22 February 2021
Christopher Wiley
Media, Public Output, Research
BBC Radio Surrey, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Dukes Court, Dukes Court Plaza, ethel smyth, feminism, gender studies, interview, Lesley McCabe, LGBT History Month, live interview, media, Music, musicology, North Surrey, radio, research, suffragettes, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, women's enfranchisement, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley was interviewed live on BBC Radio Surrey for the ‘Breakfast on BBC Radio Surrey’ show presented by Lesley McCabe (pictured) on Monday 22 February 2021.
Dr Wiley was interviewed as an expert on Dame Ethel Smyth, who is due to be recognized in her home town of Woking with a statue as part of the development works for Dukes Court Plaza.
The full interview is available on BBC iPlayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p096gmrr (listen from 1.23.38-1.26.24)
Dr Wiley was previously interviewed on BBC Radio Surrey in 2018, in connection with the centenary of many women receiving the parliamentary vote in the UK.
10 November 2020
Christopher Wiley
Media, Publication, Research
A Chorus Line, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, film music, film musicals, Les Misérables, Mamma mia!, media, Music, musical theatre, musicals, musicology, Netflix, stage, Surrey, The Conversation, The Conversation UK, The Prom, theatre, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley contributed an article to The Conversation (by invitation) on film adaptations of stage musicals, published on 10 November 2020.
Entitled ‘The Prom: the challenges of adapting the stage to the screen’, Dr Wiley’s article was prompted by the upcoming release of the film adaptation of the musical The Prom on Netflix on 11 December 2020, while also discussing other examples such as A Chorus Line, Mamma mia!, and Cats.
This is the third time that Dr Wiley has written for The Conversation, his other articles being a piece on the 30th anniversary of the musical Les Misérables, and a scholarly response to Stephen Fry. Collectively these have received some 8,000 hits to date.
Founded in Australia in 2011 and launched in the UK in 2013, The Conversation is an independent global news website featuring stories and opinions from the scholarly community. The University of Surrey is one of its 13 founding UK partners.
Bibliographic citation
Wiley, Christopher. ‘The Prom: the challenges of adapting the stage to the screen’. The Conversation, 10 November 2020. <https://theconversation.com/the-prom-the-challenges-of-adapting-the-stage-to-the-screen-149783>.
30 June 2020
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Publication, Research
Annie Yim, artists, arts, biography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, contemporary artists, creative practice, Dance, film, Guildford, Ian Pace, IAS, Institute of Advanced Studies, life-writing, literature, literature and music, Music, music and literature, musical biography, musicology, practice as research, research, Surrey, theatre, University, University of Surrey, visual arts, Wiley, writing
Dr Christopher Wiley has edited, together with Dr Ian Pace, a new book entitled Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists: Challenges, Practices, and Complexities, published by Palgrave Macmillan and encompassing music, literature, dance, theatre and the visual arts.
Developed from a conference held at the University of Surrey in 2017, the volume includes contributions by Joel Baldwin, Richard Birchall, Jill Brown, Miriam Cabell and Phoebe Stubbs, Vered Engelhard, Christopher Leedham and Martin Scheuregger, Ian Pace, Andy W. Smith, Joanne ‘Bob’ Whalley, Christopher Wiley, Annie Yim, and Lorraine York.
Dr Wiley has co-authored two chapters in the collection: the editorial introduction, ‘Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists’, with Ian Pace; and the chapter ‘MusicArt: Creating Dialogues Across the Arts’, in conversation with Dr Annie Yim.
For further information, and to purchase the book: https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9783030392321
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/3030392325
Bibliographic citation
Wiley, Christopher and Ian Pace (eds.). Researching and Writing on Contemporary Art and Artists: Challenges, Practices, and Complexities. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. ISBN 978-3-030-39232-1, 978-3-030-39233-8 (eBook). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39233-8
Full text
The full text of the editorial introduction is available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/857053/
18 June 2020
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
autoethnography, composition, conference, creative practice, education, ethnomusicology, Glasgow, Iain Findlay-Walsh, Music, musicology, Peter Gouzouasis, popular music studies, practice as research, presentation, research, songwriting, sonic autoethnography, Surrey, teaching, University, University of Glasgow, University of Surrey
Dr Christopher Wiley has co-organized, with Dr Iain Findlay-Walsh, a major two-day conference entitled ‘The Autoethnography of Composition and the Composition of Autoethnography’, held on 17–18 June 2020.
Hosted online by the University of Glasgow and the University of Surrey, the event brought together over 250 delegates from across the globe. It featured Professor Peter Gouzouasis as keynote speaker, multiple panel sessions (one of which was chaired by Dr Wiley), and a concluding roundtable discussion (including Dr Wiley as co-chair and speaker).
Click here to download the Conference Programme: Conference brochure PDF
For the video recording of the conference, please contact Dr Wiley directly.
The event followed a previous two-day international conference on music and autoethnography held at the Institute of Musical Research, London in April 2018.
For additional information and the call for papers (now closed): https://goldenpages.jpehs.co.uk/2019/12/09/the-autoethnography-of-composition-and-the-composition-of-autoethnography/
9 January 2020
Christopher Wiley
Media, Publication, Research
Australia, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Composer of the Month, ethel smyth, Limelight, Limelight magazine, magazine, Music, music history, musicology, opera, research, suffragette, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed an article on Ethel Smyth for the January/February 2020 issue of Limelight, Australia’s classical music and arts magazine, for its ‘Composer of the Month’ feature.
In the four-page article (pp. 76–79), Dr Wiley introduces Smyth to the readers, discussing her life story as well as drawing attention to salient features of her musical works.
21 November 2019
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Byfleet, Byfleet Heritage Society, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a talk entitled ‘Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), Composer, Author, Suffragette, and Surrey Resident’ for Byfleet Heritage Society at St Mary’s Centre for the Community, Byfleet on Thursday 21 November 2019.
Speaking to an audience of some 50 society members, Dr Wiley introduced Smyth’s life, music, and connections to the local area, in a 50-minute talk illustrated with musical excerpts.
An acknowledged expert on Smyth, Dr Wiley has previously given many talks on the composer, writer, and suffragette including those for Woking Historical Society, Guildford Hard of Hearing Support Group, and at Smyth’s childhood home in Frimley Green.
15 November 2019
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research
ballads, Berkeley Ensemble, booklet, CD, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Elizabeth Marcus, ethel smyth, Fête Galante, liner notes, Lucy Stevens, Music, musicology, Odaline de la Martinez, opera, Publication, research, Retrospect Opera, SOMM, songs, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Valerie Langfield, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has co-written, with Dr Valerie Langfield, an essay published in the accompanying booklet to Retrospect Opera’s new CD of Ethel Smyth’s Fête Galante, entitled ‘Fête Galante: Ethel Smyth’s Neoclassical Dance-Opera’. He also contributed the work’s synopsis.
The disc represents the first recording of Smyth’s opera Fête Galante, conducted by Odaline de la Martinez. It also includes Liza Lehmann’s recitation The Happy Prince, recorded at the University of Surrey (Dr Wiley arranged and helped out with the recording sessions), together with some historical transfers of recordings of Smyth’s operas made during her lifetime.
This is the seventh CD release by Retrospect Opera, for whom Dr Wiley serves as one of four Trustees. Dr Wiley previously wrote essays for the liner notes to Retrospect Opera’s releases of Smyth’s operas The Boatswain’s Mate and The Wreckers.
For further information, and to buy the CD: https://retrospectopera.org.uk/SMYTH/FeteG.html
Full text
The full texts of both Dr Wiley’s synopsis and co-written essay are available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: https://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/853063/
Update: Dr Wiley has also co-written, with Lucy Stevens and Odaline de la Martinez, the liner notes for the CD Dame Ethel Smyth: Songs and Ballads (SOMM 2020), featuring Lucy Stevens (contralto), Elizabeth Marcus (piano), and the Berkeley Ensemble conducted by Odaline de la Martinez. Further information: https://www.somm-recordings.com/recording/dame-ethel-smyth-songs-and-ballads/
27 October 2019
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Publication, Research
Bach, biography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, historiography, history, J. S. Bach, JMR, Journal of Musicological Research, literature, literature and music, Marchand, Music, music and literature, music history, musical biography, musicology, myth, mythology, Paul Watt, research, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has guest-edited a special double-issue of the Journal of Musicological Research together with co-editor Dr Paul Watt (Monash University, Melbourne).
