Stephen Whittington

Mr Stephen Whittington

Senior Lecturer, Composition

Elder Conservatorium of Music

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD, but is currently at capacity - email supervisor to discuss availability.


My research includes non-traditional outputs - compositions, performances, public art works - as well as journal articles and book chapters. These stem from my broad musical interests in the performance of music (principally but not exclusively on the piano), modern and contemporary music, technology, and transcultural musical practices.

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor Gardens, Places, Spaces, and Music Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr John Francis Powell
    2023 Principal Supervisor Nationalism in Chinese Middle School Education Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mr Zhanhang Hu
    2023 Principal Supervisor How one can experience and enrich their understanding of Transcendentalism by the process of practicing and performing the works of Ives and Cage. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Esmond Choi
    2023 Co-Supervisor Sonic Transition: Exploring Anthropophonic Interaction Through Interdisciplinary Soundscape Composition Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alan Stephen Cook
    2023 Co-Supervisor Stasis and Flux: An investigation into ways a musician can move between stasis and flux while maintaining a coherent improvised performance using looping pedals Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Adam Page
    2023 Principal Supervisor A Qualitative Study of Teaching Musical Meter Through Ski-hill Graph Pedagogy Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Andrea Mary Calilhanna
    2023 Principal Supervisor Freedom Through Fantasies in the Piano Repertoire Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Shawn Hui
    2022 Principal Supervisor "Satie, Cocteau, Picasso and the circus: the collaboration of "Parade" (1917)" Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Cathy Lynette Duncan
    2022 Principal Supervisor The Temporal into the Eternal: the compositional system of Nikolai Obukhov Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Courtney Jayde Miller
    2022 Principal Supervisor The developing and application of a classification system for phonographic devices. Organising recording technology according to a systematic analysis of their fundamental capabilities and functions. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alexander Roy Mader
    2021 Principal Supervisor The Art of Dissonance: The Dissonance Line and Plagal Harmonic Structures in contrapuntal composition. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Kai Gerbi
    2020 Principal Supervisor Musical confluences of the Violin and Erhu in the 20th Century: A performance-led investigation of historically informed performance of Erhu repertoire and the expansion of Violin-Erhu transcription vocabulary Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Hong Jun Lester Wong
    2019 Co-Supervisor Performance challenges of left-handed bass playing on the jazz organ. A portfolio of recorded performances and exegesis Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mr Adam Lutley
  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)

