Alistair MacDonald

Alistair MacDonald serves as Professor and Director of the Electroacoustic Studios at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), where he also teaches composition. Appointed Fellow of RCS in 2012 and promoted to Professor in 2017, he actively accepts PhD students and maintains current research output through 2025. His institutional roles center on electroacoustic music education and studio leadership.

MacDonald's research explores field recording, live electronics, interactivity, and improvisation through international collaborations with performers, artists, and choreographers. Key projects include AD 1136 (2023) for voice/electronics at Glasgow Cathedral, film collaborations like The moss and the cosmos (2021), dance works with Reckless Sleepers (2018-22), and cross-disciplinary pieces such as Le Sirenuse for glass percussion/electronics. His practice spans performance, broadcast, and installation media with emphasis on spatialized sound design.

His 56 research outputs (1998-2025) demonstrate consistent electroacoustic innovation, particularly in vocal processing (2023-2025), collaborative film scoring (2021-2022), and interdisciplinary installations (2014-2015). Recent works integrate historical contexts like Hildegard von Bingen's writings with contemporary electronics, while ongoing METRIC network activities show European collaboration in music technology education.

• Creative Scotland Award (2002) for Sensuous Geographies installation
• Multiple festival commissions including Made in Scotland showcase (2017)
• Selected for Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition (2015)
• Coburg Prize for Contemporary Glass finalist (2014)

MacDonald leads the Electroacoustic Studios at RCS while maintaining external examiner roles at Newcastle University (2020-2026). His collaborative network spans UK, Germany, Belgium, Norway, and Australia with commissions from Scottish Ensemble, BBC Radio Scotland, and Theatre Cryptic. Current projects include METRIC intensive workshops in Helsinki (2025) and Antwerp (2024), focusing on international electroacoustic pedagogy development.

His studio practice involves custom computer-based sound processing environments for spatialized music creation, documented through releases on empreintes DIGITALes. Ongoing collaborations include vocalist Stephanie Lamprea and harpist Catriona McKay, with recent recordings like OTSEGO (2023) and Postcards (2023) available on Bandcamp.