recent activities
Untitled (What's the last word You never heard?)
(2025)
Gianluca Di Francesco, FRANCO RIPA DI MEANA, MengYao Zhu, Xueying Wang, Mauro Palatucci, Maria Cristina Reggio, Alessia Tessitore, Elena Giulia Rossi, Claudia Digrandi, Veronica Di Geronimo, Teodora Ricci, Eleonora Scarponi, Gauri Abbattista, Ahzi Gaytan Monzani, Xaioxi Wang, Andrea Guidi, Livia Viola, Ming Lu, Valentina Saggio, Francesca Paganelli, Devrim Kadirbeyoglu, Veronica Lilli, Giulia Tucciarelli, Caiyi Li, XiaoQi Wei, ZeHao Li, Jiayi Guo
A silence lingers where words once stood, a fragile pause between what was said and what remains forever untold.
I’m gonna build the cemetery of echoes, words suspended in time, each gaze a question, each absence a weight.
Fragments of lives held in stillness, unfinished moments longing for release. Across the space, words rise like shadows.
Memory dances with loss, the tangible and the fleeting entwined. It is not closure we seek, but the tender acknowledgment of incompleteness.
Transmutations: a staged concert / Transmutações: um concerto cênico
(2025)
Pedro Pablo Cámara Toldos
Transmutations seeks to redefine the term transformation through a staged concert — a concert conceived as a work of art in itself.
The traditional concert format and conventional performance practices are showing signs of stagnation, thus calling for the emergence of a voice adapted to this transformation.
The boundaries of music, especially within the classical realm, have gradually blurred in recent times. Increasingly, artists are exploring the concert as a form of expression that not only integrates other artistic disciplines but also embraces technological advancements. This approach challenges traditional aesthetic conventions and the notion of genre and musical style. The omnipresence of technology in contemporary society underlines the need for research that explores the many possibilities of the concert format.
This staged concert aims to redefine the concept of transformation by avoiding any stylistic boundaries. The works of Richard Strauss, John Cage, and Alexander Schubert are included not only for their artistic value but also for their contribution to the very notion of transformation.
recent publications
The influence of Bel Canto on the 19th-century guitar repertoire.
(2025)
Nacho Cuadrado
This research explores the influence of bel canto, a distinguished Italian vocal style, on 19th-century guitar compositions, with a particular focus on the works of Luigi Legnani. Through detailed analysis, the study identifies key bel canto characteristics, such as expressive phrasing, melodic ornamentation, and dynamic contrasts, as integral elements in Legnani's guitar music. These findings highlight Legnani's skill in adapting the vocal nuances of bel canto to instrumental performance, creating a bridge between vocal and instrumental traditions.
The research enhances the understanding of cross-genre influences in 19th-century music and showcases the artistic versatility of composers like Legnani. To present these findings, the format will include recorded video demonstrations, where specific characteristics of bel canto will be illustrated through selected musical excerpts. These videos will provide a visual and auditory exploration of Legnani’s compositions, allowing audiences to observe the practical application of the research insights.
The combination of spoken analysis and video demonstrations offers an engaging and comprehensive understanding of the influence of bel canto on Legnani's works, enriching the overall appreciation of this unique musical intersection.
Eiras kiosk: Skattejakt-edition. ARW 2024
(2025)
Eira Bjørnstad Foss
(English below)
Eiras kiosk er ein serie med mindre konsertar, lydinstallasjonar og hendingar som blir annonsert kort tid i forvegen og dukkar opp på stadig ulike stader. Kioskserien er utvikla av Eira Bjørnstad Foss og utgjør ein viktig del av det pågåande kunstnarlege forskingsprosjektet "Performer-Curator" ved NTNU, Institutt for musikk.
Eiras kiosk: Skattejakt-edition blei spesiallaga til NTNU Artistic Research Week 2024. Saman med publikum utforska kiosken ulike krinkelkrokar i kulturhuset Olavshallen. Skattejakta tok utgangspunkt i, og er nesten ei realisering av, verket "Ear Piece" av den amerikanske komponisten og utøvaren Pauline Oliveros.
Eira’s Kiosk is a series of small concerts, sound installations, and events that are announced shortly before they happen, and pop up in various locations. The kiosk series is developed by Eira Bjørnstad Foss, and forms an important part of the ongoing artistic research project, "Performer-Curator," at NTNU, Department of Music. Eira’s Kiosk: Treasure Hunt Edition was specially created for NTNU Artistic Research Week 2024.
Together with the audience, the kiosk explored possibilities for experiences in various nooks and crannies of the cultural venue Olavshallen. The Treasure Hunt was based on, and is almost a realization of, the piece "Ear Piece" by the American composer and performer Pauline Oliveros.
Sculpting Music Performances: About Choreomania and the Process of Shaping a Performance
(2025)
Silvia De Teresa Navarro
This research explores how choreomania - the historical phenomenon of uncontrollable, communal dance “plagues” that emerged in the Middle Ages - can inform and shape my artistic practice. Central to this inquiry is the question: how does choreomania influence my creative process and the way I shape my performance practice as a classically trained pianist? The study unfolds three main blocks. First, an essay examines the conceptual formation of choreomania, its contemporary relevance, and its impact on my artistic work. Simultaneously, I observe and document the creative processes of artists-in-residence during my internship at the residency programme "Choreomania - Bodily Excess, Collective Unrest". The thrid block involves an experimental playground consisting of several performance try-outs, each rigorously documented, analysed, and reflected upon. Adopting a rhizomatic approach, I explore performance-making as a fluid, irregular process. The resulting performances weave together classical piano, improvisation, movement, voice, collaboration, live-electronics, audience engagement, and the submerged elements of choreomania. The research culminates in a synthesis and reflection of the entire process, offering new insights into performance-making.