Research Catalogue

In this exposition I’m showing you my journey for these past two years of investigating my artistic practice through the meeting of identity and aesthetics. Due to my Iranian background, I have felt a need and curiosity to bring together my Iranian and European identities. This project is a dialogue between myself and music, encompassing sounds, arrangements, physical presence, materiality, technology, context, and politics. By politics I mean; history, cultural appropriation, diversity, colonisation, beliefs, and the current needs of the western culture. A project involving confrontations with habits, default parameters, and elements within digital audio workspaces, thereby incorporating scales.

Digital overview of artistic works by musician Jordan Sand

In this autoethnographic arts-based research, I return to the gift of music in my life and use it as the ultimate form of expression. I explore the process of navigating my own transgenerational trauma through composing and working with musicians from different musical and cultural backgrounds. Something like home explores the effect of finding common ground of love and compassion between my family members, especially those who have been navigating the traumas of war. I collected stories, memories, and impressions from my family’s childhood, and composed music that is inspired by them. In the first sections I discuss some concepts related to the transmittion of war trauma , and Bowen’s family system theory. Moreover, I relate to reasearches and projects that have been concerned with trauma art therapy and dealing with cultural trauma through music. As well as showing examples of composers who have been working with similar processes. In this project, I unfold my compositional process, and I present some possibilities of dealing with harmonizing traditional Arabic music, using partials from the harmonic series. I also share my process of collaborating with a lyric writer and a videographer who have helped me to bring the stories to life. Throughout the process I discovered that engaging with the stories unlocked new artistic outcomes and some unexpected artistic practices, expressions and results. Another important outcome of this project was the need for coming up with approaches that were used for transcultural music making and engaging the musicians with the stories but making sure to leave space for their own artistic identities to come across and shine. In the near future, I am hoping to use this project as a basis of my doctoral research project which will focus on memory expression through music by working with the diverse citizines of the finnish community.

This research explores the influence of bel canto, a distinguished Italian vocal style, on 19th-century guitar compositions, with a particular focus on the works of Luigi Legnani. Through detailed analysis, the study identifies key bel canto characteristics, such as expressive phrasing, melodic ornamentation, and dynamic contrasts, as integral elements in Legnani's guitar music. These findings highlight Legnani's skill in adapting the vocal nuances of bel canto to instrumental performance, creating a bridge between vocal and instrumental traditions. The research enhances the understanding of cross-genre influences in 19th-century music and showcases the artistic versatility of composers like Legnani. To present these findings, the format will include recorded video demonstrations, where specific characteristics of bel canto will be illustrated through selected musical excerpts. These videos will provide a visual and auditory exploration of Legnani’s compositions, allowing audiences to observe the practical application of the research insights. The combination of spoken analysis and video demonstrations offers an engaging and comprehensive understanding of the influence of bel canto on Legnani's works, enriching the overall appreciation of this unique musical intersection.

(English below) Eiras kiosk er ein serie med mindre konsertar, lydinstallasjonar og hendingar som blir annonsert kort tid i forvegen og dukkar opp på stadig ulike stader. Kioskserien er utvikla av Eira Bjørnstad Foss og utgjør ein viktig del av det pågåande kunstnarlege forskingsprosjektet "Performer-Curator" ved NTNU, Institutt for musikk. Eiras kiosk: Skattejakt-edition blei spesiallaga til NTNU Artistic Research Week 2024. Saman med publikum utforska kiosken ulike krinkelkrokar i kulturhuset Olavshallen. Skattejakta tok utgangspunkt i, og er nesten ei realisering av, verket "Ear Piece" av den amerikanske komponisten og utøvaren Pauline Oliveros. Eira’s Kiosk is a series of small concerts, sound installations, and events that are announced shortly before they happen, and pop up in various locations. The kiosk series is developed by Eira Bjørnstad Foss, and forms an important part of the ongoing artistic research project, "Performer-Curator," at NTNU, Department of Music. Eira’s Kiosk: Treasure Hunt Edition was specially created for NTNU Artistic Research Week 2024. Together with the audience, the kiosk explored possibilities for experiences in various nooks and crannies of the cultural venue Olavshallen. The Treasure Hunt was based on, and is almost a realization of, the piece "Ear Piece" by the American composer and performer Pauline Oliveros.

This research explores how choreomania - the historical phenomenon of uncontrollable, communal dance “plagues” that emerged in the Middle Ages - can inform and shape my artistic practice. Central to this inquiry is the question: how does choreomania influence my creative process and the way I shape my performance practice as a classically trained pianist? The study unfolds three main blocks. First, an essay examines the conceptual formation of choreomania, its contemporary relevance, and its impact on my artistic work. Simultaneously, I observe and document the creative processes of artists-in-residence during my internship at the residency programme "Choreomania - Bodily Excess, Collective Unrest". The thrid block involves an experimental playground consisting of several performance try-outs, each rigorously documented, analysed, and reflected upon. Adopting a rhizomatic approach, I explore performance-making as a fluid, irregular process. The resulting performances weave together classical piano, improvisation, movement, voice, collaboration, live-electronics, audience engagement, and the submerged elements of choreomania. The research culminates in a synthesis and reflection of the entire process, offering new insights into performance-making.