Dr Sasha Millwood - Edge Hill University

Profile

Biography

Dr Sasha Millwood is the Répétiteur (Staff Pianist) at Edge Hill University, in which capacity he coaches and rehearses student singers on the Musical Theatre course, preparing them for and accompanying them in solo and ensemble performances, notably the annual production of a new musical, harnessing his experience and insight as a performer and researcher of new music in the service of guiding students through the process of learning a role that does not yet have a performance history.

Beyond the University, Dr Millwood maintains a thriving portfolio career of freelance performing, teaching, coaching, and consultancy. He performs as a soloist, accompanist, and ensemble player in various contexts, from informal background music to full concerts, from the theatre‐pit to the most distinguished stages. As an accompanist, he has performed alongside amateur and professional musicians at all levels, from complete beginners to accomplished singers of international renown. He cultivates a repertoire encompassing famous and obscure works from various eras and styles of the Western classical tradition, including many works for which his performance constituted a world, European, or UK première. He is the pianist for the London New Wind Festival, a chamber ensemble specialising in new music.

Dr Millwood’s scholarly background is in the investigation of contemporary compositional praxis in Western classical music, exploring the scope and purview of the professional role labelled “composer” and how it relates to other facets of the music profession (such as performance). His doctoral research, conducted under the joint auspices of the University of Glasgow and the British Library during 2015-2020, interrogated the affordances and limitations of archival papers in elucidating the praxis of a living composer, Thea Musgrave. Prior to his doctoral research, he undertook postgraduate studies in composition and classical improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and undergraduate studies in music at Girton College, University of Cambridge.