This artistic research project explores how classical vocal technique can underpin a sustainable and diversified vocal practice that embraces extended vocal techniques, alternative notational systems, and collaborative compositional processes. The investigation is grounded in my own experience as a classically trained singer navigating new repertoire, and is structured around three interrelated research questions: (1) How can classical vocal technique support the development and maintenance of a sustainable and diverse vocal practice—balancing technical and health considerations? (2) In what ways do alternative notation systems (graphic, video, hybrid) shape the singer’s interpretive agency and co-creative presence in new works? (3) How can insights from the creative process be transformed into artistic methods and toolkits that support other singers in exploring diverse vocal music?
Methodologically, the project unfolds through continual cycles of experimentation, rehearsal, composer collaboration, and reflective dialogue (e.g. interviews, self-documentation). The creative process itself becomes generative research, producing new vocal works, recorded material, evolving methods, and resources that may include annotated fragments or workshop explorations. A deliberate limitation is placed on technique choice: only those extended vocal approaches that I find integrable with classical training and sustainable for long-term vocal health will be explored.
Dissemination will occur through performances in Norway and internationally (e.g. Borealis Festival, Rosendal Festival, Transparent Sound Festival), in collaboration with institutions such as the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, as well as through a digital archive and presentations in artistic research forums. The project aims not only to generate artistic works but to contribute to the critical discourse on vocal practice, offering embodied insight into how classical and extended techniques can inform each other and enrich the expressive and technical potential of the singing voice.
Zsuzsa Zseni-Clausen: Ph.D. Artistic Research Fellow, The Grieg Academy – University of Bergen
I am a Hungarian-Norwegian classical singer and educator based in Bergen. My artistic background lies in classical Lied, opera, and contemporary vocal performance. I hold a master’s degree in classical singing from the University of Bergen and a postgraduate degree in performance from the University of Stavanger, with additional studies in drama and interdisciplinary art from NMH.
Over the past decade I have performed at major Norwegian festivals such as Borealis, Festspillene i Bergen and Bergen Kirkeautunnale, and internationally at festivals in Iceland, Germany, and Hungary. As a member of the experimental vocal ensemble Tabula Rasa, I collaborate regularly with composers on new works that merge extended vocal techniques, improvisation, and theatrical elements.
My current Ph.D. project, “The Expanding Voice – Classical technique as a foundation for diverse vocal practices,” explores how classical singing technique can support the development of sustainable and diverse vocal practices. The project combines artistic experimentation, collaboration with composers, and reflective documentation to create new works and artistic toolkits for singers navigating contemporary and new repertoire.