    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2021 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Scordatura on the Classical Guitar: Implications for Practice and Performance Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Megan Anne Robson
    2020 - 2021 Co-Supervisor The Guitarist-Composer Pedagogue: An Exploration of Technical and Artistic Relationships Between Didactic and Concert Works. A portfolio of two 60-minute recitals and exegesis. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Caleb Edward Lavery-Brook
    2020 - 2022 Co-Supervisor A New Tonality: Synthetic chords and transpositional paths in piano sonatas 1, 2 and 5 by Nikolai A. Roslavets Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Courtney Jayde Miller
    2020 - 2021 Co-Supervisor The Application and Performance of Extended Techniques and Descriptive Score Annotations on Classical Guitar from 1970-2012: A Portfolio of Recorded Performances and Exegesis Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mrs Alexandra Lauren Shepherd
    2020 - 2023 Co-Supervisor Guitar Arrangements in Performance: An investigative study of the interrelationship between arranging and performing the music of J.S. Bach Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr James Benjamin Rawley
    2020 - 2022 Co-Supervisor The Idiophonic Guitar: A Taxonomy and Performance Guide to Percussive Effects in the Classical Guitar’s Solo Repertoire. A Portfolio of Recordings and Exegesis Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Emanuel Auciello
    2018 - 2022 Principal Supervisor Musical Conversations: Intertextuality in the piano music of Shostakovich as a basis for concert curation Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Yundi Yuan
    2018 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Virtual Music: Developing a System of Music Notation and Performance for Virtual Reality Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nathan Cummins
    2017 - 2019 Principal Supervisor The Infinite Lattice: a Compositional Exploration of Symmetrical Modes, Modes of Limited Transposition and Other Musical Parameters Generated by Low Prime Numbers Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Dylan Joshua Crismani
    2016 - 2021 Co-Supervisor Sounds in Space: A Portfolio of Spatial Music Works for VR Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Daniel James Pitman
    2016 - 2020 Co-Supervisor The Piano as Kolokola, Glocken and Cloches: performing and extending the European traditions of bell-inspired piano music. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Konstantin Shamray
    2016 - 2018 Co-Supervisor A Creative Application of Traditionalist Aesthetics to the Art of Musical Composition Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Thomas Jack Devereux
    2015 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Creative Performance and Play: A Synthesis of Audio, Visual and Narrative for Maximising Expressive Potentials in Gameplay Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Alexander James Thumm
    2015 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Video Game Acoustics: Perception-Based Sound Design for Interactive Virtual Spaces Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Benjamin Kym Probert
    2015 - 2016 Co-Supervisor The First Four Piano Sonatas by Nikolai Myaskovsky: Performing in Context Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Dr Konstantin Shamray
    2015 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Performing Chinese Contemporary Art Song: A Portfolio of Recordings and Exegesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Qing Chang
    2014 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Desiring Machines: Queering Interactions in Performance Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Daniel William Thorpe
    2013 - 2018 Co-Supervisor The Realization of Extended Performance Practices in Selected Works for Piano by Frederic Rzewski: A Portfolio of Recordings and Exegesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ashley Hribar
    2013 - 2015 Principal Supervisor Developing Methods for Predicting Affect in Algorithmic Composition Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Daniel James Pitman
    2012 - 2013 Co-Supervisor A New Modular Approach to the Composition of Film Music Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Bartlomiej Walus
    2012 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Ethnoclassicism in Guitar Chamber Music Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Oliver Fartach-Naini
    2012 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Rojak: A Study of Cultural Elements Assimilated in Selected Works of Malaysian Contemporary Composers (2001-2014) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Dr Peck Jin Gan
    2011 - 2017 Co-Supervisor Avant Garde or Rearguard? The Flute Music of Felix Werder.
    A Portfolio of Recording and Exegesis
    Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Melanie Anne Walters
    2011 - 2013 Co-Supervisor Collective Conceptualization - A Methodology for Contemporary Film Score Composers: A Portfolio of Compositions (Disposed as a Film Score) and Exegesis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Martyn Alan Love
    2011 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Orchestrating the Wasteland: sample library engineering as an integral process of realising the music for Wastelander Panda Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Christopher James Larkin
    2010 - 2013 Principal Supervisor The Influence of Bartok’s Approach to Keyboard Compositions on Contemporary Chinese Solo Piano Music: A Portfolio of Recorded Performances and Exegesis Master of Music Master Full Time Qiaoyue Zhao
    2009 - 2013 Co-Supervisor Berio's Sequenza in Performance and Context: A Contribution to the Australian Bassoon Repertory Synthesizing Extended Techniques into Newly Commissioned Works Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Mark Gaydon
    2009 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Divine Arcadian Technologies: A Cycle of Recorded Electronic Musical Works and Exegesis Master of Music Master Full Time Mr Scott Lawrence Simon
    2009 - 2012 Principal Supervisor Silent Film Music Composition in a Cross-Cultural Context Master of Music Master Full Time Mr Xiao Duo Guo
    2007 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Fanny Hensel and Clara Schumann: a Study through Performance of their Selected Piano Works Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Sock Siang Thia
    2006 - 2010 Co-Supervisor Still and Moving Lines: Listening and Signification in Sound Art Master of Music Master Part Time Mr Tristan Louth-Robins
    2005 - 2010 Co-Supervisor Portfolio of Original Compositions and Exegesis: To Fuse or to Confront - Five Compositions for Chinese Traditional and Western Orchestral Instruments Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mr Kin Yee Raymond Mok
    2004 - 2008 Principal Supervisor Portfolio of Compositions and Exegesis: Conflict and Resolution - Modelling Emergent Ensemble Dynamics Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time APrf Luke Harrald
  • Position: Senior Lecturer, Composition
  • Phone: 83133689
  • Email: stephen.whittington@adelaide.edu.au
  • Fax: 83134414
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Schulz, floor 9
  • Org Unit: Elder Conservatorium of Music

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