Dr. David R. M. Irving
is a musicologist, cultural historian, and baroque violinist. He studied violin and musicology at the Queensland Conservatorium and the University of Queensland, and undertook his doctoral research at Clare College, University of Cambridge, under the supervision of renowned scholar of Spanish Renaissance music, Tess Knighton. Before joining the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, he held posts at Christ's College, Cambridge; Downing College, Cambridge; King's College London; the University of Nottingham; and the Australian National University. At the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, David teaches courses in historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and historical performance practice. A passionate performer on baroque violin, he has worked with numerous leading early music groups in Australia and overseas, including the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Chacona (Australia), Concerto Caledonia (UK), The Early Opera Company (UK), the Gabrieli Consort & Players (UK), The Hanover Band (UK), La Compañía Musical (Spain), La Fontegara (Mexico), La Serenissima (UK), Le Concert Lorrain (France), the Saraband Consort (UK), St James's Baroque Players (UK), Accademia Arcadia (Australia), Latitude 37 (Australia), Ludovico's Band (Australia), Melbourne Baroque Orchestra (Australia), and XVIII-21 Le Baroque Nomade (France). While at Clare College, Cambridge, he played frequently with the Choir of Clare College, under the direction of Timothy Brown. David is a Consultant Editor for the journal Early Music (Oxford University Press), and sits on the Editorial Boards of the journals Eighteenth-Century Music (Cambridge University Press) and Musicology Australia (Taylor & Francis). From 2011 to 2013 he was a Member of Council for the Royal Musical Association (UK), and sat on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Royal Musical Association (Taylor & Francis). In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. David's first book, Colonial Counterpoint: Music in Early Modern Manila (Oxford University Press, 2010), examined musical practices in the Philippines under Spanish colonial rule between 1565 and 1815 (the period of the trans-Pacific galleon trade), and was named one of eighteen "Books of the Year" by BBC History Magazine in December 2010. With historian Tara Alberts (University of York), he co-edited the book Intercultural Exchange in Southeast Asia: History and Society in the Early Modern World (I.B. Tauris, 2013). He has published numerous articles and book chapters, and in 2010 the Royal Musical Association awarded him The Jerome Roche Prize "for a distinguished article by a scholar in the early stages of his or her career". He is the 2015 recipient of the McCredie Musicological Award, "Australia’s most prestigious award for a distinguished contribution to musicology", from the Australian Academy of the Humanities.