Dr Edward Kelly (1974 to 2024)

It is with great sadness that we have learnt that Dr Edward Kelly has passed away. He was a Sound Arts tutor at The Margate School (TMS), loved by students and colleagues alike.

Ed first became part of the TMS community when he participated in a digital arts event in October 2019, not long after the School started to operate out of the Woolworths building in the High Street in Margate. Subsequently he took up a residency in art and technology at the School in early 2022, showing experimental sound installations and running workshops. Ed commented at the time that the residency at the School gave him a sense of freedom to experiment with sound the in the way that he always wanted to.

In 2023 he then kindly took up the role of teaching sound arts at the School sharing his vast technical and theoretical knowledge.  

Ed's work encompassed interactive sound art, digital music, electronics and software design for audio. His work has been published and performed at international conferences and in journals. 

Ed studied Electronic Music with Javier Alvarez, Ian Dearden, and Martin Parry at the University of Hertfordshire in the 1990s. He went on to complete a PhD in composition at the University of East Anglia. For more then ten years he taught and mentored students in Fine Art (Digital) at Camberwell College of Arts, and provided both academic and technical services to students.

Ed suffered from various health issues and only recently had been admitted to hospital. Uwe Derksen, TMS Director, said "I was in email correspondence with Ed in 2022, when he was in hospital for over seven weeks. I recall Ed telling me that 'TMS is first on my list of places to go when I am free again'! I admired Ed's knowledge and passion to experiment with sound, his technical disciplined approach to the subject matter without losing the all important sense of curiosity. We would discuss possible sound installations in the future and the things he still wanted to find out. We have lost a genius and will miss Ed deeply. Thank you Ed for all your support and commitment to the School. You will remain fondly in my memory as an artist, teacher and a fine human being".

Sound Artist Dr Edward Kelly residency at TMS