Entitled ‘Musical Biography: Myth, Ideology, and Narrative’, the special issue comprises Vol. 38, Nos. 3–4 of the journal, and developed originally from a conference on musical biography co-organized by the editors in 2015.
The special issue includes articles by a wide range of international scholars: Kirsty Asmussen, Anna Maria Barry, Joanne Cormac, Uri Golomb and Ronit Seter, Markéta Kratochvílová, Emily MacGregor, Richard Parfitt, Paul Watt, and Christopher Wiley.
Dr Wiley’s contribution to the special issue includes his 10,000-word article, ‘Myth-Making and the Politics of Nationality in Narratives of J.S. Bach’s 1717 Contest with Louis Marchand’ (pp. 193–215), which examines the widely divergent writing on a single biographical episode across the countries and centuries (see abstract here).
Dr Wiley and Dr Watt also co-authored an introductory article, ‘Musical Biography in the Musicological Arena’ (pp. 187–92), in which they reflect on the current status of musical biography within the discipline of musicology.
The full table of contents for the special issue is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/gmur20/38/3-4
Bibliographic citations
Wiley, Christopher and Watt, Paul (eds.). ‘Musical Biography: Myth, Ideology, and Narrative’, Journal of Musicological Research, Special Issue, Vol. 38, Nos. 3–4 (2019).
Wiley, Christopher and Watt, Paul. ‘Musical Biography in the Musicological Arena’, Journal of Musicological Research, Vol. 38, Nos. 3–4 (2019), pp. 187–92. doi: 10.1080/01411896.2019.1644140
Wiley, Christopher. ‘Myth-Making and the Politics of Nationality in Narratives of J.S. Bach’s 1717 Contest with Louis Marchand’, Journal of Musicological Research, Vol. 38, Nos. 3–4 (2019), pp. 193–215. doi: 10.1080/01411896.2019.1644141
12 September 2019
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
annual conference, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, critical self-reflection, Darla Crispin, Esther Cavett, Ian Pace, Manchester, Music, music studies, musicology, research, RMA, RNCM, roundtable, Royal Musical Association, Royal Northern College of Music, self-reflection, Surrey, University, University of Manchester, University of Surrey
Dr Christopher Wiley has chaired and presented at a roundtable discussion at the 55th Annual Conference of the Royal Musical Association, hosted by the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music on 11–13 September 2019.
Entitled ‘What is the place for storytelling in academia? Autoethnography, critical self-reflection, and arts-based practice in music studies’, the roundtable was held in the Carole Nash Recital Room at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was attended by some 50 music scholars representing a wide range of institutions internationally.
The 90-minute roundtable included Dr Wiley’s paper ‘Stories of the self(s) in music studies: method, self-reflexivity, and narrative enquiry’, in which he discussed the potential applications of autoethnography to the discipline of music as well as criticisms that the methodology has elicited, alongside presentations by fellow panellists Esther Cavett, Ian Pace, and Darla M. Crispin.
The conference website is located here: https://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/music/connect/events/rma2019/
The full programme may be downloaded here: https://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/music/connect/events/rma2019/programme/
30 July 2019
Christopher Wiley
Educational Research, Publication, Research, Research Supervision
ACT journal, arts, autobiography, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, creative art, creative arts, creative writing, education, ethnodrama, Higher Education, MayDay Group, Music, music studies, Peter Gouzouasis, research, research supervision, Surrey, teaching, University, University of Surrey
Dr Christopher Wiley ha
s published an article in a special issue of Action, Criticism, and Theory in Music Education (the refereed journal of the MayDay Group) on autoethnography and related methodologies, guest-edited by Peter Gouzouasis.
Entitled ‘Autoethnography, Autobiography, and Creative Art as Academic Research in Music Studies: A Fugal Ethnodrama’, the article is written creatively as an imagined dialogue between Dr Wiley and two fictional doctoral students, constructed according to the principles of fugue.
In successive sections, it discusses the application of autoethnography to music studies, the difference between autoethnography and autobiography, and the types of materials that represent valid sources for autoethnography, including creative writing as well as musical works themselves.
Dr Wiley’s article may be read online in HTML format here: http://act.maydaygroup.org/act-18-2-wiley/
It may be downloaded as a PDF here: http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Wiley18_2.pdf
The full issue of the journal may be accessed here: http://act.maydaygroup.org/volume-18-issue-2/
31 May 2019
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research
Cambridge, Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia, Caryl Clark, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, encyclopedia, Haydn, Joseph Haydn, Music, music reception, musical biography, musicology, Publication, reception history, Sarah Day-O’Connell, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has written the entry on ‘Contemporary Reception’ in the Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia, edited by Caryl Clark and Sarah Day-O’Connell.
The Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia features over 80 interlocking entries fanning out from seven extended essays at the heart of the volume, and includes a total of 67 contributors.
Dr Wiley’s 1500-word encyclopedia entry discusses Haydn’s reception during his lifetime and immediately afterwards, including the earliest biographies by Griesinger, Dies, and Carpani.
Dr Wiley previously contributed to Haydn scholarship in a major volume on the composer published in 2013.
Further information on the volume may be found at the publisher’s website: https://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/music/eighteenth-century-music/cambridge-haydn-encyclopedia
Bibliographic citation
Wiley, Christopher. ‘Reception, Contemporary’, in Caryl Clark and Sarah Day-O’Connell eds. Cambridge Haydn Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp. 321–5. ISBN 978-1-1071-2901-6.
3 April 2019
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Teaching
assessment, BMus, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, discussion forum, education, educational research, Higher Education, learning, Music, Music Project, musical theatre, panel discussion, presentation, student-staff partnerships, students as partners, Surrey, Surrey ExciTeS, teaching, teaching innovation, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley facilitated a student discussion panel at the University of Surrey’s sixth annual Surrey ExciTeS (Excellence in Teaching Symposium) on Wednesday 3 April 2019, on the subject of student-staff partnerships.
The forum, entitled ‘Giving music students ownership of their learning’, discussed the Music Project module that had taken place during the previous semester on the theme of musical theatre, and the wide range of activities that students undertook in their assessments, from performances to compositions to organizational roles.
The panel of undergraduate Music students – Diana Nemyrovska, Katy Jackson, Heather Neele, and Edward Bellett-Travers (pictured, l-r) – answered questions from academics and learning support staff from across the University.
Dr Wiley has delivered sessions at Surrey ExciTeS events in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014, including a previous student discussion panel in 2017.
6 February 2019
Christopher Wiley
Colloquium, Presentation, Research
Cambridge, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, colloquia, colloquium, colloquium series, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, Faculty of Music, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, opera, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, University, University of Cambridge, University of Surrey, W.W. Jacobs, Wiley, women's history, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley presented a 45-minute version of his paper ‘Reconsidering Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate as Feminist Opera’ in the Faculty of Music Colloquium Series at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Wiley’s talk, given to an audience of some 40 academics and graduate students in the Faculty’s lecture room, was a much extended version of the paper he has delivered at women’s history events at UK universities including Kent, Portsmouth, Surrey, Royal Holloway, and Edge Hill.
Dr Wiley previously gave an unrelated paper in an Oxbridge colloquium series in 2015.
Further information about Dr Wiley’s colloquium may be found here: https://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/events/current-events/Christopher-Wiley
8 December 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, community, community workshop, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Kent, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, opera, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, University, University of Kent, University of Surrey, W.W. Jacobs, Wiley, women's history, women's suffrage, workshop
Dr Christopher Wiley has spoken at the ‘100+ years of the women’s movement in Kent, Sussex, and Surrey’ community workshop held in the Tonbridge Centre at the University of Kent on Saturday 8 December 2018.
Dr Wiley’s paper, entitled ‘Ethel Smyth, Music, and the Suffragette Movement: Reconsidering The Boatswain’s Mate as Feminist Opera’, had previously been presented at UK universities including Portsmouth, Surrey, Royal Holloway, and Edge Hill. The day ended, rather fittingly, with an impromptu rendition of Smyth’s ‘The March of the Women’.
The full programme for the workshop may be found at the following link: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/womenshistorykent/programme-of-community-workshop-on-8th-december/
25 November 2018
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research
A Furious Longing, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, Frimley Green, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Grasp The Nettle, Hook Heath, journal, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, WCPA, WHN, Wiley, Woking, Woking Community Play Association, women's history, Women's History journal, Women's History Network, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed two articles to the latest issue of Women’s History, the journal of the Women’s History Network.
