Sounding Together: Opening Possibilities for Audience Participation and Engagement in (Classical Music) Concerts
Doctoral project of Sanna Vuolteenaho
The starting point of my research is an examination of the conventional performer–audience relationship in classical music concerts. The aim is to rethink and expand prevailing concert conventions by inviting audiences into processes of shared artistic creation, particularly through guided improvisation, and to reconceptualise the concert beyond a paradigm of passive listening. I explore how the traditional concert setting can be reconfigured through participatory practices. Across three concert entities, I develop and test methods that enable guided audience engagement. The concerts are based wholly or partly on improvised music, which has not yet established a position alongside composed music within art music. I examine the experiences of audience members, other musicians, and my own through the methodologies of artistic research and ethnography. The theoretical framework is grounded in play and playfulness, musicking, and socially engaged art practice. The research data consist of three doctoral concerts, their video recordings, audience feedback, reflection group discussions, and the experiences of participating musicians and myself. The degree comprises three concerts and a monograph dissertation. The results expand the concept of the concert through participatory and collaborative practices, contributing to an understanding of how shared artistic processes and experiential spaces can be sustained through collective improvisation.
Keywords: audience; concert; improvisation; play; inclusion; facilitating participation; community music; interaction; audience engagement
Sanna Vuolteenaho is a doctoral researcher in the Arts Study Programme at the Sibelius Academy
Future doctors in music
We have approximately 150 doctoral students enrolled at the Sibelius Academy. This blog offers a view to their research projects.
The doctoral students are a part of a research community which is a unique combination of artistic activities, education, and research.
Their projects cover a wide spectrum of topics in the realm of music, combining musical practices and different research approaches.
Latest posts
-
Music as a Signifier of the Past in the Works of Jean Sibelius and in their Cultural Context
-
Supporting Student Autonomy in Finnish Music Schools: Enhancing Teachers’ Reflective Practice
Follow blog