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Raymond MacDonald
Background information
Origin	Glasgow
Occupation(s)	Musician and Academic
Instrument	Saxophone
Years active	1985 - present
Website	https://raymondmacdonald.co.uk

Raymond MacDonald is a saxophonist, composer and psychologist with an extensive career in music, cross-disciplinary arts and academia. Much of his work explores the boundaries and ambiguities between what is conventionally seen as improvisation and composition. As a saxophonist and composer, MacDonald has released over 60 CDs, toured and broadcast worldwide and has composed music for film, television, theatre, radio and art installations. He is currently Professor of Music Psychology and Improvisation at Edinburgh University and his recent book, The Art of Becoming: How Group Improvisation Works (co-authored with Graeme Wilson) explores the nature of improvisation. MacDonald has also co-edited five texts and published over 80 academic papers and book chapters.

Early life and education

MacDonald was born in Glasgow (Scotland) to a family steeped in the arts (his father Hamish MacDonald was a renowned contemporary artist) and studied at Glasgow University, where he obtained a PhD in psychology studying the therapeutic effects of music for individuals with learning difficulties. After completing his PhD, MacDonald worked as artistic director for Limelight, a music production company specialising in training and developmental opportunities for people with impairments.

Career as a musician

MacDonald’s work is informed by a view of improvisation as a social, collaborative and uniquely creative process that provides opportunities to develop new ways of engaging musically. He plays in many collaborative free improvisatory contexts, and his roots in jazz and pop music can be heard across all areas of his performance and composition. His unique approach of combining music and psychology and incorporating other artistic disciplines has been used to develop collaborative projects and ongoing working relationships around the world. He began his performing career playing guitar in Remember Fun, as part of the indie scene in Glasgow in the late 1980s and moved into jazz playing with saxophone quartet The Hung Drawn Quartet and a jazz trio, Another Hairdo. 

MacDonald has collaborated with musicians across the spectrum of international contemporary music, such as Marilyn Crispell (US), George Lewis (US), David Byrne (UK/US), Jim O’Rourke (US), Damo Suzuki (JP/DE), Kang Tae Hwan (KR), Axel Dorner (DE), Tatsuya Nakatani (JP), Tony Buck (AU), Michael Zerang (US), Fred Lonberg-Holm (US) Satoko Fujii (JP) and Natsuki Tamura (JP). His list of UK collaborators is equally extensive, and includes Evan Parker, Nurse with Wound, Fred Frith, Keith Tippett, Barry Guy, Harry Beckett, Keith Rowe, Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Steve Noble, Steve Beresford, the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO), and Future Pilot A.K.A. He is a founding member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO) and co-leads the George Burt-Raymond MacDonald Quartet.  He plays with Alister Spence and Sia Xray in Sensaround and has long standing duo partnerships with Marilyn Crispel and Gunter “Baby” Sommer.

MacDonald instigates and collaborates on cross-disciplinary projects and has worked with visual artists, dancers, writers and filmmakers. Cross-disciplinary projects include collaborations with Christine Borland, Simon Starling, Martin Boyce, Douglas Copland, a BBC Radio 3 commission Between the Ears for Burt-MacDonald Quintet (BMacD5), and an ongoing collaboration Scarecrows & Lighthouses with Boyce and David Mackenzie. MacDonald has also worked with Mackenzie on film soundtracks, including Young Adam (2003), Outlaw King (2018) and short film What is Essential? that debuted on Netflix as part of their anthology series Homemade, (2020). Other contributions to music for film and TV include soundtracks for Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising (2010), and Scottish Television series Taggert.

Selected collaborative projects

• This is not improvised but that is: Lockdown 2020 (2020), with daughters Eva and Maria. Broadcast as part of Improvfest 2020, hosted International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, Guelph, Canada.
• Theatre of the Home (2021), with Maria Sappho
• Duet for two people who have never met (2020), with Rachel Joy Weiss.
• Return to Y'Hup: The world of Ivor Cutler (2020), a reimagining of the first release by Scottish poet and composer Ivor Cutler. Co-created with Matt Brennan and Malcolm Benzie.
• Still My Sleepy Fortunes (2019), new work commissioned by Creative Scotland to mark the centenary of Scottish writer Muriel Spark.
• Silent Music | Seeing Sound (2019), exhibition of graphic scores at The Royal Scottish Academy with ongoing collaborator Jo Ganter (visual artist and print maker).
• Together (2017), a new score commissioned by PRS Foundation with musician Christian Ferlaino for Lorenza Mazzetti's 1956 silent film.
• Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra, founding member (2002 - present)
• Guitar and Saxophone duo with musician Jer Reid

Discography

Albums

Academic career

Between 2000-2012, MacDonald worked in the Psychology Department at Glasgow Caledonian University where he led the Glasgow Caledonian Music Psychology Research Group.  Since 2012 he has held the position of Professor of Music Psychology and Improvisation at Edinburgh University and was Head of The School of Music between 2013 and 2016.  He was editor of the journal Psychology of Music between 2006 and 2012.  He runs workshops and lectures internationally on issues relating to composition, improvisation, music education, health and wellbeing  and musical communication.

