iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

The Royal Holloway PLAY! Festival has started! www.royalholloway.ac.uk/about-us/eve... It's just a few days until my modest contribution for it - Dan Elphick sings Bob Dylan II: More Bob, More Dylan (featuring the brilliant Simon Watterton on piano). 9pm on Wednesday, the Packhorse.

Poster for my PLAY! festival event: 'Dan Elphick sings Bob Dylan II: More Bob, More Dylan' (featuring Simon Watteron). 10 June 2026, 9pm, The Packhorse, Egham.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Today, 4:30-6pm BST: online launch event for our collection, 'Constructing Polish Musical Identities Outside Poland since 1880: Sounding Polish' (ed. Stephen Downes and Daniel Elphick) Featuring three contributors and both editors, this promises to be an engaging book launch! Message me for link.

Book cover for said volume - featuring a highly stylised portrait of Paderewski.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Delighted to have been a guest expert on this morning's BBC Radio 4 Today programme! I was in bright and early to mark the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Shostakovich's First Symphony, including playing a short extract in the studio at Broadcasting House!

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Pleased to have my copy of this in today's post! I'm delighted to have my chapter included alongside such prestigious scholars. Thanks to Beata and Jolanta for editing! www.ispan.pl/instytut/dzi...

Cover of the book 'Sounds of Freedom, Echoes of Control: The Warsaw Autumn Festival Across the Iron Curtain', edited by Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska and Jolanta Guzy-Pasiak (Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 2026).

First page of my chapter 'Polish-Soviet Musical Exchange: Composers' Delegations in the 1960s'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Pleased to share that I've been confirmed as a staff member of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway: www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and... Looking forward to working with colleagues in this important area, including my research on the Holocaust in Soviet and East European music.

Image of the landing page of the Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway; header reads 'The Holocaust Research Institute at Royal Holloway is one of the leading academic centres of its kind in Europe, internationally recognised for its research, teaching, public engagement and creative work'.

My bio on the HRI page. Reads: 'Daniel Elphick (Lecturer in Musicology)

Daniel Elphick is a musicologist interested in questions of music and politics, especially in East-European and Russian music. Dan studied at Keele University and the University of Manchester and joined Royal Holloway in 2017. Dan’s work on Holocaust topics includes music-making within Holocaust contexts, but focuses especially on music written in commemoration of the Holocaust. Since his PhD, Dan’s work has included a special focus on the Polish-Jewish-Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg, who left an extensive amount of music written in commemoration, including the opera The Passenger. Dan is currently working on a study of Holocaust commemoration within Soviet music, including Shostakovich, Weinberg, and more. Dan is the author of Music Behind the Iron Curtain: Weinberg and his Polish Contemporaries (2020) and co-editor (with Stephen Downes) of Constructing Polish Musical Identities Outside of Poland since 1880: Sounding ‘Polish’ (2026). Dan is a Fellow of the Centre for Russian Music at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a convenor of the Slavonic and East European Music study group of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES). His teaching at Royal Holloway includes the undergraduate module ‘Music & the Holocaust’.

Research Interests

- Musical representation of the Holocaust
- Music-making in Holocaust contexts
- Russian and East-European music
- The politics of commemoration'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Genuinely very excited to receive my copy of this in the post today! During my PhD (2012-2016) I would have been so nerdily thrilled to have another book on Weinberg (and in English, to boot!) and I still have that twinge of excitement now. I'm honoured to be included among so many great authors.

Front cover of the book 'Mieczysław Weinberg: Between East and West', edited by Michelle Assay and David Fanning.

Front page of my chapter in the book, 'Weinberg and the Warsaw Autumn Festival: Reactive Modernism and Nostalgia'.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Battersea Park Half Marathon done, very pleased with time of 1:48:47! First race of the year, and a significant milestone of recovery from injury last year.

Strava map of the route for the Half Marathon (8.75 laps round the park!)

Me looking tired but proud in the pub afterwards.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

It's not every night that you open a gig for Nick Cave! A truly wonderful concert, intimate and moving. And the beautiful surroundings of St. Bart's made it even more special. One to remember for a long time to come.

Backstage pass, 'Nick Cave and Colin Greenwood'

Me playing the organ as warm-up before Nick Cave!

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

From a friend: a cinema near me was offering 'Baby Club' tickets to see the 'Nuremberg' film. It's certified '15' and bears the warning that it features "images of real dead bodies". It somehow doesn't scream 'child-friendly' to me?

