Contemporary Clarinet Repertoire from Finland and the United States – New Ways of Artistic Expression and a Study of Sociocultural Differences

The project is an artistic and sociocultural study of contemporary clarinet repertoire composed by Finnish and American composers post-1980. The purpose of the research is to study contemporary American and Finnish contemporary repertoire for clarinet to develop my musicianship and identify the unique set of skills required to perform contemporary music.

By working closely with Finnish and American composers, I also study the differences in practice, aesthetics, approach to notation and the relationships between performers, composers and audiences in both places.

My goal is not to categorise the culture of group of people, or the entire field of contemporary music of a given place. My interests lie in observing the differences from my own perspective as a performing clarinetist, and to use my experience of performing Finnish and American works, and of interviewing composers and performers, to create a contemporary music ethnography.

Lucy Abrams-Husso is a doctoral student in the Arts Study Programme at the DocMus Doctoral School of classical music.

Keywords:

• contemporary music
• artistic research
• performance study
• autoethnography
• cultural studies
• anthropology of music
• performance practice