ICMP is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Rich Perks as our first Associate Professor.

The new position is to recognise Rich’s contribution to academic excellence and research within the world of guitar performance.

He is the first member of ICMP’s teaching faculty to receive this accolade.  

Rich’s current research interests include the extended performance possibilities of the fretless electric guitar, guitar-focused musicology/analysis, the combination of composition with improvisation, and intercultural collaboration. His recent publications have addressed aspects of modern-day electric guitar performance and practical approaches to music-cultural hybridity.

Commenting on his appointment, Rich said: 

I feel honoured to have been conferred the title of Associate Professor by ICMP. I am excited to contribute to the school’s expanding research culture and help further foster performance and guitar-based scholarly activity."

Professor Louise Jackson, Associate Dean and Chair of the Professorship Panel said: "ICMP is pleased to be able to create a new category of title this year, that of Associate Professor, to identify and reward activity that contributes to the culture of research, scholarship, and professional practice. "

Professor Tony Harris, Dean and Director said: "Following a thorough appointment process, we’re delighted to confirm Dr Rich Perks as ICMP’s first Associate Professor.

Rich is the epitome of the ICMP academic, blending performance with research and innovation, and bringing cutting-edge ideas and practice into the classroom. This appointment is in recognition of his academic standing in his field of expertise and the value he brings to the ICMP community."

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His ongoing research project ‘Fretless Architecture’ explores the potential of the fretless electric guitar as a solo instrument, as well as examining its role within different ensembles. More specifically, this work engages newly commissioned performance repertoire (via international calls for scores), the development of new techniques and original notation specific to the fretless electric guitar, technological augmentation (expressly the use of effects pedals, loops, EBow, laptops, sound-manipulation and so forth), building relationships with composers, improvisation, and intercultural collaborations (through performing modern hybrid-embodiments of musics which utilise microtonal tuning systems). 

In 2019 he was awarded a research scholarship to visit Istanbul Technical University to exchange ideas about microtonal applications in guitar performance with Professor Dr. Tolgahan Çoǧulu, as well as study privately with fretless guitar master Cenk Erdoǧan.

He is a member of the artistic peer-review committee for 21st Century Guitar – Unconventional Approaches to Performance, Composition and Research Conference (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal, 2021) and is a member of editorial board for the Journal of Popular Music Education.

Visit richperks.net for more information. 

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