Publications

Books

• MacDonald, R. and Wilson, G. (2020), The Art of Becoming: How Group Improvisation Works New York: Oxford University Press.

Edited books

• MacDonald R.A.R, Miell D & Hargreaves D.J.  EDS (2017), The Oxford Handbook of Musical Identities Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• MacDonald R.A.R, &. Kreutz, G Mitchell, L.A., EDS (2012),  Music, Health and Wellbeing Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Hargreaves D.J.  Miell D & MacDonald R.A.R, EDS (2012), Musical Imaginations Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Miell, D. MacDonald R.A.R, & Hargreaves D.J. EDS (2005), Musical Communication Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• MacDonald R.A.R, Miell D & Hargreaves D.J.  EDS (2002), Musical Identities Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Selected refereed journal articles & book chapters

• MacDonald, R.A.R , Burke, R.L.  De Nora , T, Sappho Donohue, M. and Birrell, R. (2021)  Our Virtual Tribe: Sustaining and Enhancing Community via Online Music Improvisation Frontiers in Psychology.
• MacDonald, R.A.R. and Birrell, R. (2021) Flattening the curve: Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra’s use of virtual improvising to maintain community during COVID-19 pandemic. Critical Studies in Improvisation.
• MacGlone, U. M.; Vamvakaris, J.; Wilson, G. B. & MacDonald, R. A. R. (2020) ‘Understanding the effects of a community music programme for people with disabilities: a mixed-methods, person-centred study’. Frontiers in Psychology.

