‘LIBRETTISING’ SCIENCE: Using operatic narrative and performance to re-present scientific thought in an investigation of new methods towards developing contemporary opera.
(2024)
author(s): Roxanne Korda
published in: Birmingham City University
This practice-based research investigates presenting scientific concepts and research on the operatic platform through an interdisciplinary and collaborative process. It focuses on libretti writing and performance, using tools such as anthropomorphism, archetype and mythological characters to engage participants and the audience with the subjects on stage. The work explores how to create an experience which enables a deeper sense of the reality of the science presented, and makes the audience, performers and creative practitioners complicit in the existence of the concepts, or objects, being performed. The performativity of the work is allowed to play a key role in shaping the final piece, as the researcher explores the embodiment of the characters during the process of production towards cyclical presentations of the work.
This investigation includes two major collaborative projects in which I participated as librettist, producer and performer:
1. The Flowering Desert. An opera about the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, written to be performed specifically in planetaria. This involves a collaboration with: composer Daniel Blanco Albert; designer Alexander Kaniewski; filmmaker Tadas Stalyga; projectionist Leon Trimble; and the ThinkTank Planetarium (led by Colin Hutcheson).
2. Lipote: An Interconnected Journey. An opera/musical about deforestation due to intensive agriculture. Set in the soil from the perspective of the roots of trees. This involves a collaboration with: composer Oliver Farrow; jewellery maker Wanshu Li; choreographer Jingya Peng; and sound artist Leon Trimble.
Composition strategies for the creation of science-based interdisciplinary and collaborative music-theatre
(2024)
author(s): Daniel Blanco Albert
published in: Birmingham City University
The practice-based PhD research project comprises the development and application of composition strategies and techniques generated through interdisciplinary collaboration to integrate elements and ideas from non-sonic disciplines into the musical discourse of new music-theatre works, specifically opera. I explore mechanisms of mapping and association that engage with both the specific subject matter of each piece and the creative collaborative environment in which they are created, thus generating different compositional resources that I use to inform the creative process. By using mapping techniques, I can deeply engage and communicate a subject matter on different levels in the musical composition.
The framework for this research is the intertwining of art and science on a variety of levels from a music compositional perspective. Within this framework, I explored the integration of knowledge and data from the natural and social sciences to inform the composition of four science-based music-theatre works: In response to Naum Gabo: Linear Construction in Space No. 1 (2020), Autohoodening: The Rise of Captain Swing (2021), The Flowering Desert (2022), and TRAPPIST-1 (2023).
With this approach, I aim to closely link these works with their particular subject matter instead of being composed based just on my personal musical taste. By consistently and cohesively applying the strategies and techniques explored in this research, the outcome is not creating music about science or music inspired by science, but, instead, music embedded with science in which the scientific data and knowledge inform the composition decisions. The subject matter is therefore intertwined within the musical discourse, its performativity and theatricality, and its relationship with the other disciplines and collaborators involved in the creation of these music-theatre works.
Sonic Citizenship: About the Messy and Fragile Negotiations With and Through Sound
(2024)
author(s): Marie Koldkjær Højlund, Anette Vandsø and Morten Breinbjerg
published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
In this article we propose the concept of "sonic citizenship" as a framework for the multitude of ways in which we, in the rhythms of our everyday lives, form the aural background of each other, and how citizenship is practiced, negotiated, and maintained through everyday sonic activities. With examples of messy, fragile, and difficult interactions with sound from the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that the effort of tuning the soundscapes of the world needs to be complemented by an attuning approach that focuses on the negotiations we are constantly involved with in our everyday lives. The soundscape approach in the tradition of R. Murray Schafer implies that the soundscape is there as a landscape that we can uncover and tune. Conversely, the attuning approach of sonic citizenship understands soundscapes as relationships and dynamic configurations to which we must continuously attune, and which are themselves reconfigured via breaks in habitual attunements.
Refleksjon over Masterprosjekt Sjel og landskap Formidling av nordisk romanselitteratur gjennom musikk og bevegelse
(2024)
author(s): Camilla Marie Bjørk Andreassen
published in: Research Catalogue
I mitt masterprosjekt har jeg ønsket å jobbe med formidling av det klassiske nordiske romanserepertoaret på en måte som bryter noe med den tradisjonelle konsertformen, og som kanskje kan bidra til å berøre et bredere publikum med den fantastiske skatten av tekst og musikk som ligger i denne litteraturen.
I denne refleksjonen vil jeg skrive litt om utgangspunktet for prosjektet, prosjektets og min egen prosess og utvikling, og hva jeg håper blir veien videre.
EXPLORING THE ARTISTIC LEGACY OF WILLIAM GILLOCK: JAZZ EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY PRACTICES IN THE MODERN ERA
(2024)
author(s): Angelina Tarlovskaia
published in: Research Catalogue
This paper explores the artistic legacy of William Gillock through a practice-based lens, focusing on his influence on jazz education and contemporary musical practices. As a composer and educator, Gillock’s work has been instrumental in shaping modern jazz pedagogy.
The study reflects on my own pedagogical practice and its relationship to Gillock’s methods, examining how his compositional techniques and teaching strategies continue to inform my approach to jazz instruction. By engaging with Gillock’s work in practical contexts, I highlight how his contributions foster the development of technical proficiency and expressive artistry among students. This reflection underscores the enduring relevance of Gillock's innovations, as they continue to inspire and shape the growth of the jazz community today, ensuring that his legacy remains central to the evolution of jazz education and performance.
Two Bobs and a Steve
(2024)
author(s): Pavlos Kountouriotis
published in: Research Catalogue
Two men, one score, two saws, one falls. Propelled by their inability to let go, these two men dash to rush with all they have got to grab anything they find that can help them keep on going. This is just another example; an otherwise obsessive, geeky score with the most expected outcome. Immersed within the world of Steve Reich, their goal is to find the human within the mathematical function of the score and to discover the immanent dramaturgies emerging from within this inanimate system.