The special double-issue, ‘1918-2018’, was dedicated to the women’s suffrage movement in the centenary year of women gaining the parliamentary vote in the UK, and features essays by a range of leading scholars of women’s history.
Dr Wiley’s first article, ‘Ethel Smyth, Suffrage and Surrey: From Frimley Green to Hook Heath, Woking’, combines women’s history and local history in order to illustrate how the suffragette campaign was highly dependent on rural locations through the example of Ethel Smyth.
His other article is ‘A Fresh Start and Two (More) Portraits: Theatrical Shows on the Life and Work of Ethel Smyth for 2018’, a review-article of Ethel Smyth: Grasp the Nettle and Ethel Smyth: A Furious Longing (the latter having been co-written by Dr Wiley).
Further information on the journal special issue is available here: https://womenshistorynetwork.org/womens-history-autumn-2018/
Bibliographic citations
Wiley, Christopher. ‘Ethel Smyth, Suffrage and Surrey: From Frimley Green to Hook Heath, Woking’, Women’s History: The Journal of the Women’s History Network, Vol. 2, No. 11 (Autumn 2018), pp. 11–18.
Wiley, Christopher. ‘A Fresh Start and Two (More) Portraits: Theatrical Shows on the Life and Work of Ethel Smyth for 2018’, Women’s History: The Journal of the Women’s History Network, Vol. 2, No. 11 (Autumn 2018), pp. 39–40.
Full texts
The full texts are available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/849970/ and http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/849971/
15 November 2018
Christopher Wiley
Public Output, Publication, Research
Barbican, Barbican Centre, BBC, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, concert, ethel smyth, London, Mass in D, Music, music history, musicology, performance, suffragette, Surrey, The Barbican, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has written programme notes for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus concert at The Barbican, London (pictured) on Thursday 15 November 2018.
Dr Wiley contributed programme notes for Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D as well as a biographical profile of the composer.
Dr Wiley previously wrote programme notes for a BBC Proms concert featuring Smyth’s music in August of this year.
The concert presented Smyth’s Mass in D alongside Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 (original version).
Further information on the event may be found here: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2018/event/bbc-sobrabbins-ethel-smyth-mass-in-d
3 November 2018
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, London, London Oriana Choir, Mass in D, Meridian Sinfonia, Music, music history, Southwark Cathedral, Surrey, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has given a pre-concert talk on Ethel Smyth for a performance of the composer’s Mass in D in Southwark Cathedral, London (pictured) on Saturday 3 November 2018.
In the 15-minute talk, Dr Wiley addressed some 150 audience members in the Cathedral’s transepts.
The concert, by the London Oriana Choir and Meridian Sinfonia, presented Smyth’s Mass in D alongside J.S. Bach’s Magnificat.
The listing for the concert may be found here: https://www.londonoriana.com/past-performances
Further information on the concert is available here: https://www.planethugill.com/2018/10/ethel-smyths-mass-in-g-at-southwark.html
4 October 2018
Christopher Wiley
Performance, Public Output, Research
A Furious Longing, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, community play, ethel smyth, historical adviser, Music, music history, opera, play, scriptwriting, suffragette, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, The Wreckers, University of Surrey, Virginia Woolf, WCPA, Wiley, Woking, Woking Community Play Association
Dr Christopher Wiley has acted as historical adviser as well as one of the team of scriptwriters for the community play Ethel Smyth: A Furious Longing – The Story of Woking’s Composer.
Several years in the planning, the play was performed by Woking Community Play Association from Thursday 4–Saturday 6 October 2018 at the H.G. Wells Centre, Woking.
Dr Wiley was one of five scriptwriters who collaborated on the 90-minute play, as well as advising on its historical and musical elements.
Dr Wiley’s contributions to the script drew directly on his research on Ethel Smyth, including her involvement with the suffragette movement, her operas The Wreckers and The Boatswain’s Mate, and her relationship with the writer Virginia Woolf.
15 September 2018
Christopher Wiley
Media, Presentation, Public Output, Research
ATD Fourth World, blue plaque, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Frimhurst, Frimhurst Family House, Frimley Green, Heritage Open Days, HOD, media, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, television, That’s Surrey TV, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has given a talk on Ethel Smyth at her childhood home, Frimhurst Family House, Frimley Green, on Saturday 15 September 2018.
The event was organised for Heritage Open Days by Surrey Heath Museum and the charity ATD Fourth World, which now operates at Frimhurst Family House.
It marked the unveiling of blue plaques commemorating both Smyth and the philanthropist Grace Goodman, who transformed the house into its present function as recuperative facility for families in extreme poverty.
An acknowledged expert on Smyth, Dr Wiley previously gave a talk at Frimhurst Family House on the composer and suffragette back in 2016.
Further information on the event is available here: https://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/residents/surrey-heath-museum/museum-events/heritage-open-days-surrey-heath
Update: The following weekend, on Saturday 22 September, Dr Wiley attended a private ceremony (pictured, above) at which a blue plaque was unveiled at Smyth’s former house in Woking.
Dr Wiley’s interview about the event for That’s Surrey TV may be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiBN2ZXVPz0
Media coverage may also be found at the following link: http://surreyresidents.co.uk/2018/09/24/blue-plaque-marks-the-duchess-of-wokings-former-home/
As well as on Woking Borough Council’s website: https://www.woking.gov.uk/news/blue-plaque-marks-duchess-woking%E2%80%99s-former-home
14 September 2018
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Farham, Farnham Maltings, Heritage Open Days, HOD, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a talk on Ethel Smyth in the Cellar Bar at Farnham Maltings as part of the annual programme of Heritage Open Days on Friday 14 September 2018.
Speaking to an audience of over 50 people, Dr Wiley discussed Smyth’s music, literature, and activity as a suffragette, illustrating his presentation with music examples.
Further information about Dr Wiley’s talk may be found at the following link: https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/dame-ethel-smyth-composer-and-suffragette
Media coverage of the Heritage Open Days activities taking place in the local area may be viewed online here: http://www.farnhamherald.com/article.cfm?id=129364, http://www.farnhamherald.com/article.cfm?id=129629
3 September 2018
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, Woking History Society, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley gave a talk on Ethel Smyth for Woking History Society in The Gallery at Christ Church Woking on Monday 3 September 2018.
Addressing over 50 audience members, Dr Wiley’s hour-long presentation discussed Smyth’s activity as composer, author, suffragette, and, for the last several decades of her life, a Woking resident.
Dr Wiley previously spoke about Ethel Smyth at The Lightbox, Woking for International Women’s Day earlier in the year, as well as hosting and performing in a concert of Smyth’s music at Christ Church Woking in 2014, to mark the 70th anniversary of her death.
1 September 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
annual conference, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, opera, Portsmouth, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, University, University of Portsmouth, University of Surrey, W.W. Jacobs, WHN, Wiley, women's history, Women's History Network, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley was among the many speakers who presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the Women’s History Network, held at the University of Portsmouth on Friday 31 August–Saturday 1 September 2018.
Entitled ‘The Campaign for Women’s Suffrage: National and International Perspectives’, the conference attracted a large delegation of scholars of women’s history internationally.
Dr Wiley’s paper, ‘Ethel Smyth, Music, and the Suffragette Movement: Reconsidering The Boatswain’s Mate as Feminist Opera’, was presented in one of the conference’s parallel sessions to an audience of some 25 academics.
Dr Wiley considered the extent to which Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate might be considered a feminist opera, with reference to the composer’s suffragette activity, the story on which the work was based, and her creative process, including her adaptation of pre-existing music in the score.
Dr Wiley has presented previous versions of his paper at several other UK universities including Surrey, Royal Holloway, and Edge Hill.
The conference website is here: http://www2.port.ac.uk/centre-for-european-and-international-studies-research/events/womens-suffrage-2018/
The complete programme for the event is available for download here: http://www2.port.ac.uk/media/contacts-and-departments/ceisr/events/Suffrage-Conference-2018.pdf
28 August 2018
Christopher Wiley
Media, Public Output, Research
broadcast, Cathrine Winnes, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, interview, Music, music history, musicology, research, Surrey, Sveriges Television, SVT, Swedish Television, television, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, women composers
Dr Christopher Wiley has been interviewed for Sveriges Television (SVT) as part of a mini-series of half-hour programmes focusing on orchestral music composed by women.
