This project aims to tests the efficiency of Present Time Composition (PTC), developed by Alan Bern. Unlike approaches that emphasize the improviser's freedom of expression, PTC requires the improvisor to react firstly as a composer and only secondly as a performer. The decline of improvisation in Western art music has caused that important aspects of the relationship between composition, performer and audience get neglected. PTC's central premise is that it should be possible for a group to intentionally create musical structures that are mostly associated with the process of written composition.
During the research, an intervention study is proposed in which an experimental group, consisting of six to nine conservatory students, will receive PTC training during six months (two to four hours a week). Two expert panels will examine if the participants made significant process in group improvisation, interpretation of composed music and evolution in the subjective experience of music. The results will be presented in concerts, lectures and a paper.
