Tom Bruges
Tom Bruges is a composer and improviser from the United Kingdom. His music challenges what it means to be ‘out-of-tune’: whether in terms of the literal music (pitch, listening experience, etc.) or to broader culture (nature, intersubjective, etc.). He is currently studying with Chaya Czernowin and has previously worked with Jennifer Walshe, Johnathan Packham and Martyn Harry. Most recently, his text-based work Hawthorn Blossom was featured on the CoMA catalogue, his piece Wichmann(2,3) included in a sound art installation at Lá nas Árvores led by University of Évora, Portugal, and microtonal ensemble work 252 Impulses of Magnolia was performed by University of Oxford’s Ensemble Isis.
As a performer and improviser, Tom works mostly with his classical guitar, having studied with Craig Ogden and Stephen Goss through the Oxford-RAM exchange scheme. This has included projects such as a performance of Concierto de Aranjuez with the Oxford University Philharmonic and a performance of the complete works for solo guitar of Micheal Finnissy. Tom has also played with Ensemble Isis, Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Bate Collective (theorbo). In 2022, Tom founded a concert series of new music, Red Lipstick, at the JdP building, St Hilda’s College. Highlights include a collaboration with free improvisation duo Matmos, a 10-hour radio broadcast of new music on Oxide radio for the Oxford New Music Festival, and installations at Modern Art Oxford collaborating with EMPRes.
As doctoral student in historical musicology at Harvard, his research will look at the history, theory, and philosophy of tuning in the West. He earned his BA in music from St Anne’s College, University of Oxford in 2025 where he was awarded the Gibb’s prize for music and an MSt in Music (Musicology) from Christ Church, University of Oxford in 2026 during which time he held the Carey Scholarship.
Last updated: September 17, 2026