Talking about Ethel Smyth, Dr Wiley was filmed in conversation with the acclaimed Norwegian conductor, Cathrine Winnes.
Filming took place on Tuesday 28 August 2018 both in Dr Wiley’s office, and on location at Smyth’s former home in Woking.
This television appearance evidences Dr Wiley’s reputation as an internationally leading researcher on Smyth, and follows his previous interviews on Smyth for radio and television earlier in the year.
The television series is due to be broadcast in Sweden in early 2019.
1 August 2018
Christopher Wiley
Public Output, Publication, Research
Albert Hall, BBC, BBC Proms, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, London, Music, On the Cliffs of Cornwall, opera, Proms, Royal Albert Hall, suffragette, Surrey, The Proms, The Wreckers, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has contributed notes to the programme for The BBC Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London (pictured) on Wednesday 1 August 2018.
Prom 24, ‘A Hero’s Life’, presented Ethel Smyth’s ‘On the Cliffs of Cornwall’ (Prelude to Act 2 of her opera The Wreckers), as well as Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and Richard Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben.
As an internationally leading researcher on Ethel Smyth, Dr Wiley was invited to write programme notes for ‘On the Cliffs of Cornwall’ as well as a brief biographical profile for the composer.
A regular fixture at The Proms during her own lifetime, Smyth’s ‘On the Cliffs of Cornwall’ was programmed for the 2018 season mindful of the composer’s period of activity as a leading suffragette, in the centenary year of many women receiving the parliamentary vote in the UK for the first time.
30 June 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Media, Presentation, Research
#Emilymatters, Amy Zigler, arts, BAVS, British Association for Victorian Studies, BVAS, Charlotte Mathieson, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Elizabeth Crawford, Emily Davison, Emily Wilding Davison, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, FWSA, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Grasp The Nettle, Jacqueline Mulhallen, Kate Willoughby, literature, Lucy Ella Rose, Lucy Stevens, Lynx Theatre, Lynx Theatre and Poetry, Music, music and literature, musicology, opera, presentation, research, School of Literature and Languages, SLL, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, Sylvia, Sylvia Pankhurst, The Boatswain's Mate, The Feminist and Women’s Studies Association, University, University of Surrey, W.W. Jacobs, Wiley, women's history, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley served as one of three conference co-chairs for the two-day international conference ‘Centennial Reflections on Women’s Suffrage and the Arts – Local : National : Transnational’ held at the University of Surrey on 29-30 June 2018, together with two colleagues from the University’s School of Literature and Languages, Dr Charlotte Mathieson (pictured with Dr Wiley, right) and Dr Lucy Ella Rose.
The conference incorporated more than 25 papers including Dr Wiley’s own ‘Ethel Smyth, Music, and the Suffragette Movement: Reconsidering The Boatswain’s Mate as Feminist Opera’, which he had previously given at Edge Hill University earlier in the year. The panel on which he spoke, ‘Women’s Suffrage in/and Music’, led to an animated question and answer session (pictured, left).
Dr Wiley also convened and participated in a roundtable discussion (pictured, right) featuring three professional actresses who have recently developed shows on themes of women’s suffrage, Jacqueline Mulhallen (Sylvia, based on Sylvia Pankhurst), Lucy Stevens (Grasp The Nettle, on Ethel Smyth), and Kate Willoughby (#Emilymatters, a social media campaign inspired by Emily Wilding Davison), all of whom performed extracts from their plays as part of the conference.
Finally, Dr Wiley chaired a session on ‘Ethel Smyth, Suffrage, and Transnationality’, drawing on his reputation as an acknowledged expert on the composer, and was privileged to introduce Keynote speaker Elizabeth Crawford (pictured, left), who had been awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List earlier in the month for services to education in relation to women’s history.
The event attracted more than 40 delegates (pictured, below), with speakers ranging from University of Surrey academics and postgraduate researchers to museum-based archivists to international scholars from the UK, Continental Europe, and North America representing the disciplines of literature, music, film, and the visual arts.
The conference organizers gratefully acknowledge the support of the School of Literature and Languages at the University of Surrey; The British Association for Victorian Studies; and The Feminist and Women’s Studies Association UK & Ireland.
Further information may be found at the conference website: https://suffragecentennial.wordpress.com/
The full programme, including abstracts, is available here: https://suffragecentennial.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/suffrage-conference-programme-2018.pdf
Update: A news piece on the conference has appeared on the the University of Surrey’s website: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/surreys-centennial-reflection-womens-suffrage-and-arts
Several postgraduate research students have contributed reviews to the conference website: https://suffragecentennial.wordpress.com/reviews/
See also the reviews on the School of Literature and Language’s website: http://blogs.surrey.ac.uk/english/2018/08/02/looking-back-at-centennial-reflections-on-womens-suffrage-and-the-arts-local-national-transnational/
Update: An article co-authored by Dr Wiley and Dr Amy Zigler, entitled ‘The Suffragette Movement and the Music of Ethel Smyth: The String Quartet and The Boatswain’s Mate’, is available on the Exploring Surrey’s Past website: https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/womens-suffrage/suffrage-biographies/dame-ethel-smyth-composer-and-suffragette/the-suffragette-movement-and-the-music-of-ethel-smyth-the-string-quartet-and-the-boatswains-mate/
20 June 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
anecdote, biographical anecdote, biography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, history, life-writing, Music, music and literature, music history, musical biography, musicology, narrative, Nottingham, presentation, public history, research, Surrey, University, University of Nottingham, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has presented a paper at the multi-disciplinary conference ‘Biography and Public History: Constructing Historical Narratives through Life-Writing’, held in the Department of Music at the University of Nottingham on Wednesday 20 June 2018.
Dr Wiley’s paper, ‘Anecdote as a Genre in Musical Biography’, drew primarily on his recent research on Victorian life-writing, while also discussing the foundational role of anecdote within musical biography from its advent at the turn of the nineteenth century onwards.
Proposing that biographical anecdote warrants recognition as a genre in its own right given its extraordinary staying power and the sophisticated narratives that developed around specific examples, Dr Wiley demonstrated its potential to contribute to a greater understanding of associated culture through the recounting of stories of its most cherished figures.
The one-day conference was attended by some 50 international delegates. Dr Wiley also chaired the opening session, which featured papers on archaeology, buildings architecture, and literature.
Further information may be found at the conference webpage: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/conference/fac-arts/humanities/music/biography-and-public-history/biography-and-public-history.aspx
The full conference programme is available online here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/humanities/departments/music/documents/2018/final-programme.pdf
15 June 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
autobiography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, ethel smyth, history, literature, Master Musicians series, memoirs, Mozart, Music, music and literature, music history, music reception, musical biography, musicology, Napier, presentation, Requiem, research, Scotland, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has delivered a paper on musical biography at the ‘Music and Literature: Innovations, Intersections, and Interpretations’ conference hosted at Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland on 14-15 June 2018.
Entitled ‘Musical biography and the (non-)consonance of music and literature’, Dr Wiley’s paper revealed how biographical narratives might actually contradict the evidence of the music itself, or they may represent an appropriation of specific works for a given time and place, or function to promote them within wider reading communities who may otherwise be unfamiliar with that music.
Dr Wiley drew case studies from his wider research conducted over the years on musical biography, including the apocryphal story of Mozart’s Requiem, the earliest 12 volumes of the ‘Master Musicians’ series, and Ethel Smyth’s autobiographies. The two-day conference was attended by some 50 delegates.
Further information may be found at the conference website: https://musicandliteratureconference.wordpress.com/
The full programme for the event is available online here: https://musicandliteratureconference.wordpress.com/programme/
13 June 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Research
Bedford Centre, Bedford Centre for the History of Women, Bedford Centre for the History of Women and Gender, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, educational research, Egham, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, gender and sexuality, gender studies, Higher Education, London, Music, music and literature, musicology, opera, presentation, research, Royal Holloway, Royal Holloway University of London, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, University, University of London, University of Surrey, Wiley, women's history, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has addressed the ‘Education, College Women, and Suffrage: International Perspectives’ conference held at his alma mater, Royal Holloway, University of London, on 13–14 June 2018.
Dr Wiley’s paper, ‘Gender Studies and Multi-Disciplinary Teaching: A Case Study of Ethel Smyth, Music, and the Suffragette Movement’, discussed the challenges presented by the delivery of tuition in gender studies within higher education contexts given the necessarily interdisciplinary nature of the field.
