Connecting Voices - Composing Material For An Improvisational World explores dramaturgical possibilities in connections of improvisation and composition.
I’m fascinated by the dramaturgical potentials in music that combines improvised and composed material in the performance. The pairing of structure and spontaneity—where the dynamic and the unpredictable coexist—has its own kind of tension. It opens new rooms, offers new perspectives and broadens my understanding of music and life, both as a performer and as a listener. This project explores how connections of improvisation and composition, through its dramaturgical possibilities, can generate new artistic possibilities and give rise to fresh perspectives on music making and listening.
I apply the concept of dramaturgy in a musical context, as a framework to integrate both the formal dimensions of music—such as composition, structure, form, and progression—and its contextual and narrative aspects. This understanding of the concept may also accommodate music’s interaction with non-musical elements, as part of an interdisciplinary expression.
Connecting Voices — Composing Material For An Improvisational World connects voice and electronics, improvisation and composition, and the musical voice with voices from other artistic disciplines—seeking approaches that can serve as a foundation for new, unified forms.
Anita Kaasbøll is a Norwegian vocalist, and currently a Ph.D. fellow in jazz and improvised music at the Faculty of Performing Arts at the University of Stavanger. She holds a master's degree in performing music studies from the jazz program at NTNU Trondheim, is originally from the island of Hitra and living in Oslo. Kaasbøll works in the genre-crossing field of improvised music, drawing inspiration from jazz and improvised music, contemporary music, noise, pop/rock and spoken word. She works with a combination of voice and electronics, with a particular interest in the interplay of improvisation and composition. During her 20 years as a performing and composing musician, Kaasbøll has collaborated with numerous innovative and groundbreaking musicians, composers and performing artists both nationally and internationally.