Robert Sholl

Robert Sholl is a Professor of Music at the University of West London, a Lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music, and an Assistant Organist at Arundel Cathedral. He is a researcher, writer, translator, performer, improviser (organ and piano), and Feldenkrais practitioner. His research focuses on 20th/21st-century music, critical theory, improvisation, artistic research, somatic techniques, music and spirituality, and film music. Sholl holds a Doctorate from King’s College London and studied organ in Melbourne and Paris. He has performed extensively in major venues like Notre-Dame de Paris and is part of the Global Hyperorgan project.

Education: Studied organ with Lindsay O’Neill (Melbourne) and Olivier Latry/Michel Fischer (Paris); piano with Mack Jost/Michael Brimer (Melbourne); analysis with Jacques Castérède (Paris) and at King’s College London with Daniel K.L. Chua, John Deathridge, Jonathan Dunsby, and Arnold Whittall.

Research Interests:

• Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Music
• Critical Theory
• Improvisation in Performance
• Feldenkrais Method
• Music and Psychoanalysis
• Film Music

Advising & Grants: Primary supervisor for six PhD students exploring topics like composition, film analysis, jazz improvisation, and post-Soviet music. Secondary supervisor for a study on spirituality in electronic music. Funded projects include a Knowledge Exchange initiative on silent film improvisation in schools.

Labs/Teams: Organized conferences at Southbank Centre; artistic director for the RCO London Forum (2019); examiner for the Royal College of Organists (RCO); council member of the Guild of Church Musicians.