Presenting to an audience that itself encompassed a wide variety of different arts disciplines and educational backgrounds, Dr Wiley illustrated his arguments by drawing on his current research on the relationship between Ethel Smyth, her suffrage activity, and her opera The Boatswain’s Mate.
Organized by The Bedford Centre for the History of Women and Gender at Royal Holloway in conjunction with the Centre for the History of Women’s Education at the University of Winchester, the two-day conference attracted some 60 delegates.
Further information is available at the conference website: https://educationcollegewomenandsuffrage.wordpress.com/
The full programme may be viewed online here: https://educationcollegewomenandsuffrage.wordpress.com/programme/
8 June 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Research, Teaching
Adele, Adele Adkins, autoethnography, Canada, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, course design, curriculum design, Don Wright Faculty of Music, education, educational research, Higher Education, learning and teaching, London, module, Music, musicology, Ontario, popular music, popular music education, popular music studies, presentation, progressive methods, research, Surrey, symposium, teaching, teaching innovation, teaching practice, undergraduate, University, University of Surrey, Western University, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley addressed the inaugural ‘Progressive Methods in Popular Music Education’ Symposium at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, on Friday 8 June 2018, presenting remotely via video-conference link from his office at the University of Surrey.
Dr Wiley’s paper, ‘From Research-led Teaching to Teaching-led Research: Keeping Curricula Contemporary in Higher Education Popular Music’, discussed the relationship between teaching and research in twenty-first-century UK higher education, with specific reference to his delivery of an undergraduate module on Adele’s 25 album.
A previous version of his presentation had been given at an international conference at the Institute of Musical Research, London (UK) in April 2018, focussing on the use of autoethnography as the principal methodology for the study rather than (as at this conference) on the pedagogy of popular music education and the curriculum design itself.
The two-day Symposium was hosted by the Don Wright Faculty of Music, concurrently with MayDay Group Colloquium 30. Together, the two events attracted a diverse line-up of presenters as well as over 100 registered delegates.
Further information about the ‘Progressive Methods in Popular Music Education’ Symposium is available online: http://www.music.uwo.ca/outreach/symposium-on-progressive-methods.html
The conference programme may be downloaded here: http://www.music.uwo.ca/outreach/images-pdf/mayday-progressive-methods-conference-program-2018.pdf
And presenter abstracts and biographies are available here: http://www.music.uwo.ca/outreach/images-pdf/PM-Abstracts-Fri.pdf
21 April 2018
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
annual symposium, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, local history, Music, music and literature, musical biography, musicology, opera, presentation, research, suffragette, Surrey, Surrey Archaeological Society, Surrey Heath, Surrey History Centre, Surrey Local History Committee, Surrey Local History symposium, symposium, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a talk entitled ‘Dame Ethel Smyth, Ground-breaking Composer, Writer, and Suffragette’ at the Annual Symposium of Surrey Local History Committee on Saturday 21 April 2018.
The one-day symposium, whose theme was ‘The Changing Role of Women’, featured presentations from five speakers who work in areas of local history. Organized by a committee of Surrey Archaeological Society, the event was held at Surrey History Centre, Woking, and attracted around 40 audience members from across the county.
In addition to his internationally recognized academic research, Dr Wiley has previously spoken on Ethel Smyth at a range of local history events in the Surrey area, including talks at The Lightbox, Woking, The Guildford Institute, and at Smyth’s childhood home in Frimley Green.
The programme for the Surrey Local History Symposium is available at the following links:
Surrey History Centre – https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/heritage-culture-and-recreation/archives-and-history/surrey-history-centre/heritage-events
Surrey Archeological Society – https://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/changing-role-of-women-surrey-local-history-symposium
Celebrate Woking – https://www.celebratewoking.info/events/annual-symposium-changing-role-of-women
17 April 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Research
25, Adele, Adele Adkins, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, course design, curriculum design, education, educational research, Higher Education, Institute of Musical Research, learning and teaching, London, module, Music, musicology, popular music, popular music studies, presentation, research, Surrey, teaching, teaching innovation, teaching practice, undergraduate, University, University of London, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley has organized the two-day international conference, ‘Beyond “Mesearch”: Autoethnography, Self-Reflexivity, and Personal Experience as Academic Research in Music Studies’, held at the Institute of Musical Research, University of London, on 16-17 April 2018.
The conference, which was supported by the Institute of Musical Research as well as the University of Surrey, drew strong interest from a large international delegation of around 80 participants from across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia.
It featured three keynote addresses and 20 papers arranged in a series of parallel sessions, together with an innovative group discussion session (which may form a model to be adopted more widely at future conferences in music studies) in which delegates separated into smaller breakout groups led by a senior academic before reporting back to the conference.
Dr Wiley also chaired a number of sessions and facilitated discussions on a range of topics, as well as delivering his paper ‘From Research-led Teaching to Teaching-led Research: An autoethnographic enquiry into keeping curricula contemporary in higher education popular music’, elements of which have previously been presented at academic forums in both music and education studies.
This event followed the success of the multi-disciplinary conference recently co-organized by Dr Wiley, ‘Writing About Contemporary Artists: Challenges, Practices, and Complexities’, held at the University of Surrey from 20-22 October 2017.
Dr Wiley previously co-organized a two-day international conference, ‘Musical Biography: National Ideology, Narrative Technique, and the Nature of Myth’, at the Institute of Musical Research in April 2015.
Further information about the ‘Beyond “Mesearch”’ conference may be found at the website: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-music-media/research/autoethnography-and-self-reflexivity-music-studies
The full programme, including abstracts, is available here: https://christopherwiley.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/imr-beyond-mesearch-conference-programme-16-17-april-2018.pdf
13 April 2018
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research
booklet, CD, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, foreword, liner notes, Music, musicology, Odaline de la Martinez, opera, Publication, research, Retrospect Opera, Surrey, The Wreckers, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Retrospect Opera’s re-release of the Conifer Classics recording of Ethel Smyth’s opera The Wreckers includes a newly written Foreword by Dr Christopher Wiley in the accompanying CD booklet.
The 2-CD set is a live recording of the performance at The Proms in 1994 with the Huddersfield Choral Society and the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by leading Smyth interpreter Odaline de la Martinez.
An acknowledged expert on Ethel Smyth, Dr Wiley is one of the four-strong team of academics at Retrospect Opera, whose debut release, the first complete modern recording of Ethel Smyth’s opera The Boatswain’s Mate, also included an essay by Dr Wiley for the CD liner notes.
The CD of The Wreckers is available direct from Retrospect Opera at the following link: http://www.retrospectopera.org.uk/CD_SALES/CD_Sales_Wreckers.html
Full text
The full text of Dr Wiley’s Foreword is available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/842086/
4 April 2018
Christopher Wiley
Media, Public Output, Research
arts, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, gender studies, golf, Hook Heath, interview, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, Pyrford TV, Pyrford TV ARTS, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, television, The March of the Women, TV, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, Woking Golf Club, women's enfranchisement, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley is featured in an eight-minute segment for the Spring Edition 2018 of Pyrford TV ARTS, on Woking’s famous former resident, Dame Ethel Smyth.
Speaking to presenter Tim Matthews (see picture), Dr Wiley discussed Smyth’s activity as composer, author, and suffragette, as well as her passion for sports including golf.
The eight-minute segment was filmed at Woking Golf Club in Hook Heath, near Woking, of which Smyth was a member for many years. So keen was she on the sport that she had her house built adjacent to the golf course, where she lived from 1910 until her death in 1944.
Pyrford TV ARTS produces 20-minute programmes several times a year, featuring the arts and creative worlds of Pyrford, Woking, and North Surrey. The segment on Smyth was included to tie in with the centenary of women’s enfranchisement in the UK, which falls this year.
The segment on Ethel Smyth is available for viewing online here: https://vimeo.com/262660959
The full 23-minute programme may be viewed here (the segment on Smyth starts at 09:18): https://youtu.be/fFAuVmbmmPw
The programme is also available at the Pyrford TV ARTS website: https://www.pyrfordtvarts.com/
In addition, it is featured on the webpage of the Woking Remembers 2018 programme, part of the Celebrate Woking festival: https://www.celebratewoking.info/woking-remembers
Credits: Pyrford TV (video); Surrey History Centre (images); Retrospect Opera (musical excerpt from Smyth’s opera The Boatswain’s Mate)
8 March 2018
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Celebrate Woking, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, gender studies, International Women's Day, Music, music and literature, music history, musicology, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, The Lightbox, The March of the Women, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking, women's enfranchisement, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has delivered a public talk on Dame Ethel Smyth at The Lightbox, Woking for International Women’s Day (Thursday 8 March) 2018.
