Alexander Hunter

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Research

As a composer and researcher, Alexander Hunter is interested in the applications of openness, indeterminacy and discontinuity in musical composition and performance; the musical applications of anarchism and intersectional feminism; human–AI collaboration; video game music; media archaeology; and Indigenous curriculum and pedagogy.

ORCID: 0000-0003-2448-5164  ·  ANU Researchers Page

Books and Book Chapters

  • Hunter, A. (forthcoming 2027). ‘Music of the AI-nur: The Soundtracks of Fan-Made AI Films of the Tolkien Legendarium.’ In Sound on Screen: Music and Sound in Transmedia Franchises.
  • Hunter, A. (2026). ‘Learning to Listen: the evolution of a compositional process from control to collaboration.’ In B. Haylock, J. Wilkinson & C. Anderson (Eds.), Thinking Back, Making Forward: Artistic Research in Practice. Valiz. valiz.nl

Journal Articles

  • Hunter, A. (forthcoming 2027). ‘Participatory Multimedia: Video Game Music and Shifting Patterns of Musical Engagement.’ Journal of Music and Sound in Games.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers

  • Hunter, A. & Martin, C. (2025). ‘A Musical Tension and Release Framework for Sonic Interaction Designers.’ 2025 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. chi2025.acm.org
  • Hunter, A. & Martin, C. (2024). ‘Scenario-Based Design to Envision How GenAI Can Support Sound Design Practices.’ 36th Australasian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, OzCHI 2024. ACM Digital Library
  • Hunter, A., Martin, C. & Jolly, M. (2023). ‘Composing Interface Connections for a Networked Touchscreen Ensemble.’ 4th International Symposium on the Internet of Sounds, ISIoS 2023. IEEE Xplore
  • Hunter, A., Swift, B. & Martin, C. (2019). ‘Two Perspectives on Rebooting Computer Music Education: Composition and Computer Science.’ Australasian Computer Music Association Conference Proceedings. ANU Open Research

Conference Papers (Non-Peer-Reviewed)

  • Hunter, A. (2026). ‘Relational Ontologies and Human-AI Entanglement in Improvised Electronic Music Performance.’ InMusic Conference.
  • Hunter, A. (2026). ‘Topics as Boundary Objects: Video Game Music Performance as Transmedia Practice.’ Conference paper.
  • Hunter, A. (2026). ‘Sonic Hauntings and Musical Continuities: Negotiating Nostalgia, Value, and Innovation in Transmedia Video Game Adaptations.’ Ludo206 Conference.
  • Hunter, A., Thoms, R. & Safaei, R. (2022). ‘Embodied Music Theory/ies: Decolonising an Australian Undergraduate Music Theory and Aural Skills Curriculum.’ The First Biennial International Conference of Music and the University, University of Surrey, Guilford, July 2022.
  • Hunter, A., Martin, C. & Jolly, M. (2022). ‘MIDI Controllers and Magic Lanterns: Contextualising a Performative Approach to Media Archaeology.’ Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology — CIM22 ‘Participation’, University of Edinburgh, June 2022. Proceedings
  • Hunter, A. (2022). ‘ᐚᐜᓄᐠᐢᓄ (wanihtam): Hearing it the Wrong Way — Indigenising a Pair of Métis Ears.’ Legacies of Violence Roadshow, ANU, Canberra, June 2022.
  • Hunter, A. (2019). ‘Sounding Canberra: A Community Sound Art and Acoustic Ecology Project.’ Musicological Society of Australia Conference, Monash University.
  • Hunter, A. (2018). ‘Thoughts on an ANU Laptop Ensemble: Where Do New Media Creators Fit in the Modern University?’ CODE 2k18 Conference, Swinburne University.
  • Hunter, A. (2016). ‘Musical Anarchy in the Academy: Using Free Improvisation to Deconstruct Musical Hierarchies.’ Keynote, ‘Music, Creative Practice-Led Research and the Academy’ Symposium, Macquarie University, Sydney, May 2016.
  • Hunter, A. (2016). ‘Intersectionality and Experimental Music.’ Australian Women’s History Network Conference, Queen Victoria’s Women’s Centre, Melbourne, March 2016.
  • Hunter, A. (2015). ‘Why Does Pitchfork Love David Lang’s Pierced?’ Musicological Society of Australia National Conference, Sydney Conservatorium, October 2015.
  • Hunter, A. (2015). ‘Open Music with Early Instruments in an Electroacoustic Environment.’ Modernist Musics and Political Aesthetics, University of Nottingham, April 2015; Music for All, Orpheus Instituut, Ghent, February 2015; Compositional Aesthetics and the Political, Goldsmiths, London, February 2015.
  • Hunter, A. (2015). ‘Reinvigorating Piano Pedagogy of Canonical Works through Contemporary Music Performance Practice and Free Play.’ Roundtable, ‘The Reflective Conservatoire’, Guildhall School of Music, London, February 2015.
  • Hunter, A. (2012). ‘Openness in Musical Notation.’ InSpace, University of Edinburgh, April 2012; Royal Musical Association Annual Research Student Conference, University of Hull, January 2012.

Invited Lectures and Public Talks

  • Hunter, A. (2022). ‘Composition as Synchronised Action.’ Research seminar, ANU School of Music, April 2022.
  • Hunter, A. (2021). Invited talk on Disability and the Arts, ANU Bruce Hall, May 2021.
  • Hunter, A. & Fitzpatrick, N. (2020). Invited talk on Requiem for a Reef, ANU Network on the History and Legacies of Violence Roadshow.
  • Hunter, A. (2016). ‘Re-composing Mike Parr’s Alphabet/Haemorrhage.’ Invited lecture, University of Canberra, ‘Grace Notes: A Symposium on Musical Heritage and Creative Practice’, September 2016.
  • Hunter, A. (2016). Roundtable on Creative Practice as/and Research (with Professors Will Christie, Larry Sitsky and Ken Lampl), ANU School of Music HDR Symposium, November 2016.

Research Interests

  • Open and indeterminate musical composition
  • Human–AI musical collaboration and improvisation
  • Video game music and transmedia practice
  • Magic lantern performance and media archaeology
  • Spatial and immersive audio
  • Ecological art and climate-engaged performance
  • Decolonising music pedagogy and Indigenous curriculum
  • Intersectional feminism and experimental music