Rate My Professor Alana Blackburn

Dr Alana Blackburn is an Associate Professor in Music in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences within the Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education at the University of New England. Her academic qualifications include a PhD from the University of New England, a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning from Deakin University, a Master of Arts Management from UNE, a Master of Music in Performance from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Music from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Performance from the University of Sydney, as well as LMusA and AMusA diplomas. Renowned as a recorder player, she performs as a soloist and ensemble musician throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. Blackburn has collaborated with prominent ensembles such as The Royal Wind Music, The New Dutch Academy, Salut! Baroque, The Bell Shakespeare Company, Pinchgut Opera, The Sydney Consort, The Tall Poppeas, and The Sydneian Bach Choir. As a soloist, she has performed concerti with The Early Music Ensemble of the Sydney Conservatorium, The Manly-Warringah Symphony Orchestra, Coro Innominata, and The Bourbaki Ensemble, appearing in venues like the Sydney Opera House, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and Konzerthaus Berlin. She features on six commercial CDs and has given live radio broadcasts in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the Netherlands. Blackburn also engages in arts management and creative practice, exploring influences on artist careers and ensembles.

Blackburn's research specializations include French and Italian Baroque ornamentation and performance practice, contemporary composition for recorder blending Eastern and Western aesthetics and techniques, contemporary performance improvisation with computer programming, web technology and music e-learning, leadership and group processes in chamber music ensembles, and portfolio careers and arts management. She teaches in areas such as performance, music theory and musicianship, music history, studio pedagogy, and ensemble leadership. Selected publications encompass journal articles like "Fostering Creativity and Collaboration in a Fully Online Tertiary Music Program" (2020, with D. Hewitt) in the International Journal on Innovations in Online Education and "Performing online: Approaches to teaching performance studies in higher education within a fully online environment" (2017) in the Australian Journal of Music Education; a forthcoming book chapter "The impact of group identity on the social dynamics and sustainability of chamber music ensembles" in Together in Music (Oxford University Press); and commercial recordings including Salut! Baroque's Celebrating 20 Years (2014) and The Royal Wind Music's Angeli, Zingare & Pastori (2013). Her honors include the School of Arts Excellence in Teaching Award (2017), PVCR Completion Scholarship (2016), Keith and Dorothy Mackay Postgraduate Travelling Scholarship (2015), and grants such as the 2020 Create NSW Project Grant and 2020 ASCILITE D2L Research Grant.