Aleksander Kolkowski

Aleksander Kolkowski (b. 1959) is a violinist, composer, and researcher. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Goldsmiths College, London, and his practice-led doctoral research into the creative uses of antiquated audio technologies and obsolete media led to a PhD from Brunel University London in 2012. That year, he became the first Sound Artist in Residence to be appointed at the Science Museum, London, where until 2014 he worked closely with museum collections, involving artefacts in historical reenactments, recreations, and sound installations. Aleksander has subsequently held Research Associateships at the Royal College of Music and the Science Museum, London, developing projects including Sounding the History of Acoustics (2013) and Music, Noise and Silence: Defining Relationships between Science & Music in Modernity (2015). From 2016 to 2017, he was Composer in Residence at the British Library Sound Archive. His installation Boy Wireless, inspired by the early years of broadcast radio, was featured in the Library’s exhibition Listen: 140 Years of Recorded Sound (2017–18). At the MPIWG, Aleksander will work with the Research Group “Epistemes of Modern Acoustics” in a project on the historical uses of tuning forks.