Profiles
Damien Kingston
Damien Kingston
Lecturer in Jazz and Popular Music
Music | School of Creative Arts and Media
The Hedberg , Hobart CBD Campuses
+61 3 6226 7388 (phone)
Dr Damien Kingston a Lecturer in Jazz & Popular Music at the School of Creative Arts and Media. Damien is a guitarist, composer and researcher working in the fields of jazz, improvised music and composition. Damien has performed internationally both leading his own projects and as a sideman, and has to date released five albums comprised of his original compositions. His most recent release Wells – Damien Kingston Quartet was recorded and released by ABC Jazz.
Biography
Damien is a Hobart born guitarist and composer who, after completing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Tasmania, relocated to Europe to work as a freelance musician and further his studies. After two years spent as an active member of the Berlin jazz and improvised music community Damien furthered his studies in the Netherlands, receiving his Masters of Music from the prestigious Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2013, studying under Dutch guitar greats Martijn van Iterson and Jesse van Ruller.
As an improvising guitarist and composer Damien has performed throughout Australia and Europe, and has received multiple awards including first place in the 2016 Berlin Jazz & Blues Awards, and a finalist spot in the 2013 Keep an Eye European Jazz Awards. Damien has released five albums as a bandleader, receiving multiple composition and recording commissions from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and MONA (Museum of New & Old Art).
As a researcher Damien investigates areas concerning improvisation, performance, composition and community. Damien is cofounder of Hobart improvised music label Scratch Match Records and performs regularly at festivals and club dates. Damien is also a passionate advocate for the local improvised music scene - running jam sessions, festival organising and music programming.
Career summary
Qualifications
- PhD, University of Tasmania, Australia, 2018. Exegesis: Free Improvisation in the Context of Repertoire Interpretation - An Applied Investigation of Derek Bailey’s Ballads.
- M.Mus, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2013. Thesis: The Keith Jarrett American Quartet – Harmonic Improvisation and Collective Rubato.
- B.Mus, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2011.
Memberships
Professional practice
- Scratch Match Records - Founder and Curator
Teaching
Teaching expertise
Damien’s teaching expertise is centred around jazz performance practice and theory, research design and methodology, and contemporary issues and their relation to music and broader arts practice.
Teaching Responsibility
- Music Practice
- Tools, Techniques & Digital Audio
- Ensemble
- Music & Politics
- Research Design
- Honours & PhD Supervision
Research Invitations
- AJIRN 3 2019: Body & Soul - Paper Presentation: Derek Bailey Crossing Boundaries
- Melbourne University, Instrument of Change: The international Rise of the Guitar,2016 - Paper Presentation: Derek Bailey’s Ballads, Combining Traditions
View more on Mr Damien Kingston in WARP
Expertise
- Damien uses practice based methodologies in advancing new knowledge surrounding contemporary improvised music and composition, highlighting the impact of these forms of music making on local and national creative communities, and the significance of these impacts to broader society. Damien partners with individuals and organisations from all aspects of the music industry, and has received funding from both private and public bodies to investigate broader creative arts in practice led contexts.
- Research Expertise: Jazz, Improvisation, Composition, Performance Practice, Culture & Society
Collaboration
Damien is currently involved in several projects exploring contemporary performance practice within Tasmanian and Australian contexts.
Fields of Research
- Music performance (360304)
- Music composition and improvisation (360302)
- Art theory (360103)
Research Objectives
- Music (130102)
Publications
Damien is heavily involved in non-traditional research outputs, communicating new knowledge in public performance, composition and recorded work captured in numerous mediums including CD, vinyl and digital works for various platforms.
Total publications
14
Conference Publication
(2 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Kingston D, 'Derek Bailey - An Informed Freedom', Fourth Rhythm Changes Conference: Jazz Utopias: conference program, 14-17 April 2016, Birmingham City University (2016) [Plenary Presentation] | |
| 2016 | Kingston D, 'Derek Bailey's ballads: Combining traditions', Instrument of Change: The International Rise of the Guitar (c. 1870-1945): abstracts, 9-11 December 2016, University of Melbourne, pp. 11. (2016) [Plenary Presentation] |
Major Creative Work
(6 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Kingston D, Boden M, Houston H, Robb T, Long S, 'Wells', Fresh Start Fund, ABC Jazz (2021) [Recorded Creative Work] Co-authors: Boden M; Houston H; Robb T; Long S | |
| 2019 | Kingston D, Houston H, Robb T, Boden M, 'Tributary: Recorded album', Scratch Match Records, Hobart, Tasmania (2019) [Recorded Creative Work] Co-authors: Houston H; Robb T; Boden M | |
| 2018 | Kingston D, 'PDLS: an album by PDLS', Independant, Hobart, Tasmania (2018) [Recorded Creative Work] | |
| 2015 | Haywood N, Gibson N, Dobson A, Kingston D, O'Leary L, 'Jane's Shed: The Acoustic Life of Sheds', Tasmanian International Arts Festival, Boat Harbour Tasmania, 1 (2015) [Performance] Co-authors: Haywood N; Dobson A | |
| 2014 | Kingston D, 'Yellow Lights', independant, Hobart, Tasmania (2014) [Recorded Creative Work] | |
| 2014 | Kingston D, Boden M, Haywood N, Jackson A, 'Colossus', Independent, Bandcanp, CD Baby, iTunes, Stores, 2014 (2014) [Recorded Creative Work] Co-authors: Boden M; Haywood N |
Other Creative Work
(6 outputs)| Year | Citation | Altmetrics |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Kingston D, Boden M, Houston H, Robb T, 'Damien Kingston Quartet Launch of 'Wells'', Founder's Room, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania (2021) [Performance Practice] Co-authors: Boden M; Houston H; Robb T | |
| 2020 | Kingston D, Boden M, Houston H, Robb T, 'Assemble', Scratch Match Records, Hobart, Tasmania (2020) [Minor Creative Work] Co-authors: Boden M; Houston H; Robb T | |
| 2019 | Kingston D, 'Jazz Jam Session', Pablo's Cocktails and Dreams, Hobart, Tasmania (2019) [Performance Practice] | |
| 2019 | Kingston D, 'deCOI: conversations, observations, improvisations', Moonah Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania, pp. 2 July (2019) [Performance Practice] | |
| 2018 | Boden M, Kingston D, Dobson A, Keating M, 'The Insider Out', Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart (2018) [Performance Practice] Co-authors: Boden M; Dobson A; Keating M | |
| 2018 | Kingston D, 'Hobart Ah Um', Cinema One (3-4 February), Hobart, Tasmania (2018) [Representation of Original Art] |
Research Supervision
Damien is active in HDR supervision covering areas such as performance practice, composition & song writing, improvised music, and music technology. If you are interested in research and an advertised HDR project please make direct contact regarding your proposed research.
Current
5
Current
| Degree | Title | Commenced |
|---|---|---|
| PhD | Tardigrade | 2019 |
| PhD | An Applied Investigation of Word Painting: The realisation of musical text through music technology and production techniques | 2020 |
| PhD | Oximetric - Random Points of Resolution in Multi-Pulsed Improvised and Composed Music | 2021 |
| PhD | The Impact of African American Gospel Music on Secular Music Keyboard Theory, Composition, and Practice | 2021 |
| PhD | Bringing The Pieces Together exploring the influence of past practice and experience on the creative process of writing and recording a new album | 2021 |