Screenshot of Everyman cinema website, with a 18 November date for 'Baby Club' tickets for the film 'Nuremberg'. The content warning notes list 'images of real dead bodies, Holocaust references, strong violence'.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

I am referencing my own writing and other media appearances in a lecture tomorrow morning. I always show this image in lectures any time I have to reference my own writing.

Still from 'Friends'. The character Joey is excitedly pointing to his own face, which is showing on a television. He looks very serious in the television appearance, but looks excited in the room while he is pointing at the image.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Very excited for this Saturday, hosting the 2025 Conference for the Slavonic And East European Music Study Group (SEEM) of @basees.bsky.social! Very much looking forward to welcoming brilliant researchers to Royal Holloway and sharing our beautiful central London campus.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

'That is one big pile of shit' (Jurassic Park, 1993)

Photo of me surveying a 15-foot-high pile of horse manure.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Excited to see a new Weinberg book, announced with a publication date of January 2026! It promises to be a fantastic collection of essays, including a modest one by myself. www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

Cover of the new book 'Mieczysław Weinberg: Between East and West', edited by David Fanning and Michelle Assay.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

From my Friday evening appearance on BBC Radio 3, speaking during the proms interval!

Me speaking in the radio3 box at the Royal Albert Hall, with several wonderfully grumpy-looking people in front.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

All set up at Glastonbury, come see us in The Park if you're on site this week!

Our lovely decorated Big Easy Jam piano!

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Spotted in a couple of gigs at work last week!

Me playing guitar and singing, part of a gig of me singing Bob Dylan songs in the pub. Photo credit Marcus Lai.

Me playing bass and singing, part of a showcase of music from the module 'Rhythm is gonna get you' (the lecturers put a band together!) Photo credit Marcus Lai.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Well, this email looks legit, where do I sign up?

Email reads: 'Greetings, from the illuminati world elite empire. Are you a business Man/woman, politician, musician, student, employee. Do you strive to expand your knowledge to achieve personal growth, Do you want to be rich?, need protection, be powerful and famous. If YES! Then you can achieve your dreams by being a member of the great illuminati empire. Once you are a member all your dreams and heart desire can be fully accomplish. With this brief summary, If you are interested to become a member of the great illuminati then get back to us for more information about joining the illuminati. kindly reply us back on our direct recruitment email only at: infoilluminati@religious.com Please note, Kindly make sure all your response are send directly to the email stated above.'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

Rob Burrow Leeds marathon done, with a new personal best time of 3:42! Very pleased.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

At BFI for a showing of 'Slade in Flame', almost obliged to go to support Black Country culture. Curiously, showings are mostly limited to London and Dudley...

A giant cut-out poster for the film 'Slade in Flame' in the foyer of BFI, Southbank.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Very pleased to get stuck into both of these over the bank holiday weekend (and I'm off to a Kate Bush tribute this evening!)

Olga Tokarczuk's 'The Books of Jacob', an enormous book in gorgeous Fitzcarraldo Editions blue binding.

Vinyl copy of 'In Rainbows' by Radiohead

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Really excited to be welcoming lots of brilliant researchers to Royal Holloway Music tomorrow and Thursday for the Society for Music Analysis theory and analysis graduate students' conference (TAGS). Look forward to hearing about some wonderful research projects.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Extremely pleased with today's find in a local charity shop!

Cover of a vinyl copy of Bob Dylan's 'Blonde on Blonde', complete with '£6' price tag.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Pleased with my DIY work yesterday evening, assembling shelves for my home study. All a slow project of renovation, one room at a time.

My home study, with writing bureau and chair. On the wall above it, three courses of shelving (complete with books), that I put up yesterday evening. My cat Martha sits next to the bureau, looking eerily like a bad taxidermy.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Highlight of the film 'Russian Ark' (watching this evening)

Shot of a tv showing the film 'Russian Ark'. Caption reads 'Russian music makes me break out in hives'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

And done, with a new pb faster by a minute than previous! A great race with fun atmosphere.

My medal - image of Battersea Park peace tower, with 'Battersea Park Chase the Moon' under it.

My running stats - finishing time of 44:12.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Today at Royal Holloway: I'm giving a lecture on the music of Galina Ustvolskaya as part of the music department's New Sounds Festival - all welcome! www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and...

Poster for my talk today, in the Emily Wilding Davison building event space, 1pm. The poster image shows the composer Galina Ustvolskaya sat in a forest.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Watched 'Hiroshima mon amour' for the first time this evening. My goodness, what a film.

