Stuart McCallum

Deputy Head of Popular Music and Creative Multi-Specialist Professor of Guitar, Composition and Production

BMus, PhD

About Stuart

  • Deputy Head of Popular Music
  • Tutor in Guitar for Years 3 & 4 and Masters Popular Music students
  • Tutor in Composition and Production, Years 3 & 4
  • Research into Immersive Audio performance and composition practice

From jazz beginnings to alt-folk and electronica, Dr Stuart McCallum is one of the most vital and creative musicians of his generation. An in-demand guitarist, composer, producer and educator, Stuart’s current projects include:

  • The Breath – signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records, the duo of Stuart and vocalist Rioghnach Connolly was nominated for Best Act at the BBC Folk Awards.

  • Solitude – a series of solo acoustic guitar albums released on Edition Records.

  • Music for Imaginary Film – a series of cinematic-inspired albums co-written with Mark Slater

  • Richard Spaven – co-writing and performing with the well known UK drummer

  • Research – Stuart’s research interests are practice-based approaches to contemporary music performance, composition and production in immersive audio studio and live environments. He completed his musical composition doctorate, ‘Making Music in the Real World’, in 2020.

Stuart rose to prominence writing for and playing with the Cinematic Orchestra, on their Ma Fleur and Live at the Royal Albert Hall albums, as well as on their award winning Disney soundtrack, The Crimson Wing.

Stuart’s varied career has involved collaborations with electronic artists such as Jordan Rakei, James Zoo, JP Cooper and Bjork percussionist Manu Delago; performances with UK jazz greats John Surman and Kenny Wheeler; recordings with American jazz stars Ari Hoenig, Ira Coleman and Dan Weisz;  and performances with prominent folk artists, such as Danny Thompson and Michael McGoldrick.

Current and Future Research

Stuart’s research focuses on immersive audio, including music-making in Dolby Atmos and live speaker arrays (DnB Soundscape) – incorporating immersive audio technologies and practices in contemporary music composition and production.

Research Areas

  • Performance, composition and production for immersive audio environments
  • Solo guitar compositions

External Research Roles

  • Principal Lecturer, Leeds Conservatoire (2011 – 2020)

Funded Research Projects

UKRI

Arts Council England

British Council

Undergraduate Teaching

  • BMus Popular Music

Postgraduate Teaching

  • MMus Popular Music

Research Supervision

Current supervision of PhDs:

  • Hans-Martin Buff
  • So Yeon Kim

Practice Research/Compositions

Paraorchestra and The Breath – Barbican. London

McCallum, S. (Performer), 22 Apr 2026

Richard Spaven – Brick Lane Jazz Festival

McCallum, S. (Performer), 24 Apr 2026

Richard Spaven – Club Gretchen, Berlin, DE

McCallum, S. (Performer), 31 Jan 2026

Richard Spaven – Franz Melhose, Erfurt, DE

McCallum, S. (Performer), 30 Jan 2026

Richard Spaven – Lescar, Sheffield

McCallum, S. (Performer), 7 Jan 2026

Richard Spaven – The Verdict, Brighton

McCallum, S. (Performer), 23 Jan 2026

Slowly Rolling Camera – Kings Place, London

McCallum, S. (Performer), 18 Jan 2026

The Breath – Bristol Folk Festival, Bristol Beacon

McCallum, S. (Performer), 2 May 2026

The Breath – Hellens Manor, Much Marcle

McCallum, S. (Performer), 11 Mar 2026

The Breath – Otley Courthouse, Otley

McCallum, S. (Performer), 6 Feb 2026

Public Presentations and Performance

Paraorchestra – Open Loop

McCallum, S. (Speaker / presenter)

21 Jan 2026 — 23 Jan 2026

Stuart McCallum – guitar masterclass

McCallum, S. (Invited speaker)

6 Nov 2025

WOMEX 2024 – The Breath – Live concert in VR: presentation

McCallum, S. (Speaker / presenter)

25 Oct 2024