Dr Leah Kardos

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Leah Kardos
About
Teaching and learning
Research
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Videos of my work

About

I am a senior lecturer in music at Kingston/KSA. In addition to lecturing & research student supervision, I am the director of the Visconti Studio, which I helped to establish in 2016, and I chair the associated research group. I organise and host events, professional sessions, research projects and knowledge exchange activities in the studio space. This academic year I am the interim Course Leader of MA Music and MMus Composing for Film & TV.

I founded and manage the Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra, a music ensemble sponsored by British instrument manufacturer Dubreq. It is made up of Kingston University staff, students, alumni and members of the local community and is part of Kingston's PACE research group (Performing Arts Community Engagement). Our debut album Stylophonika was released in early 2022 on Spun Out of Control records. Our limited edition cassette Live at Visconti Studio was released in 2023. 

I create music, commercially and for/as research. I'm interested in the communicative arts of record production, popular and contemporary music aesthetics and criticism, and exploring inclusive interdisciplinary approaches to creative practice.

I release and publish my music with Bigo & Twigetti and UPPM. My first monograph Blackstar Theory: The Last Works of David Bowie was published by Bloomsbury Academic in early 2022. My 33 1/3 book about Kate Bush's Hounds of Love comes out 14 November 2024. I am a regular contributor to The Wire magazine.

Academic responsibilities

Senior Lecturer in Music

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Creative Practice) - University of Queensland, 2009-2014.
  • Post-Graduate Certificate of Education - University of Greenwich, 2008.
  • BMus(Hons) - University of Queensland, 1998-2002.
  • A.Mus.A (Associate Music Diploma (Australia)) - AMEB, 1997, Pianoforte, Distinction.
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Teaching and learning

Undergraduate courses taught

Postgraduate courses taught

Research

I am interested in interdisciplinary creative practice, music technologies, studio craft and any music research where the recording is treated as the primary text. I also enjoy creative practice research and exploring related ways of making music creation, education, and discourse inclusive and accessible to people from various backgrounds regardless of experience or privilege.

Qualifications and expertise

  • Creative practice research
  • Composition
  • Music Technology & Education
  • Recording & Production

Areas of specialism

  • Studio-based creative practice
  • Popular musicology
  • Musicology of recording & production
  • The music of David Bowie
  • Music practices research with technologies

Scholarly affiliations

  • University of Queensland, Australia (alum)
  • NYU Steinhardt, Music Technology (visiting scholar 2015)
  • Western Kentucky University, Music (visiting artist 2014)

Research student supervision

Main supervision

Other supervision

Publications

Jump to: Article | Book | Book Section | Composition | Conference or Workshop Item | Exhibition | Sound Recording | Thesis
Number of items: 23.

Article

Kardos, Leah [Reviewer] (2023) Book Review of 'Switched on : Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution' by Albert Glinsky. Technology and Culture, 64(3), pp. 1003-1005. ISSN (print) 1097-3729

Kardos, Leah (2018) Making room for 21st century musicianship in higher education. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 17(1), pp. 1-14. ISSN (online) 1545-4517

Kardos, Leah [Reviewer] (2017) Book Review of: 'Playing with something that runs : technology, improvisation, and composition in DJ and laptop performance' by Mark J. Butler. The World of Music (new series), 6((2017) 2), pp. 157-159. ISSN (online) 0043-8774

Kardos, Leah (2017) Bowie musicology : mapping Bowie's sound and music language across the catalogue. Continuum : Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 31(4), pp. 552-563. ISSN (print) 1030-4312

Kardos, Leah (2012) How music technology can make sound and music worlds accessible to student composers in Further Education colleges. British Journal of Music Education, 29(2), pp. 143-151. ISSN (print) 0265-0517

Book

Kardos, Leah (2022) Blackstar theory : the last works of David Bowie. London, U.K. : Bloomsbury Academic. 264p. (Ex:centrics) ISBN 9781501365386

Book Section

Kardos, Leah (2017) The curious musician. In: Ruthmann, S. Alex and Mantie, Roger, (eds.) The Oxford handbook of technology and music education. Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press. pp. 317-322. (Oxford Handbooks) ISBN 9780199372133

Kardos, Leah (2015) Activating Digital Creativities in Higher Music Education. In: Burnard, Pamela and Haddon, Elizabeth, (eds.) Activating Diverse Musical Creativities: Teaching and Learning in Higher Music Education. London, U.K. : Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 223-240. ISBN 9781472589118

Composition

Kardos, Leah [Composer] and Alexander, Ariane [Instrumentalist] (2015) Waiting at Rosamond Rd. (MP3, Compilation, Stereo, 320 kbps). ambientblog.net.

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2013) Three Preludes. (Music).

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2013) Kick for String Orchestra. (String music).

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2012) The Closeness of Distance. (Electronic music). Headphone Commute.

Conference or Workshop Item

Kardos, Leah (2015) PLANET BOWIE: Multiple creativities in practice. In: Pedagogy, Language, Arts & Culture in Education (PLACE) Group Seminars; 11 Nov 2015, Cambridge, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kardos, Leah (2015) Can you hear me? Analysing the recurring sonic and musical gestures in David Bowie’s recorded works. In: The Stardom and Celebrity of David Bowie; 17-18 Jul 2015, Melbourne, Australia. (Unpublished)

Kardos, Leah (2015) You can’t hide beat : a collection of David Bowie cover versions created using samples from his own famous recordings. In: The Stardom and Celebrity of David Bowie; 17-18 Jul 2015, Melbourne, Australia. (Unpublished)

Kardos, Leah (2015) The sonic vernacular : considering communicative timbral gestures in modern music production. In: 138th Audio Engineering Society Convention; 07 - 10 May 2015, Warsaw, Poland.

Kardos, Leah (2014) Exploring the temporalities of a musical idea. In: Music and/as Process Conference; 31 May - 01 June 2014, Caterbury, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Kardos, Leah (2013) The invented identities and multiple creativities of David Bowie. In: Pedagogy, Language, Arts & Culture in Education (PLACE) Group Seminars; 08 Nov 2013, Cambridge, U.K.. (Unpublished)

Exhibition

Redmond, Sean [Artist] and Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2019) The unknown celebrity. The model citizen. .

Sound Recording

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2017) Rococochet. (Music). London, U.K. : Bigo & Twigetti.

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2013) Machines. (Electronic music). London, U.K. : Bigo & Twigetti.

Kardos, Leah [Composer] (2011) Feather Hammer. (Electronic music). London, U.K. : Bigo & Twigetti. Audio Recordings.

Thesis

Kardos, Leah (2014) Folio of compositions and critical commentary. (PhD thesis), The University of Queensland, .

This list was generated on Sat Dec 21 04:00:10 2024 GMT.

Videos of my work

Video essay: Analysis of David Bowie's song 'Blackstar' (2015)

Black holes, black music, black arts, black hearts & button eyes

Deedee

The emancipating power of samplers & sequencers in the work of Kate Bush during the early-to-mid 80s

Episode 43: Tony Visconti & Chris Kimsey

Open Again Eventually

'Akoustiki' by the Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra

Dublin Bowie Festival 2023:

Core

Space Oddity (Cover) - Kingston University Stylophone Orchestra

Visconti Studio Presents WINTERSCHOOL 2019

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