Dr Polfreman joined Music at the University of Southampton in 2004, having previously worked at the University of Hertfordshire, where he completed his PhD in user-interface design for software based sound synthesis systems.
Dr Polfreman’s research over many years has explored the interface between musicians and technology, looking for novel ways in which to enhance the experience for performers, composers and musicologists. This has often focussed on music-related Human Computer Interaction with a range of stakeholders, from those challenged in their appreciation of music through hearing impairment, through live performers with electronics, to systems with the potential to enhance the processes of composition and analysis of music and sound. Recent work has focussed on music and motion and the use of hand and body tracking systems in controlling sound and in conducting.
Dr Polfreman has also worked on a wide range of industry projects involving live performance and installations, many of which were in collaboration with Sound Intermedia (London), including world premieres of works by Benedict Mason, Jonathan Harvey, Harrison Birtwistle and Simon Bainbridge, as well as a number of re-workings of compositions by Luigi Nono.