COURSES AT GC PARTNER INSTITUTIONS
Summer semester 2025
Application via email to globalconservatoire@mdw.ac.at until 29th January 2025.
DANISH Diction in art song
Institution: The Royal Danish Academy of Music
Study level: tbc
Course tutor: Eva Hess Thaysen
Course content: We will be working with repertoire from the anthology “Danish Diction in Art Song” which contains scores, translations (lyric and word to word), IPA written directly into the scores, and biographies of the composers. The anthology is available for free online at danishdictioninartsong.dk or for purchase through the publisher.
Through the asynchronous and synchronous sessions, you will be introduced to the historical and cultural context of these Danish art songs and receive coaching in language and musical interpretation.
Participants sign up as voice-piano duos. Knowledge of IPA is not a prerequisite.
Sound, music and the environment
Institution: The Royal College of Music, London
Study level: Master (but open to advanced Bachelors)
Course tutor: Nicholas Moroz
Course content: Aimed at both performers and composers, this course explores themes of Sound and Environment in music through recent scholarship and a diverse array of musical practices, from the twentieth century through to contemporary cultures, including examples from popular music, sound art, modernism, and experimental music. Students will encounter a range of perspectives that will enable them to critically and creatively engage with and reflect on topics including the aesthetics, techniques, and reception of site-specific artworks, modern spatial audio production practices, ecological thinking, soundscape, and field-recordings. Practical and creative tasks will also develop students’ listening skills while exploring their own experience of sound in different environments.
the underrepresented in opera
Institution: Manhattan School of Music
Study level: Bachelor, Master
Course tutor: James Massol
Course content: This class covers the history of opera from the earliest works to the present, considering operas written or performed by underrepresented creators. The content for this course includes works by underrepresented composers/librettists and/or stories about BIPOC, LGBTQ, and woman characters, which would typically be performed by such performers. The chosen repertoire blends canonical works with lesser-known repertoire. Topics include biography of the creators, experiences in the creative process, choice of stories, context of stories, treatment of characters in the stories, casting of the roles, reception history, etc. In some cases, we will take a critical view of representation and in other cases not. Readings will include underrepresented authors, and all performances will include a high percentage of underrepresented artists.
free improvisational techniques
Institution: Conservatoriun van Amsterdam
Study level: Master
Course tutor: Yaniv Nachum
Course content: Exploring the art of spontaneous musical creation in Free Improvisation techniques: This course covers foundational exercises, instrumental possibilities, and advanced methods in free improvisation.
Engage in live collaborative sessions, drawing insights from classical and jazz examples. Develop personalized improvisational skills through diverse practices and examples, bridging theory, analysis, and practical application in a dynamic learning environment.
COURSES AT GC PARTNER INSTITUTIONS
Winter semester 2024
Performance Practicality: Historical Performance Practice on Modern Instruments
Institution: The Royal Danish Academy of Music
Study level: Bachelor, Master
Course tutor: Christian Westergaard und Toke Møldrup
Course content: This course focuses on building bridges between the craft of music making in the past and the art of interpretation today. Through concrete tools, through stepping in the shoes of the well-educated musician of 17th and 18th century, you will gain knowledge about composition, performance, context and concrete practice, all with the purpose of gaining stylistic fluency and vocabulary.
Dates of the Live Sessions (Zoom): 24.10.2024, 07.11.2024, 05.12.2024; Start: 16:00 CET
Art of Improvisation
Institution: The Royal College of Music London
Study level: Bachelor
Course tutor: Richard Thomas, Mark Armstrong, Paul Robinson, Tim Watts
Course content: This course is aimed at both composer/performers and Principal Study Performers who have an existing command of their instrument but would like to develop improvisational skills. A prerequisite for opting for this course is a willingness to go outside of your comfort zone. The course is mainly assessed through submitted recordings of improvisations within the following headings: Jazz Improvisation (Mark Armstrong), Baroque ornamentation (Richard Thomas), Sonic Meditations (Tim Watts) and Improvising to external stimuli (Paul Robinson). Those of you with existing experience of improvising will be encouraged to select an option unfamiliar to you. Although the practical side of the course is based in practices from Western Music, the asynchronous content will consider improvisational practices in a wider global context.
Dates of the Live Sessions (Zoom): 07.10.2024, 28.10.2024, 18.11.2024, 09.12.2024; 17:30-19:00 CET
Ableton Sessions – Creative jamming with Ableton Live
Institution: Conservatorium van Amsterdam
Study level: Bachelor, Master
Course tutor: Ferry Ridderhof
Course content: Ableton Live is currently one of the most creative Digital Audio Workstation software available. The Ableton Sessions course focuses on the use of the session view within Ableton. The main objective of this course is to playfully discover the creative power of Ableton without the immediate concern for a perfect final product. Step by step, you'll learn how to assemble the various layers of a musical work in your own unique way.
Dates of the Live Sessions (Zoom): 08.10.2024, 05.11.2024, 03.12.2024; 17:30-19:00 CET
Harlem Renaissance
Institution: Manhattan School of Music
Study level: Bachelor
Course tutor: Delano Copprue
Course content: This course offers students an opportunity to study major works of the Harlem Renaissance. With an emphasis upon literature, bolstered by excursions into music and the visual arts, we will examine the historical and cultural contexts, the philosophical and spiritual strivings that animate this vibrant, affirmative cultural flowering. Discussions will range from aesthetics to criticism, with particular focus upon artistic voice and vision. Along the way, we will reflect upon the enduring legacies of the Harlem Renaissance within the broader landscapes of creative activity.
Dates of the Live Sessions (Zoom): Bold denotes required attendance.
- 11.10.2024 - Introductions (16:00-17:30 CET)
- 25.10.2024 - Collaborative Presentations — How to build a creative culture (16:00-17:30 CET)
- 15.11.2024 - Course review, final project introduced (16:00-17:00 CET)
- 06.12.2024 - Final student presentations — The enduring legacy of the Harlem Renaissance (16:00-17:30 CET)
REGISTRATION FOR mdw STUDENTS
Please register via email to globalconservatoire@mdw.ac.at until 29th January 2025 (name, matriculation number, study field, study cycle, contact details)
The capacity of the courses is limited, the principle "first come, first served" applies!