Challenging Creativity: Inclusive Composition : A Portfolio of practice and reflection
- Submitting institution
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Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 11223598
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- July
- Year
- 2017
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This portfolio comprises of outputs that reflect a body of work that I have developed in partnership with Drake Music Scotland (DMS), rooted in compositional practice but extending to teaching at the Conservatoire. In research terms, this body of work explores three questions:
How can we develop inclusive compositional approaches that engage young musicians with disabilities and support their developing musicianship?
How can we integrate digital instruments and disabled performers within a larger, acoustic ensemble?
How can the insights from this work inform pedagogy in the Conservatoire, supporting students to embrace wider artistic, intellectual and professional opportunities?
The compositional output of this process was 'Microscopic Dances', a suite of pieces for an ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians, working with acoustic and electronic instruments. Microscopic Dances further developed the insight from an earlier collaboration 'Technophonia' (submitted to REF2014). The key compositional issues here were finding ways to allow individual instruments to take a leading role, without highlighting soloists, and exploring and controlling the musical parameters that were required to integrate the diverse group of musicians and instruments that comprise this ensemble and realise an effective performance.
Building on my work with DMS, I subsequently developed a full module at the Conservatoire that translates some of the insights developed here for undergraduate students. I reflect on this, and the wider project, in the journal article that is included in this output.
'Microscopic Dances' was first performed in August 2017, at an event that included a short discussion between myself and DMS’s Artistic Director, exploring the ensemble’s working methods for the audience. 'Microscopic Dances' was the subject of numerous news items and was extensively reviewed; it won the Amateur or Young Performer category of the British Composer Awards 2018 and its impact is explored in an Impact Case Study for this submission.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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