Dr Andrew Gustar

Qualifications: PhD (Open); MA (Music) (Open); MA (Mathematics) (Cambridge); Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries

I graduated from Girton College, Cambridge, in 1986 with a first class honours degree in mathematics.  I then qualified as an actuary and worked in a life assurance company for several years, before taking voluntary redundancy and deciding to pursue my long-term interest in music.  I began studying music with the Open University, working through all of the undergraduate modules and then the MA.  This led on to a PhD – ‘Statistics in Historical Musicology’ – completed in 2014 under the supervision of Professor David Rowland (music) and Professor Kevin McConway (statistics).  The subject of my thesis brought together my skills in music research with my previous experience in actuarial mathematics and statistical modelling and analysis. 

Recent publications include versions of my MA dissertation, and of the project completed whilst studying for the MA.   I have presented on various aspects of my research at conferences organised by the Open University and by the Royal Musical Association.  I am the author of two units (10 and 11) of the course materials for A873 (MA in Music Part 1), based on my doctoral thesis, and continue to provide support to this course in respect of statistical and quantitative methods. As an Honorary Associate with the Open University, I have supported Dr Robert Samuels with some quantitative analysis relating to his research on symphonies, and have recently presented conference papers on the migration patterns of Russian composers, and on British composers in the nineteenth-century German sheet-music market.

I am Company Secretary and Treasurer of a professional chamber orchestra, the Bristol Ensemble, and a regular volunteer at Dartington International Summer School.  I also play the piano and compose music.