Robert Bentall

Professor Robert Bentall is an Associate Professor of Sound Design, Composition, and Performance at Leeds College of Music. He specializes in electroacoustic music, genre hybridisation, and improvisation, blending folk traditions with avant-garde techniques. His work emphasizes the nyckelharpa, an 16-string Swedish instrument, alongside electronic sound design.

Education: BMus (University of Manchester, 2010), MMus (University of Sheffield, supervised by Dr. Adrian Moore), PhD (Queen’s University Belfast, Sonic Arts Research Centre, 2015). Key residencies include Stockholm’s Electronic Music Studios (2013) and Cryptic Arts/Cove Park (2017). He co-directs the Emergence Collective and performs in the free-folk duo Resonant Bodies.

Awards include the Santander Mobility Scholarship (2012), Franz Liszt Composition Prize finalist (2013), and Arts Council England funding (2020). Recent works include Flatlands (2025) and performances at Sonorities Festival.

Teaches modules in electroacoustic composition and supervises MA Music students. Active in theater sound design for companies like Knaïve Theatre and Impermanence.