Addressing an audience of over 80 members of the public in The Lightbox’s Ambassador Room, Dr Wiley (pictured, left) spoke about Smyth’s life, music, and prose writings, with particular emphasis on her connections to Woking (her town of residence for over 30 years at the end of her life) and the surrounding area.
Dr Wiley also addressed the extent to which Smyth broke new ground for women both within and beyond the field of music composition, discussing her activity as a leading suffragette in the early 1910s as well as her war service, mindful of this year’s centenaries of women’s partial enfranchisement in the UK and of the end of the First World War.
A recognized expert on Smyth, Dr Wiley is frequently invited to give public lectures on the composer and writer, including recent appearances at The Guildford Institute and Frimhurst, Frimley Green (Smyth’s childhood home). This was the first of his several talks in the Surrey area this year, as well as one of a number of events commemorating Smyth for the Celebrate Woking Festival 2018.
Further information on Dr Wiley’s talk may be found here: https://www.thelightbox.org.uk/Event/ethel-smyth-composer-suffragette
The previous day, Dr Wiley had given an interview on Ethel Smyth at Woking Golf Club for an episode of Pyrford TV ARTS due to be released online in April.
28 February 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Edge Hill, Edge Hill University, Emmeline Pankhurst, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, feminist opera, gender and sexuality, gender studies, GenSex, Music, music and literature, musicology, opera, presentation, research, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, symposium, The Boatswain's Mate, The Gender and Sexuality Research Group, University, University of Surrey, W.W. Jacobs, Wiley, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has spoken at the Suffragette Symposium hosted by the interdisciplinary Gender and Sexuality Research Group (GenSex) at Edge Hill University on Wednesday 28 February 2018.
His paper subjected to renewed critical scrutiny the claim that Smyth’s opera The Boatswain’s Mate, composed following her two years’ service as a suffragette in the 1910s, constitutes a ‘feminist opera’.
The presentation, entitled ‘Ethel Smyth, Music, and the Suffragette Movement: Reconsidering The Boatswain’s Mate as Feminist Opera’, explored the work’s refashioning of pre-existing music including two of Smyth’s suffrage songs used in its Overture, as well as a range of adaptations of traditional music.
Addressing an audience of some 35 delegates comprising both academics and members of the public, Dr Wiley also discussed the opera’s indebtedness to the short story by W.W. Jacobs on which it is based, and made consideration of Smyth’s creative process as documented in contemporaneous correspondence with Emmeline Pankhurst.
Further information on the Suffragette Symposium may be viewed online: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/wonder-women/gensex/
The full programme is available here: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/wonder-women/files/2018/02/Suffragette-Symposium-Programme.pdf
Speaker biographies and abstracts may be found at the following link: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/wonder-women/files/2018/02/Suffragette-Panel-Bios.docx.pdf
6 February 2018
Christopher Wiley
Media, Public Output, Publication, Research
arts, BBC Radio Surrey, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Darling Magazine, ethel smyth, feminism, gender studies, Get Surrey, Guildford, Hannah Dodd, interview, James Cannon, Lesley McCabe, LGBT History Month, live interview, Lucy Ella Rose, Mary Watts, media, Music, musicology, North Surrey, radio, Representation of the People Act, research, Shona Duthie, suffragettes, suffragists, Surrey, Surrey Advertiser, Surrey Heath, The March of the Women, University, University of Surrey, video, Wiley, Woking, women's enfranchisement, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley has given expert comment to the media on the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which granted the vote to over 8 million women in the UK for the first time.
Coverage of Dr Wiley focussed on his research on Ethel Smyth, who, in addition to being an internationally successful composer, was active for two years as a leading suffragette in the early 1910s, developing a close friendship with Emmeline Pankhurst.
Together with a University of Surrey colleague, Dr Lucy Ella Rose, a leading expert on the suffragist Mary Watts and author of Suffrage Artists in Partnership: Gender, Word, and Image, Dr Wiley gave a live interview on BBC Radio Surrey for the ‘Breakfast on BBC Surrey’ show hosted by James Cannon and Lesley McCabe on Tuesday 6 February 2018.
Dr Wiley was also featured alongside Dr Rose in an article in Get Surrey, ‘Suffragette Vote 100 anniversary: University celebrates two Surrey women who were highly influential during the suffrage movement’, by Shona Duthie and Hannah Dodd.
The online Get Surrey article includes a video in which both academics give interviews on their respective research subjects, with Dr Wiley performing Smyth’s famous suffragette anthem, ‘The March of the Women’, on piano.
The full Get Surrey article, including video, may be viewed here: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/suffragette-vote-100-anniversary-university-14249832
The BBC Radio Surrey live interview may be heard here: https://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=7180&DateTime=2%2F6%2F2018+8%3A52%3A52+AM&Term=University+of+Surrey&PlayClip=TRUE
The live interview is also available on BBC iPlayer (listen from 2:52:11): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05vm2m4
Update: A text on Ethel Smyth contributed by invitation by Dr Wiley has been printed in the North Surrey edition of darling magazine for Spring 2018 (see image above). It may be viewed online here (see pp. 12–13): https://issuu.com/darlingmagazine/docs/darling-north_surrey-spring_2018
An article on Smyth written by Dr Wiley, ‘Dame Ethel Smyth: Remembering a Pathbreaking Artist, Suffragette, and Lesbian’, has appeared on the LGBT History Month website here: https://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/lgbt-history-month-resources/desarticle2018/
26 January 2018
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Research
Amsterdam, artist biography, Bach, biography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, historiography, history, J. S. Bach, keynote, life-writing, literature, Marchand, Music, music and literature, music history, musical biography, musicology, myth, mythology, national, nationality, presentation, research, Surrey, The Master Musicians series, The Netherlands, transnational, transnationality, University, University of Amsterdam, University of Surrey, Wiley, workshop
Dr Christopher W
iley gave a Keynote lecture at the two-day international workshop, ‘Transnational Perspectives on the Writing of Artists’ Lives, 19th-21st centuries’, held at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 25–26 January 2018.
Dr Wiley’s 50-minute paper, entitled ‘Musical Biography as a National and Transnational Genre’, explored the extent to which composer life-writing reflects the preoccupations and concerns of its time and place of origin while simultaneously embodying pan-European values that remain strikingly robust across texts from different countries and centuries.
Addressed to an interdisciplinary audience primarily from The Netherlands, France, the UK, and US, Dr Wiley’s lecture developed research previously presented at the University of Oxford, and generated much productive discussion from delegates.
An internationally acknowledged expert in the field, Dr Wiley has given a number of previous keynotes at conferences on biography, including the four-day ‘(Auto)Biography as a Musicological Discourse’ held at the University of Arts, Belgrade in 2008.
The full schedule for the workshop may be viewed here: http://www.uva.nl/en/shared-content/subsites/amsterdam-institute-for-humanities-research/en/events/events/2018/01/transnational-perspectives-artists-lives.html
The programme is also available online as a PDF: https://www.huizingainstituut.nl/v02/wp-content/uploads/Programme-Workshop-Transnational-Perspectives-on-Artists-Lives-2-Jan-18.pdf
7 November 2017
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output
Ambassadors Theatre, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Così fan tutte, Glyndebourne, Glyndebourne Tour, Mozart, Music, New Victoria Theatre, opera, pre-event talk, pre-performance talk, presentation, Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a pre-performance talk for Glyndebourne Tour 2017, to introduce its production of Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking on Tuesday 7 November 2017.
Dr Wiley’s talk focussed on two principal issues, the portrayal of women in Così fan tutte and the work’s relationship with the genre of opera buffa, illustrated with a slideshow and audio excerpts. Held in the Rhoda McGaw Theatre adjacent to the main auditorium, it was attended by a large audience of some 150 opera-lovers.
A work well-known to Dr Wiley from his undergraduate teaching, he also discussed the opera’s historical background, characters and plot, and the ways in which its reception has changed over time, as well as the specific interpretation taken by Glyndebourne Tour in this revival of the 2006 production directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Dr Wiley has previously given pre-performance talks for Glyndebourne in 2016, 2015, and 2014, mainly on operas by Mozart.
