A major part of my AHRC Fellowship is the development and manufacture of a prototype redesigned oboe and the creation of a number of new compositions for the instrument. This instrument will be demonstrated in concerts, festivals, research forums and conferences and will become the instrument I use professionally.\nI intend to commission five new works for the redesigned oboe. The chosen composers have already written for the standard oboe and in doing so have demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of the instrument, using contemporary techniques and writing at the limits of what is possible on the instrument. The composers also have significant reputations and their works will attract interest from promoters internationally thus further widening knowledge of the work of the Fellowship. The composers currently under consideration are: Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy, Richard Barrett, Edwin Roxburgh and Sam Hayden. A DVD will be made of the work which will serve as both a document of the research and as a promotional tool.\nThis application is for the commission fees for the composers, travel and accommodation costs and funding for the DVD. \nIn addition I intend to create a range of performance related materials for the instrument including developing fingering charts for the altissimo range, compiling lists of multiphonics, microtonal fingerings and other sonic resources as well as exploring the potential of the electronic (hyper-oboe) developments.\nThe composers will work collaboratively with me in exploring the creative and technical potential of the redesigned instrument and as a result will add further knowledge to the lists of fingerings and other sonic resources that I develop. It is expected that the in-depth questioning and creative exploration engendered by the composers will cause me to rethink aspects of the instrument and therefore to seek out further refinements to the key work and possibly even some further redesign work. \nEach composer will write for the instrument in a unique way bringing their own ideas and questions to the research and, even when composers explore similar territory, they will do so from their own perspective and, as a result, will help to widen the knowledge of the instrument. The compositions will vary in their orchestration: oboe and electronics, oboe and piano, oboe and string trio, and oboe and small ensemble which will further add to an understanding of the instrument's capabilities. \nCommissioning composers to write works and be involved in the project has always been a central part of the Fellowship. The aim was to seek out commission fees from a wide variety of sources. However the current financial situation has rendered finding funding much more difficult, many funding bodies are holding back or making decisions only at the last minute, making the planning of a project such as this much more difficult. Having some funding in place for these commissions will attract promoters to the project and open up opportunities for performance that may otherwise not be available. \nThere will be several significant outputs from the research: The five works will all be published, recorded and performed, collaborative activities will all be recorded and an article describing the work will be written and published. The DVD will also be available on the web. \nThe performance partners for each of these works, pianist, string trio etc., are all major performers in their own right and so the performances and recordings will all be of the highest calibre. \nThe works will provide a core repertoire for the redesigned instrument and will be available for other composers to listen to and to study when considering writing for the instrument themselves.\nTwo members of the research department at the Royal Academy of Music (a PhD candidate and a Research Fellow) are also benefiting from this work as areas of the research are informing aspects of their work.