Composing the Politics of Musical Creation: The Composer as the Mediator of Collaborative Work Interactions by Helga Arias

This dissertation investigates composer-performer collaboration through the lens of artistic research, guided by the development and implementation of the Iterative Feedback Model for Collaborative Composition (IFMCC). Designed specifically for this study, the IFMCC offers a framework for shaping interactions between composers and performers, with a focus on iterative decision-making, feedback, and shared authorship. The research addresses how collaborative composition alters creative roles, compositional processes, and performative outcomes. Three case studies form the core of the investigation: a residency with Ensemble Vortex; a remote collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble; and a participatory composition project situated in a pedagogical context at the Heidelberg University of Education. Each case reflects a distinct collaborative environment, ranging from professional ensembles to educational institutions. Grounded theory methods are employed to analyze audiovisual documentation, participant interviews, digital portfolios, and workshop data. The findings highlight the importance of group size, disciplinary diversity, and tacit knowledge in shaping collaborative flow and authorship. They further show how technology, when adapted responsively, can shift the composer’s role from author to facilitator, enabling more distributed creative agency. By comparing the model’s application across varied contexts, the study outlines how the IFMCC supports both compositional openness and structural coherence—distinguishing it from models based on open form or post-hoc feedback. The dissertation concludes with a proposed taxonomy of distributed authorship, a discussion of institutional limitations, and recommendations for implementing collaborative models in artistic and educational frameworks. Keywords: Keywords: Composer–Performer Collaboration, Iterative Feedback Model for Collaborative Composition (IFMCC), Collaborative Composition, Grounded Theory, Performative Practices, Participatory Composition, Artistic Research, Institutional Frameworks Abstract (Deutsch) Diese Dissertation untersucht die Zusammenarbeit von Komponist:innen und Interpret:innen aus der Perspektive der künstlerischen Forschung, geleitet durch die Entwicklung und Anwendung des Iterative Feedback Model for Collaborative Composition (IFMCC). Das eigens für diese Studie entworfene Modell bietet einen Rahmen zur Gestaltung von Interaktionen zwischen Komponist:innen und Interpret:innen, mit besonderem Fokus auf iterative Entscheidungsprozesse, Rückmeldungen und geteilte Autorschaft. Die Forschung behandelt die Frage, wie kollaboratives Komponieren kreative Rollen, kompositorische Prozesse und performative Ergebnisse verändert. Drei Fallstudien bilden den Kern der Untersuchung: ein Residenzprojekt mit dem Ensemble Vortex; eine Fernzusammenarbeit mit dem International Contemporary Ensemble; sowie ein partizipatives Kompositionsprojekt im pädagogischen Kontext an der Pädagogischen Hochschule Heidelberg. Jede Fallstudie repräsentiert ein unterschiedliches kollaboratives Umfeld, das von professionellen Ensembles bis zu Bildungseinrichtungen reicht. Zur Analyse von audiovisuellem Material, Interviews, digitalen Portfolios und Workshop-Daten wurden Methoden der Grounded Theory herangezogen. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen die Bedeutung von Gruppengröße, disziplinärer Vielfalt und implizitem Wissen für den kollaborativen Prozess und die Autorschaft. Zudem zeigen sie, wie Technologie – bei flexibler Anpassung – die Rolle der Komponist:innen von der Autorenschaft zur Moderation verschieben kann, wodurch kreative Verantwortung stärker verteilt wird. Durch den Vergleich der Anwendung des Modells in verschiedenen Kontexten wird aufgezeigt, wie das IFMCC sowohl kompositorische Offenheit als auch strukturelle Kohärenz unterstützt – und sich dadurch von Modellen des offenen Formdenkens oder nachträglichen Feedbacks unterscheidet. Die Dissertation schließt mit einem Vorschlag für eine Taxonomie verteilter Autorschaft, einer Diskussion institutioneller Rahmenbedingungen sowie Empfehlungen zur Implementierung kollaborativer Modelle in künstlerischen und pädagogischen Strukturen. Schlüsselwörter: Kollaboration Komponist:innen-Interpret:innen, IFMCC, kollaboratives Komponieren, Grounded Theory, performative Praktiken, partizipative Komposition, künstlerische Forschung, institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen Schlüsselwörter: Kollaboration Komponist:innen-Interpret:innen, IFMCC, kollaboratives Komponieren, Grounded Theory, performative Praktiken, partizipative Komposition, künstlerische Forschung, institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen

Appendices

The appendices in this exposition mirror the structure of the written dissertation and bring together selected research materials that underpin the three case studies. While the main chapters focus on analysis and interpretation, the appendices present interview designs, sample transcripts, survey tools, test results, and documentation examples that illuminate how the research was conducted in practice.

In particular, the appendices provide access to full interview recordings and transcripts from the first and second case studies, the questionnaires and personality tests used in I See You, and selected materials relating to documentation and communication. For the third case study, which is extensively documented on the project website Lieder aus der Fremde, the appendices point to this existing online archive rather than duplicating its content.