Poster for Alain Resnais's film 'Hiroshima mon amour'.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Excited to be bringing the BASEES music study group conference to Royal Holloway later this year! Call for papers is now available (see here: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-j...) We welcome all submissions, including ones related to our theme of 'music and gender' in Slavonic/East European music.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Very sorry to hear of the death of Bernd Feuchtner, the president of the Deutsches Schostakowitsch Gesellschaft. He was a key figure in Shostakovich research, as well as an advocate for early and new opera, opera production, and directing. He will be sorely missed.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

A charming note found inside the second-hand copy of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' that I've just started.

'I like your taste in literature... but isn't this a little steamy? What would your grandmother think? Remember to read in broad daylight, we wouldn't want to be getting any ideas now would we. Best, Alex.'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Last reminder for any and all Royal Holloway folks - I'm giving a research seminar talk tomorrow, with title of 'Music Under Collapse', 4pm in Wettons Terrace 001. Come for the awful jokes, stay for the post-seminar wine.

Events webpage for the seminar, titled 'Music Under Collapse' (4pm, Wettons Terrace 001, RHUL Music Department, Tues 28 January).

Abstract reads:

'‘Music Under Collapse’ is a project that examines the experiences of musicians and audiences under the Soviet Collapse, 1985-1995. In this time, state support for compositions and concerts diminished to almost nothing, and scarcity of basic resources took imperative over artistic pressures. At the same time that economic precarity reached new heights, artistic pressures almost vanished, in that the state control exerted for most of the Soviet Union virtually vanished.

My research examines what the Soviet project meant for musicians and their audiences at the very end of the Soviet era – all that was lost and all that was gained during this tumultuous time. While composers had to endure the withdrawal of state support (and, consequently, having to adjust to market economics for the first time in their lives), audiences had to deal with the diminishing prestige of music and ‘high art’ – with the rise of ‘low art’ venues in the 1990s. In this talk, I present an overview of the main research questions and challenges for this project, as well as a case study of the main organisational body for Soviet music - the Composers’ Union.'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Looking forward to the first session of my 'Russian film club' screening series tomorrow, an extra-curricular part of my 'Russian Music, Literature, and Film' module at Royal Holloway Music. Free for all RHUL students/staff to attend!

A poster for the film series, complete with Russian 'Kino Glaz' classic poster by Rodchenko. Films include 'Aleksander Nevsky', 'The Cranes are Flying', 'Solaris', and more.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Released 50 years ago today, Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks'. I dislike the word 'masterpiece', but if I'm ever going to use it...

Album cover of Bob Dylan's 'Blood on the Tracks'

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I'm so pleased to finally have this framed and up on the wall! A beautiful Marc Chagall sketch for his ceiling at the Opéra Garnier, Paris.

Beautiful Chagall sketch, in a gold frame, on my wall.

Shot of the same, showing corner of my living room with bookcase.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Out with the old and in with the new (my running shoes are recyclable!) (They're made out of BEANS!)

Two pairs of On cloudneo shoes, one pair very dirty and worn, the other new and clean.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Very very wet first long run of the year done (so wet that it was a bit like going for a swim). Also, first instance of one of my 2025 resolutions - more running selfies!

Selfie, looking soggy in my running gear, but happy.

Infographic of my 23km run this morning (slow pace owing to muddy footpaths!)

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Timeline cleanse: Martha resplendent in the morning sun.

Martha the tabby cat lying on my dining table, with warm winter sunlight streaming through large windows behind.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Last long run of the year done, smashed a half marathon personal best by 30 seconds! More than 3000km run this year, here's to running in 2025!

Overview of my long run. 22km in Windsor Great Park, with the pace steadily increasing over it.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

2024 running 'unwrapped! (A few weeks left in the year left to tip it into 3000km)

Image showing my strava stats for running in 2024. 2971km in total, 272 hours spent running.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

I loved 'Waiting for Godot' this evening, with Lucian Msamati and Ben Whishaw as Estragon and Vladimir. See it if you can before the run finishes!

'Waiting for Godot' poster, Lucian Msamati as Estragon and Ben Whishaw as Vladimir.

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Dan Elphick @danelphick.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

In this morning's post: my copy of Leanne Langley's history of the @royalmusical.bsky.social, 'The Royal Musical Association: Creating Scholars, Advancing Research' (Boydell). Looking forward to reading!

Front cover of Langley's book; it collates cartoons of lots of Victorian-looking gentlemen in conversation or reading, against a blue background.

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