Composition and Experimental Performance
The Western classical composer of the 20th and 21st centuries has largely relied on the services of institutionalised orchestras, opera houses, and ensembles for commissions, realisations and performances of their work.
Whilst the opportunities offered by such institutions undoubtedly provide a platform for the work of many composers, arguably these platforms also apply negative constraints to the creative process, impede experimentation and result in stagnation and a predictable status quo.
Furthermore, cultural changes, such as cuts in public art funding and a general shift away from performing new music in institutionalised orchestras and ensembles, demand the creation of alternative pathways for composers working today.
This cluster consists of researchers who choose to reject this traditional model in favour of a different, more personalised vehicle for the development of their art. Examples include the composer-led ensemble, the composer as performer, or the composer as interdisciplinary practitioner. These and other alternative approaches result in distinctive and original work that would be otherwise unimaginable.
At Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Composition and Experimental Performance Cluster (CEP) we explore, examine and document the potential, difference and impact of work which is realised through alternative and more independently mediated creative processes.
Research concerns and issues:
- Alternatives to the traditional concert hall
- Queerness in/Queering of contemporary music performance
- Control of dissemination of our works (e.g. through our own label, Birmingham Record Company)
- Intersections of sport and music
- Experimental interdisciplinary approaches
- Post-genre composition
- Composer-led collectives
- The composer-as-performer
- Composition with minimal means
- Community engagement as artistic practice
People:
- Professor Joe Cutler (Cluster lead)
- Professor Michael Wolters (Cluster lead)
- Dr Ed Bennett
- Dr Kirsty Devaney
- Dr Bobbie-Jane Gardner
- Dr Simon Hall
- Dr Andrew Hamilton
- Dr Edmund Hunt