22 October 2017
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Performance, Presentation, Public Output, Research
Annie Yim, artists, arts, biography, blog, blogging, Chris Wiley, Christopher Le Brun, Christopher Wiley, conference, contemporary artists, creative practice, Dance, film, Guildford, IAS, Institute of Advanced Studies, keynote, life-writing, literature, Music, music and literature, musical biography, musicology, practice as research, presentation, research, reviewing, Richard Birchall, roundtable, social media, Surrey, theatre, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, writing
Dr Christopher Wiley was Chair of the Conference Committee for an international, multi-disciplinary three-day conference entitled ‘Writing About Contemporary Artists: Challenges, Practices, and Complexities’, held at the University of Surrey from 20-22 October 2017.
Hosted and sponsored by the University’s Institute of Advanced Studies, the conference brought together scholars and practitioners in fields including musicology, theatre studies, dance and choreography, literature, film, digital media, and the visual arts. Its 70 participants represented a strongly international delegation drawn from North and South America, Australia, South Africa, and across Europe and the UK.
Dr Wiley compèred and co-authored the event’s central Keynote Concert and Dialogue (pictured above) given by MusicArt London, featuring the distinguished painter Christopher Le Brun (President of the Royal Academy of Arts) and pianist Dr Annie Yim (St John’s Smith Square Young Artist in Residence 2016/17), with additional contributions by composer Richard Birchall.
Dr Wiley also acted as chair and panel member for the final conference session (pictured below), a roundtable on ‘Contemporary artists, contemporary writing: Internet and social media’, at which he spoke about his reviewing activity across the art disciplines for digital magazine Musical Theatre Review as well as his guest-blogging for sites such as the Association of National Teaching Fellows blog and Oxford University Press Blog.
Further information may be found at the conference website: http://www.ias.surrey.ac.uk/workshops/artistswriting/
The full programme (including abstracts) may be downloaded here: http://www.ias.surrey.ac.uk/workshops/artistswriting/papers/Writing%20About%20Contemporary%20Artists%20conference%20_%20Proggramme.pdf
Update: Online reports on the conference are available at the following links:
http://www.planethugill.com/2017/10/writing-about-contemporary-artists.html
http://annieyim.com/keynote-concert-and-dialogue-at-an-international-multi-disciplinary-conference-at-the-university-of-surrey-21-october-2017/
http://blogs.surrey.ac.uk/arts/2017/10/22/international-conference-in-pats-building-writing-about-contemporary-artists/
6 September 2017
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Educational Research, Presentation, Publication, Research, Teaching
arts and humanities, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, education, Franklin, Guildford School of Acting, Higher Education, Jo Franklin, Music, pedagogic frailty, presentation, reciprocal autoethnography, resilience, School of Arts, Surrey, symposium, teaching, technical theatre arts, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley and Jo Franklin (Guildford School of Acting) co-authored an interactive presentation delivered as part of the First International Symposium on Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience held at the University of Surrey on Wednesday 6 September 2017.
The session, entitled ‘Dialogic Approaches to Pedagogic Frailty’, explored how the authors had proactively sought to extend the results of two previous research projects in which they had been separately involved, including Dr Wiley’s co-authored autoethnographic study of pedagogic frailty in arts and humanities education.
They outlined the ‘reciprocal autoethnography’ approach by which they expanded the parameters of their earlier studies, as well as the methods by which they comparatively analysed the concept maps that resulted from previous research, independently of the original interviewer.
Based on their book chapter on autoethnography and pedagogic frailty, the presentation concluded by considering the potential for future expansion of the pedagogic frailty process as well as its benefits in terms of enhancing understanding of the preoccupations, priorities, and motivations of colleagues and teams.
The one-day symposium brought together some 40 academic colleagues from across the UK and internationally.
Further information about the symposium is available at the following link: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/department-higher-education/events/pedagogic-frailty
The full programme, including abstracts, may be downloaded here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Pedagogic-frailty-symposium-programme.pdf
26 May 2017
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Cranleigh, Cranleigh Arts Centre, ethel smyth, Jacqueline Mulhallen, Lynx Theatre, Lynx Theatre and Poetry, Mulhallen, Music, suffrage activity, suffragette, suffragette movement, Surrey, Syliva Pankhurst, Sylvia, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, women's suffrage
Dr Christopher Wiley addressed an audience of theatre-goers on Ethel Smyth as part of a post-show discussion following the one-woman play Sylvia, presented by Lynx Theatre and Poetry at Cranleigh Arts Centre, Surrey on the evening of Friday 26 May 2017.
The main performance, a theatrical production based on Sylvia Pankhurst’s life, activity as a painter, and service to the suffragette movement, was performed by professional actress Jacqueline Mulhallen (pictured, as Pankhurst) having been developed from original research.
After a brief interval, the post-show discussion led with Dr Wiley’s talk on Smyth, following which the audience were able to put questions to Dr Wiley and the creators of Sylvia, and to engage in further general conversation on women’s suffrage.
Internationally acknowledged for his substantial contribution to scholarship on Smyth across the past 15 years, Dr Wiley has more recently acquired a reputation as a local historian, many of the audience members already being familiar with his work on the Surrey-based composer, writer, and suffragette.
Further information about the event is available here: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=CRAN&organ_val=40629&pid=8410211
19 April 2017
Christopher Wiley
Conference, Presentation, Publication, Research
25, Adele, Adele Adkins, autobiography, Bristol, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, conference, ethel smyth, Music, music and literature, musical biography, musicology, presentation, research, Surrey, University, University of Bristol, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley presented a paper at a two-day international conference entitled ‘Beyond Genius and Muse – Collaborating Couples in Twentieth-Century Arts’, held at the Victoria Rooms, University of Bristol on 18–19 April 2017.
Dr Wiley’s paper, ‘Subject and Countersubject: The Prevalence of the Genius and the Muse in Musical Biography’, explored the pattern of collaborating couples that has emerged historically in musical biography, drawing on examples including Brahms and Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth and Henry Brewster, Britten and Peter Pears, and Adele.
It built upon Dr Wiley’s previous scholarship conducted in this area across more than 10 years, of which the most recent output, his book chapter ‘Musical Biography and the Myth of the Muse’, was published in 2015.
The conference brought together some 50 academics from across Europe and the US, encompassing a range of topics in music, literature, and the visual arts.
Further information is available at the conference website: https://collaboratingcouples.wordpress.com/
27 March 2017
Christopher Wiley
Educational Research, Publication, Teaching
arts and humanities, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, concept maps, education, Franklin, Guildford School of Acting, Higher Education, Jo Franklin, mediated concept maps, Music, pedagogic frailty, reciprocal autoethnography, resilience, School of Arts, Surrey, teaching, technical theatre arts, University, University of Surrey
Dr Christopher Wiley and Jo Franklin (Guildford School of Acting) have co-authored a chapter published in the book Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience in the University, edited by Ian M. Kinchin and Naomi E. Winstone.
Their essay, ‘Framed Autoethnography and Pedagogic Frailty: A Comparative Analysis of Mediated Concept Maps’, extends two research projects on which the authors have previously worked, including Dr Wiley’s co-authored autoethnographic study of pedagogic frailty in arts and humanities education.
Adopting a ‘reciprocal autoethnography’ approach to operate independently of the original interviewer in order comparatively to analyse the concept maps that resulted from earlier research, they considered the benefits of pedagogic frailty to the development of greater mutual understanding between different staff members by way of nurturing resilience.
Bibliographic citation
Wiley, Christopher and Jo Franklin. ‘Framed Autoethnography and Pedagogic Frailty: A Comparative Analysis of Mediated Concept Maps’, in Ian M. Kinchin and Naomi E. Winstone eds. Pedagogic Frailty and Resilience in the University. Rotterdam: Sense, 2017, pp. 17–32.
Further information
Listing of the volume on the publisher’s website: https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/pedagogic-frailty-and-resilience-in-the-university/
10 March 2017
Christopher Wiley
Educational Research, Publication, Teaching
arts and humanities, autoethnography, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, concept maps, Department of Higher Education, education, Higher Education, Ian Kinchin, Ian M. Kinchin, Kinchin, mediated concept maps, Music, pedagogic frailty, resilience, School of Arts, Surrey, teaching, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley and Professor Ian M. Kinchin (Department of Higher Education, University of Surrey) have co-authored an article published in the international peer-reviewed journal Arts and Humanities in Higher Education.
