
  • Project lead on The Record Shop and Black Music Project which explores the role of the record store as a community and social hub. Oral histories, film and audio and photographic memories will be compiled to create an educational resource, a publication, website and podcast series
  • Sound and Image Research Centre Knowledge Exchange Lead

Recognition

Research Associate in Music and Audio Technology, University of Kent

Affiliate Researcher, SOUND/IMAGE Research Group, University of Greenwich

Visiting Research Fellow, University of Southampton

Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Research / Scholarly interests
  • Spatial Audio
  • Acoustic Ecology
  • Game Design
  • Electroacoustic Composition
  • Electronic Music
  • Sound Art
  • Community Engagement

Recent publications

Presentations

Music Performances (Last 3 years)

  • Sound and Image Research Centre Intersections Tour, Cambridge Electro Acoustic Day, University of Cambridge, 14th March, A Bit Closer to Home
  • Sound and Image Research Centre Intersections Tour, Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh, 16th March 2024, Margaret’s Story
  • Sound and Image Research Centre Intersections Tour, MANTIS Festival, University of Manchester, 2nd March 2024, Margaret’s Story
  • Sound and Image Research Centre Intersections Tour, Bangor Music Festival, Pontio Arts Centre, Bangor, 18th February, 2024 Aisling and Frogland
  • Sound and Image Research Centre Intersections Tour, De Montfort, Leicester, 1st February 2024, Aisling and Frogland
  • Every Day is Spatial, IKO Loudspeaker Concert, 15th June 2023, Parque Urbano El Bosque to Curiñanco Beach and Aisling
  • Audio-Visual Festival, Ionian University, Corfu - curated and diffused a Concert of Electroacoustic Works by Women Composers who are part of the Sound/Image Research Group, University of Greenwich, 3rd June 2022
  • Aural Diversities, Space – Immersive Experiences, Royal Dockyard Church, The Historic Dockyard,  Chatham , Kent, Nygamla, 13th May, 2022
  • Constructs: Greenwich Loudspeaker Orchestra, St. Alfege Church, Parque Urbano El Bosque to Curiñanco Beach and Aisling, 11th May, 2022
  • Music Currents Festival, Dublin, Margaret’s Story, 19th April, 2022
  • Composing Space: Greenwich Loudspeaker Orchestra, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Rocky Mars Soundscapes, 13th April, 2022
  • Sonic Arts Concert, Soundlaspse Project, University of Bournemouth, Parque Urbano El Bosque to Curiñanco Beach, 24th March, 2022
  • MANTIS Festival, University of Manchester, Breaking the Chains, 5th March 2022
  • MANTIS Festival, University of Manchester, Whispers of the Past, 5th/6th March 2022
  • Deliaphonic Festival, Coventry Cathedral, Imaginary Soundscapes for the IKO loudspeaker, 3rd-6th March 2022
  • AI3SD Conference, Chilworth Manor Hotel, Southampton, Something More Human, performed as part The Exquisite Corpse of AI (Consequences), 1st March 2022
  • Tuner Sims, University of Southampton. Something More Human, performed as part The Exquisite Corpse of AI (Consequences), 28th February 2022
  • Electric Medway, Whispers of the Past, A Geolocated Soundwalk using the Echoes XYZ App, 21-30 June 2021
  • Rapture Gaming Festival Medway, 3-4 July 2021, Exhibition of Where am I and Breaking the Chains game experiences
  • Klingt Gut!, 5th International Symposium on Sonic Art and Spatial Audio, Frogland, 12th May 2021
  • BEASTFEaST 2021, Virtual Online Festival, Where am I? 22nd- 24th April, 2021
  • BEASTFEaST 2020, Virtual Online Festival, Frogland, 1st May 2020

Guest Lecture and Presentations:

  • Decolonising Sonic Heritage Spaces, City University, London, 19th June 2023. Sonic Palimpsest – Revisiting Chatham Historic Dockyard
  • Every Day is Spatial, University of Gloucestershire, 15th-16th June 2023. Concert and Workshop with the IKO loudspeaker
  • ICMC (International Computer Music Conference), University of Limerick, 8th July 2022. Soundscapes of the Past: Historical Imaginings, with Dr Aki Pasoulas, Dr. Brona Martin, Dr Andrew Knight-Hill
  • Audio-Visual Festival, Ionian University, Corfu, Workshop: Soundscape Composition and Story Telling - Compositional approaches, working with field recordings and oral history archives, 2nd June 2022
  • MANTIS Festival, University of Manchester, Breaking the Chains: Creative responses when working with oral history archives and historical narratives, 6th March 2022
  • MANTIS Festival, University of Manchester, Whispers of the Past: Composing with Oral History Archives, with Dr. Aki Pasoulas and Dr. Andrew Knight-Hill, 6th March 2022
  • In Practice, Conference, University of Ulster, Tales from the other side: What happens after the PhD??? 17th June 2021
  • BEAST FEaST, Recalibration, University of Birmingham, 24th April 2021. Soundscapes, Identity and Place with Dr. Aki Pasoulas and Dr. Andrew-Knight-Hill
  • PEEP (Pratiques de l'écoute, écoute des pratiques) (Listening Practices, Listening to Practices), IMéRA, Aix-Marseille, University Marseille, FR, 22nd January 2020 Composing with Remote Sounds
  • Guest Lecturer, KMH Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Soundscape Composition, 6th September 2019
  • Guest Lecturer and tutor, Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH), Oslo, workshops with MA Composition Students, 16th/17th March 2019
  • 'Community Engagement: Creativity and Collaboration'. Hartley Residency, University of Southampton, 27th February 2019
  • Guest Lecturer, City University, London, Multi-channel Soundscape Composition, 5th Feb 2018
  • Guest Lecturer, City University, London, Creating Site Specific Works, 27th Feb 2017
  • “Female Composers and the Sonic Home: interactions with domestic sound”, co-author Dr. Manuella Blackburn. Presented as part of a panel discussion at The First International Conference on Women’s Work in Music, at the University of Bangor, 4-7 September 2017.
  • Guest Lecturer, City University, London, Soundscape Identity and the Compositional Process, 15th Feb 2016