References

1. ^ "Prof Raymond MacDonald (academic staff profile)". Edinburgh College of Art. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
2. ^ "Travellin' Light". www.pointofdeparture.org. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
3. "Tectonics". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
4. ^ MacDonald, Raymond A. R.; Wilson, Graeme B. (25 June 2020). The Art of Becoming: How Group Improvisation Works (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190840914.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-084091-4.
5. ^ "Raymond MacDonald". University of Edinburgh Research Explorer. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
6. McQuillan, Rebecca (20 September 2008). "Hamish MacDonald". The Herald. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023 – via PressReader.
7. MacDonald, Raymond Alfredo Rossi (1996). Structured music workshops for individuals with learning difficulties : an evaluation study (PhD thesis). University of Glasgow.
8. Hargreaves, David J.; MacDonald, Raymond; Miell, Dorothy (1 January 2016). Hallam, Susan; Cross, Ian; Thaut, Michael (eds.). "Musical Identities". The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198722946.013.45. ISBN 978-0-19-872294-6. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
9. "One on one ...with Raymond MacDonald | The Psychologist". thepsychologist.bps.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
10. "Limelight Music". Retrieved 16 April 2021.
11. "Raymond Macdonald". Glasgow international. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
12. Kee, Joanne (9 September 2013). "An interview with Raymond MacDonald". Jazz Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
13. ^ Jazz, All About. "Raymond MacDonald: Man with Two Brains article @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
14. ORCID. "Raymond MacDonald (0000-0002-9748-4480)". orcid.org. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
15. "heart/noise, by Sensaround". hellosQuare. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
16. ^ "A new order set to music Visual artist Martin Boyce has formed his own park life with a soundtrack by an innovative collaborator, reports Moira Jeffrey". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
17. "Scarecrows & Lighthouses, part one: Scarecrows, Tramway, Glasgow". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
18. ^ "Biography". raymondmacdonald.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
19. "Outlaw King Album – Department Odd". departmentodd.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
20. "Department Odd – a creative avenue for projects – most of which are evolving slowly". departmentodd.com. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
21. "Event Archive". Improvisation Festival. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
22. This is not improvised but that is: Lockdown 2020, retrieved 2 June 2021
23. GIOfest XIII - Theatre Of The Home by Maria Sappho and Raymond MacDonald, retrieved 28 March 2021
24. "with Raymond MacDonald". Sappho. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
25. Smith, Robin. "Raymond MacDonald + Rachel Joy Weiss". Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
26. "Return to Y'Hup: The World of Ivor Cutler review – tribute to surreal poet's fantasy island". the Guardian. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
27. "Citizen Bravo, Raymond MacDonald and Friends: Return to Y'Hup: The World of Ivor Cutler review – charming tribute to a national treasure". the Guardian. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
28. "Musical celebration of Muriel Spark to take centre stage at Edinburgh Festival Fringe". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
29. "Celtic Connections: Raymond MacDonald & Friends - Works Inspired by Muriel Spark at The Glad Cafe, Glasgow on 18 Jan 2019". The Glad Cafe. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
30. "SILENT MUSIC | SEEING SOUND | Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture". www.royalscottishacademy.org. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
31. "Graphic Scores: Jo Ganter & Raymond MacDonald". ganter | macdonald. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
32. "Live tour of new commission for 'Free Cinema' film 'Together' (1956): Beyond Borders". PRS for Music Foundation. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
33. Owen, Benjamin (23 April 2021), 'Calling Names' Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid, retrieved 2 June 2021
34. "Firestation Records | Germany's No. 1 Indie Pop Label". firestation-records.de. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
35. Schweben - Ay, but Can Ye? by Barry Guy, retrieved 23 March 2021
36. Stepping Between the Shadows by Alister Spence & Raymond MacDonald, retrieved 23 March 2021
37. "Improcherto (for HB) by George Burt, by Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with Lol Coxhill & Evan Parker". Iorram Records. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
38. "Lin Flax, by Raymond MacDonald & David Stackenäs". Iorram Records. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
39. Buddy by The Raymond MacDonald International Big Band, Jim O'Rourke & Toby Hall, retrieved 23 March 2021
40. Cities by Raymond MacDonald, Satoko Fujii, Neil Davidson, Natsuki Tamura, Tom Bancroft, retrieved 23 March 2021
41. "Streetlevel, by Peter Nicholson & Raymond MacDonald". Iorram Records. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
42. "Metamorphic Rock, by Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra & George Lewis". Iorram Records. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
43. Other Voices by Raymond MacDonald / Aoife Mannix, retrieved 27 March 2021
44. Rich In Knuckles – Listen Big (2005, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
45. "George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Septet". Discogs. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
46. The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra With Maggie Nicols – Which Way Did He Go? (2005, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
47. Hotel Dilettante by Lol Coxhill & The George Burt & Raymond MacDonald Quintet, retrieved 8 June 2021
48. George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Sextet featuring Keith Tippett – A Day For A Reason (2005, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
49. Raymond MacDonald / Giles Lamb – Asylum Sessions (2005, CDr), retrieved 8 June 2021
50. The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra With Evan Parker – Munich And Glasgow (2004, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
51. George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Octet Featuring Lol Coxhill – Popcorn (2004, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
52. The George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Quartet With Lol Coxhill – Coxhill Street (2002, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
53. Burt/MacDonald4, Lol Coxhill – Tsunami (2001, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
54. Remember Fun – Train Journeys EP (2001, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
55. George Burt Raymond MacDonald Quartet – Big Brothers (2000, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
56. George Burt Raymond MacDonald Quartet – Oh Hello (1998, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
57. The Hung Drawn Quartet – A Train In The Distance (1995, CD), retrieved 8 June 2021
58. A Lighthouse In The Desert (1989, Vinyl), retrieved 23 March 2021
59. Max-Planck-Institut. "IDEA Lecture with Raymond MacDonald: The Art of Becoming: what is improvisation and why is it important". www.aesthetics.mpg.de. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
60. Raymond A. R. MacDonald; David J. Hargreaves; Dorothy Miell, eds. (2017). Handbook of musical identities (First ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-175999-4. OCLC 975027391.
61. MacDonald, Raymond; Kreutz, Gunter; Mitchell, Laura, eds. (23 February 2012). Music, Health, and Wellbeing. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586974.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-958697-4.
62. David J. Hargreaves; Dorothy Miell; Raymond A. R. MacDonald, eds. (2012). Musical imaginations: multidisciplinary perspectives on creativity, performance, and perception. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-956808-6. OCLC 753300206.
63. Dorothy Miell; Raymond A. R. MacDonald; David J. Hargreaves, eds. (2005). Musical communication. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852936-8. OCLC 58546138.
64. Raymond A. R. MacDonald; David J. Hargreaves; Dorothy Miell, eds. (2002). Musical identities. Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-4237-0562-9. OCLC 667096025.
65. MacDonald, Raymond; Burke, Robert; De Nora, Tia; Sappho Donohue, Maria; Birrell, Ross (23 February 2021). "Our Virtual Tribe: Sustaining and Enhancing Community via Online Music Improvisation". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 623640. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.623640. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 7940664. PMID 33708151.
66. MacDonald, Raymond; Birrell, Ross (6 May 2021). "Flattening the Curve: Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra's Use of Virtual Improvising to Maintain Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic". Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation. 14 (2–3). ISSN 1712-0624.
67. MacGlone, Una M.; Vamvakaris, Joy; Wilson, Graeme B.; MacDonald, Raymond A. R. (14 December 2020). "Understanding the Wellbeing Effects of a Community Music Program for People With Disabilities: A Mixed Methods, Person-Centered Study". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 588734. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588734. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 7768027. PMID 33381067.

External links

• Official website (for recording work)

• 1967 births
• Living people
• Academics of the University of Edinburgh
• British male saxophonists
• Alumni of the University of Glasgow
• FMR Records artists