Entitled ‘Tracing pedagogic frailty in arts and humanities education: An autoethnographic perspective’, the article represents an autoethnographic study of Dr Wiley as a leading academic in arts and humanities teaching in higher education, using Professor Kinchin’s model of pedagogic frailty (see diagram below) in order to develop a series of mediated concept maps.
Supplemented by Dr Wiley’s own narratives and with an extended conclusion contemplating the benefits of pedagogic frailty and the autoethnographic process, it constitutes the most extensive single-subject study of pedagogic frailty in higher education to date.
Dr Wiley has previously used autoethnographic approaches in relation to pedagogic research in an article published in Learning at City Journal in 2014.
Further information about Professor Kinchin and Dr Wiley’s journal article, including the abstract, may be found at the following link: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1474022217698082
Bibliographic citation
Kinchin, Ian M. and Christopher Wiley. ‘Tracing pedagogic frailty in arts and humanities education: An autoethnographic perspective’, Arts and Humanities in Higher Education: An international journal of theory, research, and practice (2017), pp. 1–24. doi: 10.1177/1474022217698082
Full text
The full text is available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/813547/
1 March 2017
Christopher Wiley
Educational Research, Presentation, Teaching
arts and humanities, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, education, electronic voting systems, Higher Education, Music, presentation, teaching, teaching innovation, Turning Technologies, University, University of York, Wiley, workshop, York
Dr Christopher Wiley presented a workshop on using Turning Technologies response technology in the arts and humanities, at a ‘Lunch and Learn’ session held in the JB Morrell Library at the University of York on Wednesday 1 March 2017.
The invitation to deliver the workshop, ‘Enhancing Student Engagement Through Electronic Voting Systems: Innovative Pedagogies and Creative Applications’, followed Dr Wiley’s presentation at the Turning Technologies User Conference in London last year, at which he advocated the use of electronic voting systems in areas other than the STEMM and business subjects with which they are more readily associated.
As an external speaker and International Distinguished Educator with Turning Technologies since 2012, Dr Wiley has recently addressed audiences representing a wide range of disciplines and universities across England, including Lancaster, Exeter, Sussex, Birmingham, Southampton Solent, Durham, Hull, and Surrey.
He has also spoken internationally at conferences in Ireland, Crete, Germany, and Denmark; delivered an internationally broadcast webinar; presented at the Higher Education Academy’s Arts and Humanities Conference in Brighton; and published a Higher Education Academy report on electronic voting systems.
27 February 2017
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, deafness, ethel smyth, feminism, feminist musicology, gender studies, Guildford, Guildford Hard of Hearing Support Group, hard of hearing, memoirs, Millmead Centre, Music, music and literature, musical biography, musicology, opera, presentation, research, Surrey, Surrey Heath, The Boatswain's Mate, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a talk entitled ‘Ethel Smyth’s (feminist?) opera, The Boatswain’s Mate’ at the Millmead Centre, Guildford on 27 February 2017, for Guildford Hard of Hearing Support Group.
The Boatswain’s Mate was the fourth of six operas composed by Smyth (who suffered from distorted hearing and deafness for the last several decades of her life), and was the most popular and most frequently performed during her own lifetime. It was recently released in its first complete modern recording by Retrospect Opera (of which Dr Wiley is a part).
An acknowledged expert on Smyth, Dr Wiley provided an outline of the circumstances of the composition of The Boatswain’s Mate, its plot, and interesting features of the music. He also discussed the extent to which the work constitutes a ‘feminist opera’, as has previously been suggested.
This is the second time that Dr Wiley has addressed Guildford Hard of Hearing Support Group, having delivered a presentation on Smyth’s life and works two years ago in January 2015. Dr Wiley has also recently given talks on Smyth at The Guildford Institute and at the composer’s childhood home in Frimley Green.
18 January 2017
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Guildford, Music, music and literature, presentation, research, Surrey, The Guildford Institute, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley delivered a talk entitled ‘Dame Ethel Smyth, Groundbreaking Composer, Writer, and Suffragette’ at The Guildford Institute, Guildford on Wednesday 18 January 2017.
Speaking to a capacity audience of 70 in the Institute’s Assembly Room, Dr Wiley outlined Smyth’s significance to music, literature, and women’s suffrage, as well as her local connections to Surrey, illustrating his talk with excerpts from a variety of her works.
An acknowledged expert on the subject, Dr Wiley has recently given several talks on Ethel Smyth in the local area, including one at Smyth’s childhood home in Frimley Green, Surrey last September.
Further information on the event is available on The Guildford Institute’s website: http://guildford-institute.org.uk/whats-on2/dame-ethel-smyth-groundbreaking-composer-writer-and-suffragette/
9 November 2016
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output
Ambassadors Theatre, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne, Glyndebourne Tour, Madama Butterfly, Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes Theatre, MK Gallery, Mozart, Music, New Victoria Theatre, opera, pre-event talk, pre-performance talk, presentation, Puccini, Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Surrey, University, University of Surrey, Wiley, Woking
Dr Christopher Wiley has delivered two pre-performance talks for Glyndebourne Tour 2016, to preface its productions of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, on 8 and 9 November, respectively.
Both talks were delivered at the MK Gallery, Milton Keynes prior to performances at the nearby Milton Keynes Theatre. Speaking to some 60 audience members, Dr Wiley introduced the plots and characters of the operas, their historical backgrounds, noteworthy features of the music (such as Puccini’s use of authentic Japanese tunes in the score of Madama Butterfly), and aspects of the interpretations taken by Glyndebourne’s productions.
Dr Wiley has previously given pre-performance talks for Glyndebourne in 2014 and 2015, but this is the first time that he has been invited to speak at Milton Keynes.
Update: Dr Wiley reprised his pre-performance talk on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly to some 60 opera-goers in the Rhoda McGaw Theatre, Woking on 30 November, by way of introduction to Glyndebourne’s production later that evening in the adjacent New Victoria Theatre.
11 September 2016
Christopher Wiley
Presentation, Public Output, Research
ATD Fourth World, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, ethel smyth, Frimhurst, Frimhurst Family House, Frimley Green, Music, music and literature, presentation, research, Surrey, Surrey Heath, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Dr Christopher Wiley gave a talk entitled ‘Ethel Smyth: Composer, Author, Suffragette, and Surrey Resident’, at Frimhurst Family House, Frimley Green (Ethel Smyth’s childhood home), on 11 September 2016.
Dr Wiley addressed an audience of some 50 members of the public during an event celebrating Ethel Smyth, part of the ‘Century of Sound’ Festival organised annually by Surrey Heath Borough. The full programme for the Festival is available here: http://www.centuryofsound.co.uk/event-programme.
Other features of the afternoon event included included performances of Smyth’s solo piano music by Dr Maureen Galea and of some of her songs by the Surrey Heath Singers, as well as a tour of the premises and a talk about the work of the charity ATD Fourth World, which now operates at Frimhurst Family House.
The event was jointly organised by Surrey Heath Museum, the University of Surrey, and ATD Fourth World.
2 August 2016
Christopher Wiley
Publication, Research
booklet, CD, Chris Wiley, Christopher Wiley, comic opera, David Chandler, ethel smyth, liner notes, Music, musicology, Odaline de la Martinez, opera, Publication, research, Retrospect Opera, Surrey, The Boatswain's Mate, The Bosun's Mate, University, University of Surrey, Wiley
Retrospect Opera’s newly released CD of Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate, the first complete modern recording of the work, includes an essay by Dr Christopher Wiley in the accompanying booklet.
The recording appears in the centenary year of Smyth’s comic opera, which premiered on 28 January 1916 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London. It features singers Nadine Benjamin, Edward Lee, and Jeremy Huw Williams in the principal roles, accompanied by the Lontano Ensemble conducted by pioneering Smyth interpreter Odaline de la Martinez.
Dr Wiley is acknowledged as an academic expert on Ethel Smyth, with recent research activity including publication of a major journal article, a score preface, and promoting Smyth’s music in concert, in addition to giving several public lectures on the composer. His essay ‘The Boatswain’s Mate in the context of Smyth’s life and works’ appears in the CD booklet alongside contributions by Odaline de la Martinez and Retrospect Opera’s Professor David Chandler.
The CD is available direct from Retrospect Opera at the following link: http://www.retrospectopera.org.uk/CD_Sales.html
It may also be ordered through Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boatswains-Mate-Ethel-Smyth/dp/B01HIJX83Q/
Full text
The full text of Dr Wiley’s essay is available for free download under licence from Surrey Research Insight Open Access: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/811593/
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