Research Outputs (Traditional + NTRO)
Dr Nicholas Freer’s work demonstrates a sustained capacity to translate complex musical knowledge into accessible, scalable formats across performance, analysis, and pedagogy. Through an integrated portfolio of recordings, scholarly outputs, and an extensive video catalogue, his practice enables advanced concepts in jazz, improvisation, and harmonic systems to be engaged by diverse audiences, including students, practitioners, and community learners. This translational approach supports both research dissemination and student-centered learning, aligning creative practice with contemporary educational and industry contexts.
His work explores topics such as:
- Extended techniques, notation and interpretation in contemporary guitar repertoires
- Post-tonal conceptions of harmonic organisation
- Intervallic cycles, fuzzy sets and teleological misdirection in modern improvisation
- Cross-disciplinary collaborations between musicians and visual artists
Access published papers.
PhD Thesis
Allan Holdsworth: Principles of Harmonic Organisation in Selected Compositions PhD thesis
Allan Holdsworth PhD context video
MTO Allan Holdsworth: Principles of Harmonic Organisation in Selected Compositions
Masters thesis
Awards
The Conservatorium Director’s Award for Exceptional Doctoral Research
The University of Melbourne 2022 MCM Thesis title: Allan Holdsworth Principals of Harmonic Organisation in Selected Compositions.
Barbara Bishop Hewitt Scholarship: Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, 2023.
49th Grammy Awards, Shortlist Nomination, (Nick Freer and Avatar for Best Pop Instrumental Album), 2006
Shortlisted for the Apra Professional Development Awards, (Nick Freer, Composition), 2015-16.
National Art Music Awards: Shortlisted for the Excellence in Experimental Practice, 2023.
Teaching & Research Integration
My research and creative practice directly inform my teaching, particularly in improvisation, harmonic analysis, and performance. Creative outputs and video materials are embedded into curriculum as case studies, analytical models, and performance frameworks, supporting applied and student-centered learning.