Alistair MacDonald

Alistair MacDonald’s works are out there! They have been performed in concert in Aberdeen, Arras, Berkeley, Birmingham, Clermont-Ferrand, Edinburgh, Gainesville, Glasgow, Kraków, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Montréal, New York City, Paris, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sheffield…

Alistair MacDonald is a composer, performer and sound artist. His work draws on a wide range of influences reflecting his interest in improvisation, transformation of sound, and space. Many of his works are made in collaboration with other artists from a range of media, and explore a range of contexts beyond the concert hall, often using interactive technology.

He has a longstanding live electroacoustic improvising duo with Scottish harp player Catriona McKay, and another with singer Anne-Liis Poll.

Collaborations and commissions include installations with Jennifer Angus, Brass Art, and Sarah Rubidge, dance work with Shobana Jeyasingh and Anna Krzystek, and music for Jos Zwaanenburg, Elision, and the Scottish Ensemble. Recent commissions include work with trumpet player Tom Poulson and director Susan Worsfold, commissioned by the St Magnus Festival, and a series of collaborations with Carrie Fertig, on pieces for glass percussion, electronics and live flame-working.

He is a member of invisiblEARts, a group of Scottish-based composers. He teaches composition and directs the Electroacoustic Studios at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he was made Professor in 2017.

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Alistair MacDonald

Doncaster (England, UK), 1962

Residence: Glasgow (Scotland, UK)

  • Composer
  • Sound artist

Associated groups

On the web

Alistair MacDonald [Photo: Julie Howden (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Glasgow (Scotland, UK), December 2017]
Alistair MacDonald [Photo: Julie Howden (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Glasgow (Scotland, UK), December 2017]

Calendar

Broadcasts

Date Work Program
November 9, 2022 Alistair MacDonald, The Tincture of Physical Things (2000), 13:46 Episode 1128 / Martian Gardens Podcast (USA)
May 31, 2021 Alistair MacDonald, Equivalence (2007), 12:44 Acoustic Frontiers / CKCU 93.1 FM (Canada)
October 29, 2020 Alistair MacDonald, Wunderkammer (2010), 11:06 Episode 1038 / Martian Gardens Podcast (USA)
July 22, 2020 Alistair MacDonald, Kilim (1993), 10:10 Electronic Frequencies: Special BEAST / Concertzender (Netherlands)
January 11, 2020 Alistair MacDonald, Psychedelian Streams (2004), 8:50 Martian Gardens #1004 / WXOJ-LP 103.3 (USA)
September 19, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Final Times (1998), 5:04 Battiti: Impronte digitali / Rai Radio 3 (Italy)
September 13, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Scintilla (2013), 9:00 Martian Gardens #990 / Global Community Radio Channel 2 (USA)
July 11, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Equivalence (2007), 12:44 Martian Gardens #982 / Global Community Radio Channel 2 (USA)
March 19, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Final Times (1998), 5:04 The Langham Research Centre Show / Resonance 104.4 FM (UK)
February 7, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Nicholas Virgo, Busk (1988), 15:03 Thuisreis / Radio Centraal (Belgium)
January 11, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, Scintilla (2013), 9:00 Electronic Therapy / Radio Mercure 93 FM (France)
January 7, 2019 Alistair MacDonald, The Tincture of Physical Things (2000), 13:46 Acoustic Frontiers / CKCU 93.1 FM (Canada)