This research project aims to explore and innovate collaborative practices of vocal improvisation that focus on the specific role of language in singing. When we sing together improvising, how do we use language and what kind of meaning do we produce? And how can a different use of language in a community of singers inaugurate new meanings and innovate musical practice? These questions are approached from a collective standpoint that challenges the separation between performer and audience, experimenting with a tradition of singing together and a laboratorial dimension of performing. The methodology integrates collective improvisations with a historical analysis of choral improvisation practices and a theoretical investigation of meaning production informed by key concepts in linguistics, especially pragmatics, and rhetoric. By providing new insights on the use of language in singing, this research project will help rethink the much-discussed relationship between voice and language, sound and meaning, from an artistic perspective. Additionally, exploring collective improvisation practices will contribute to a broader understanding of community-building and collaborative forms within and through music.
Promoters: Pascal Gielen, Tiziano Manca, Katrien Van Opstal
(c) Pietro Pancella
