Artistic Research in Music: Discipline and Resistance

The Orpheus Institute celebrates 20 years of artistic research in music. Artistic research in music is now at a generational stage of development. How should it deal with its own maturing? From a kaleidoscope of individual pursuits, ethos and methodologies have emerged to encompass more distributed approaches. This transformation has taken place in parallel with changes in the dynamics and structures of culture, its institutions and constituencies. Artistic research maintains a productive dialectic between its potential status as discipline or as practice. It has developed topoi, tropes and its own canon of cases, texts and figures. How does it negotiate relationships with institutions, disciplines and bodies of theory while retaining the critical perspective of the artist? Twenty years ago the Orpheus Institute was founded in Ghent to pursue research through the practice of musicians and thus the Orpheus Institute is of the same generation as the field it was established to explore. This festive volume in honour of 20 years of the Orpheus Institute reviews the initial trajectory and looks ahead to the institute’s new position.

This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).

Contributors: Tom Beghin (Orpheus Institute, Ghent), Paulo de Assis (Orpheus Institute, Ghent), Leonella Grasso Caprioli (Conservatorio di Vicenza), Jonathan Impett (Orpheus Institute, Ghent), Esa Kirkkopelto (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Kari Kurkela (University of the Arts, Helsinki), Susan Melrose (Middlesex University, London), Stefan Östersjö (Orpheus Institute, Ghent), Gertrud Sandqvist (Malmö Art Academy), Huib Schippers, Vanessa Tomlinson, Paul Draper (Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre, Griffith University), Luk Vaes (Orpheus Institute, Ghent), Janneke Wesseling/ Kitty Zijlmans (Leiden University)

"Artistic Research in Music: Discipline and Resistance" was written by Jonathan Impett, Paulo de Assis, Tom Beghin, Jo Bury, Rémy Campos, Paul Draper, Leonella Grasso Caprioli, Robert Höldrich, Esa Kirkkopelto, Kari Kurkela, Bernard Lanskey, Don McLean, Susan Melrose, Ellie Nimeroski, Stefan Östersjö, Janet Ritterman, Frans de Ruiter, Gertrud Sandqvist, Huib Schippers, Georg Schulz, Vanessa Tomlinson, Peter Tornquist, Luk Vaes, Kevin Voets, Janneke Wesseling and Kitty Zijlmans.

Jonathan Impett is director of research at the Orpheus Institute and associate professor at Middlesex University London.

Paulo de Assis is artist researcher (pianist, composer, music philosopher) and research fellow at the Orpheus Institute.

Stefan Östersjö is a guitarist, chaired professor of Musical Performance in Piteå School of Music at Luleå University of Technology, and associate researcher at the Orpheus Institute, Ghent.

Yes, "Artistic Research in Music: Discipline and Resistance" is part of the "Orpheus Institute Series" series.

Throughout the Orpheus Institute’s various activities there is a clear focus on the development of a new research discipline in the arts, one that addresses questions and topics that are at the heart of musical practice, building on the unique expertise and perspectives of musicians and in constant dialogue with more established research disciplines.

Within this context, the Orpheus Institute launched an international Research Centre in 2007 that acts as a stable constituent within an ever-growing field of enquiry. The Orpheus Research Centre is a place where musical artists can fruitfully conduct individual and collaborative research on issues that are of concern to all involved in artistic practice. It is important that at the centre of the international Orpheus Institute network is a place, a building, a community. As the concepts and methodologies of artistic research in music have evolved, work at Orpheus Institute has found new structures. Since 2012, research has been consolidated into a number of groups focused on specific areas, each led by a principal investigator of substantial international reputation as a practicing musician. The work of Orpheus Institute is disseminated through events, publications and musical performances, and through its active animation of discussion within the sector.

This series of peer-reviewed publications —launched in 2013— encompasses monographs by Research Fellows and associates of the Orpheus Institute, compilations of lectures, texts, and performances from seminars and study days, and edited volumes on topics arising from work at the institute. Research can be presented in digital media as well as printed texts. As a whole, the series is meant to enhance and advance discourse in the field of artistic research in music and to generate future work in this emerging and vital area of study.

Editorial board

William Brooks (Chair, Series Editor), Peter Dejans, Jonathan Impett, Kathleen Coessens, Paulo de Assis, Heike Vermeire, Ed Crooks, Laura Cull, Aurelie Daems

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editor William Brooks.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Introduction Jonathan Impett
Part 1 Current Research
Rasch24 The Somatheme Paulo de Assis
The C-natural That Wants to Be a C-sharp: Visions and Realities of Beethoven’s Broadwood Tom Beghin
Thinking-through-Music: On Knowledge Production, Materiality, Embodiment, and Subjectivity in Artistic Research Stefan Östersjö
Artistic Research Avant la lettre? The Case of Glenn Gould’s Brahms Concerto Interpretation Luk Vaes
Searching for Depth in the Flat World: Art, Research, and Institutions Esa Kirkkopelto
On Research, Truth, and the Art of Making Music: An Essay from a Psychodynamic-Philosophical Point of View Kari Kurkela
Two Decades of Artistic Research: The Antipodal Experience Huib Schippers, Vanessa Tomlinson, Paul Draper
Facing the Future Looking Back: Understanding Music as a Field of Knowledge One Hundred Years Ago Leonella Grasso Caprioli
New Knowledge from the Artist’s Perspective: On Artistic Research Gertrud Sandqvist
Running in Circles, with “Music” in Mind Susan Melrose
Q and A: Towards a Practice of Artistic Research Janneke Wesseling and Kitty Zijlmans
Posing the Question within the Framework of Artistic Research Janneke Wesseling
Giving an Answer Kitty Zijlmans
The Contemporary Musician and the Production of Knowledge: Practice, Research, and Responsibility Jonathan Impett
Part 2 Institutional Perspectives
A Conversation with Jo Bury Ellie Nimeroski
The Impossible Unity of Musical Practice? Rémy Campos
Past—Present—Future Frans de Ruiter
Artistic Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz: Interim Assessment and Perspectives Robert Höldrich
From Audacious Vision to Impactful Reality: An Extraordinary Journey Worthy of Orpheus Bernard Lanskey
Of Orpheus and Artistic Research Don McLean
Whither Artistic Research? Janet Ritterman
The Orpheus Institute: The Driving Force behind the “Artistic Research Movement” Georg Schulz
Making Research Sound Peter Tornquist
Conservatoires in Flux: Research in the Arts in the Flemish Conservatoires of the Twenty-First Century Kevin Voets
Appendix Notes on Contributors Index