Together, these materials offer insight into the methodological depth of the project and make visible the dialogic and empirical foundations of the Iterative Feedback Model for Collaborative Composition (IFMCC).

Appendix A – Interview Design (Pilot Project)
This appendix presents the interview design used in the pilot phase of the project. The guiding questions focus on the perceived impact of the composer’s strategies, the role of the score and technology, group dynamics, authorship, and criteria for success or difficulty in collaborative processes. The pilot interview format served as a basis for refining later interview protocols in the three case studies.

Interview design:

Points to be studied in the interview:

Composer’s strategies helped/ influenced in the creative part of the performers? How?
Composer’s strategies helped in the interaction?
Role of the score? Influence?
Role of technology, how did it influence the process?
Group dynamics?
Role of participants? Well-established roles? Flexible? Hierarchies?
How much do you think you contributed to the piece?
How could you have contributed more?
Was it beneficial? To what extent? group dynamics, relationship composer-ensemble, group flow and creativity, aesthetic openness, creation process (global), final result, others?
Disadvantages of working this way? --> instructions clear? Misleading? Technology? Structures not clear?
Description of success? Interaction with the music?

Appendix B – Sample Interviews (Case Study I: Ensemble Vortex)
This appendix provides selected interviews from the first case study with Ensemble Vortex, including conversations with performers (e.g. Anne Gillot) and artistic collaborators (e.g. Daniel Zea). The interviews explore participants’ experiences with the piece, perceptions of technology and score, group dynamics, and questions of authorship and agency.

Below, full transcripts are provided as downloadable PDFs, accompanied where possible by audio or video recordings of the original interviews. Short excerpts included here illustrate key themes that informed the analysis in Chapter 5.

Interview with Anne Gillot

Interview with Daniel Zea

Appendix C – Survey and Test Workplan (Case Study II: ICE)
This appendix documents the survey design and test sequence used with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble in the second case study. The workplan includes a series of tasks combining video-based response, personality and musical preference tests (e.g. DISC, Musical Universe), and open questions about listening habits. These instruments were used to explore performer identity, decision-making, and responsiveness in relation to the IFMCC.

Survey ICE

(30-45 min experience)

• Impartiality of the composer: they don’t know me so they do not know what I expect from their answers/reactions. This is already a statement, because usually the reactions of the musicians are strongly determined by their willingness to “please” the composer or to fulfill her musical ideas.

Tasks:

1) Watch this video and respond sonically with your instrument to the screen inputs (2-3’)

2) Take this DISC test. You have to put yourself in an imaginary situation that fits into your work as a group musician (a jam session, a rehearsal, etc…). It can refer to only one of the musical genres you play (classic, jazz, contemporary, pop, rock, etc). All your answers have to be consistent with this situation.

After taking the test, send us the results and describe the situation you had in mind.

https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/index.php

3) Watch this video again and respond sonically with your instrument to the screen inputs (2-3’)

4) Answer the following questions

• You are jet-lagged in the Tokyo airport, sitting and waiting for your next flight. You are listening to some music with your headphones on. What song/piece are you listening to?

• Which is the song/piece that makes you nostalgic?

• Which is the song/piece that makes you feel most energetic?

5) Take the following test:

https://musicaluniverse.io/basic/

6) Watch this video again and respond sonically with your instrument to the screen inputs (2-3’)

Appendix D – Musical Personality Test (Example Result)
This appendix presents an excerpt from the Musical Universe personality test taken by one participant (Wendy Richman). It illustrates the type of feedback produced by the test and the dimensions considered (e.g. Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion). Such results were not analysed quantitatively but served as contextual information when reflecting on performer identity and collaborative behaviour in Case Study II.

Appendix E – DISC Test Results (Sample)
This appendix includes selected excerpts from DISC personality profiles of participant Jennifer Curtis from Case Study II. These example illustrate the descriptive format of the test and the way in which traits such as Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance were articulated. As with the Musical Universe test, the results functioned as a qualitative lens on performer individuality rather than as strict analytical categories.

Appendix F – Video Annotation of Interviews (Case Study II)
This appendix presents examples of how recorded interviews from the second case study were annotated and analysed. Video annotation tools were used to tag segments related to authorship, interaction, technology, and group dynamics, enabling a fine-grained, time-based view of how participants described their experiences. The images and examples shown here illustrate the methodological link between qualitative coding and audiovisual documentation.

Interview with Ross Karre

Interview with Josh Modney

Interview with Wendy Richman

Appendix G – Student Blogs and Digital Portfolios (Case Study III)
In the third case study, each student developed an individual blog as a digital portfolio, documenting their evolving reflections, conceptual ideas, and pedagogical considerations. These blogs served simultaneously as assessment tools in the educational context and as rich qualitative sources for the artistic research.

The full set of blogs, alongside recordings and documentation, is available on the project website Lieder aus der Fremde. Here, selected excerpts are presented as illustrative examples.

🌐 Project website: Lieder aus der Fremde

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Helga Arias - Composing the Politics of Musical Creation: The Composer as the Mediator of Collaborative Work Interactions - 2025