Matthew McCullough

Matthew McCullough is a PhD candidate in Musicology and Analysis at Durham University's Department of Music. He is an Advisory Board Member of the Centre for Death and Life Studies and holds an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. His research focuses on British music of the 19th–20th centuries, particularly intersections of music with death, trauma, and memory. He is funded by the Van Mildert College Trust and has received awards including the British Music Society Essay Competition Prize (2019) and the NABMSA Travel Grant (2022).

McCullough teaches undergraduate harmony and counterpoint and has convened conferences on music and mortality. He has published analyses of Gerald Finzi and Arthur Bliss, edited works by Alan Gray, and contributed to Brill's Death in History, Culture, and Society series. His research spans manuscript editing, performance practice, and collaborative projects with academic and artistic communities.

• Education: BA & MA (Durham University; first-class honours and distinction)
• Grants: DCAD Fellowship, Music and Letters Trust Grant, RMA Oldman Grant
• Publications: Chapters in Embodying the Music and Death Nexus, articles in British Music and Religions
• Performance: Freelance musician, conductor of Durham University Chamber Choir, Lay Clerk at Newcastle Cathedral

His edited volumes with Routledge and Brill explore 19th-century mourning practices and British musical responses to conflict. McCullough actively collaborates with scholars and performers, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to music's cultural and existential dimensions.