Interconnections seeks to find innovative forms of expression in the interplay between improvisation and composition, based on my practice as a performing and composing musician. Combinations of improvised and composed material are essential in my work, and I am fascinated by the dramaturgy that arises from these combinations. By dramaturgy, I mean in this context the staging of musical elements — how they interact with each other and other elements involved, and the action and tension that this interplay creates. Improvisation and composition have contrasting qualities due to their different processes and methods; improvisation happens intuitively in real-time, while composition involves longer processes with temporal distance to the material. When these two are combined, mixtures and juxtapositions of different forms, content, structures and progressions emerge, creating various contexts and narratives. This contributes to a unique dramaturgy.
So, what can dramaturgy in improvisational music imply, and how can we communicate about it?
Interconnections aims to develop effective methods and strategies for working with musical dramaturgy in various artistic formats. How can improvisation and composition approach each other in quality, and how can their differences be exploited dramaturgically? How can I use improvisation and composition as dramaturgical tools in my music? I will explore this in a solo format with voice and electronics, and in musical and transdisciplinary collaborations. I find that music often takes on a different meaning when interacting with other media, and that the elements involved are shaped by this. How is my music affected by interaction with other media, and what does it mean for the use of improvisation and composition?
Keywords:
Improvisation and composition
Musical dramaturgy
Voice and electronics
Transdisciplinarity
Anita Kaasbøll is a Norwegian vocalist, and currently a Ph.D. fellow in jazz and improvised music at the Faculty of Performing Arts at the University of Stavanger. She has a master degree in performing music from the jazz program at NTNU Trondheim, is originally from the island of Hitra and living in Oslo. Kaasbøll works in the genre-crossing field of improvised music, drawing inspiration from both jazz and improvised music, contemporary music, noise music, pop/rock and spoken word. She works with a combination of voice and electronics, with a particular interest in the interplay of improvisation and composition. During her 20 years as a performing and composing musician, Kaasbøll has collaborated with numerous innovative and groundbreaking musicians, composers and performing artists both nationally and internationally.
