Electronic Music Studios

EMS History

Interest in electronic music at Goldsmiths can be traced back to the Spring of 1966 when Daphne Oram first visited the college to deliver a lecture on her work as the co-founder and director of the BBC Radiophonic workshop.

The talk sparked great excitement amongst the faculty and by January of 1968, the ‘Electronic Music Workshop’ was formally founded. The facility was the first of it’s kind at any academic institution in Britain, offering an innovative programme of evening classes which covered a wide range of electronic music composition and production practices.

Daphne Oram

Daphne Oram (1925-2003) is one of the central figures in the development of British experimental electronic music.

Following her death in 2003, her life’s work passed into the care of Hugh Davies who knew Daphne and her work better than anyone in the UK. In January 2005, Sonic Arts Network was asked by Daphne’s family to become custodians of her collected papers, recordings and other items. This collection now resides in the Goldsmiths Special Collections.

Hugh Davies

The musicologist, composer, and experimental instrument builder supported the formation of the EMS at Goldsmiths, University of London, in December 1967 before leaving his collection of electronic sound apparatus and instruments to the studio where it is still in use today.