Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. The Western European tradition forms a significant part of Australia's culture, and it is important that Australians are contributors to the extension of this tradition as well as being consumers. This project will discover new music and materials that will be of immense interest to many Australians, and it will make its discoveries known in an accessible way that meets the demand in Austral ....Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. The Western European tradition forms a significant part of Australia's culture, and it is important that Australians are contributors to the extension of this tradition as well as being consumers. This project will discover new music and materials that will be of immense interest to many Australians, and it will make its discoveries known in an accessible way that meets the demand in Australian society. My leadership in Renaissance music studies, especially Gabrieli, is contributing to Australia's involvement in the dynamic, international revival of early music, as well as facilitating telecasts, broadcasts, concerts and recordings.Read moreRead less
Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. Giovanni Gabrieli was a major composer at the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque. His polychoral music is glorious and his innovations in musical form and style gave rise to major developments in the seventeenth century and beyond. This research will involve in-depth study of Gabrieli and his music in the extraordinarily rich environment of Venice. Libraries will be sear ....Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. Giovanni Gabrieli was a major composer at the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque. His polychoral music is glorious and his innovations in musical form and style gave rise to major developments in the seventeenth century and beyond. This research will involve in-depth study of Gabrieli and his music in the extraordinarily rich environment of Venice. Libraries will be searched for lost compositions. Gabrieli's music will be more fully understood, and this research will lead to worldwide performance of his works. Read moreRead less
Artistic signatures in violin playing on sound recordings: What makes the performance of a prominent violinist recognizable and legendary? The project's comprehensive account of performance styles in the age of recording will provide significant new knowledge in several respects: The examination of the relationship between the record industry and classical music practitioners will inform about cultural responsibilities, changing taste and the impact of technology on art. The systematic analyses ....Artistic signatures in violin playing on sound recordings: What makes the performance of a prominent violinist recognizable and legendary? The project's comprehensive account of performance styles in the age of recording will provide significant new knowledge in several respects: The examination of the relationship between the record industry and classical music practitioners will inform about cultural responsibilities, changing taste and the impact of technology on art. The systematic analyses of renowned violinists' (including two Australians') recordings will demonstrate the richness and diversity of valid artistic approaches to standard pieces. This will encourage emerging talent to explore the full gamut of expressive and technical means in creating unique and convincing interpretations to invigorate the appeal of classical music in Australia.Read moreRead less
Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatr ....Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatre is also changing in fundamental ways. There is now a need to re-examine the social value of theatrical performance in contemporary Western culture. This project plans to consider case studies in different global sites to develop a comparative and critical framework for establishing the new cultural politics of theatre and the re-evaluation of the arts.Read moreRead less
The changing identity and sustainability of the music-cultures and worldviews of the Riau Islands' sea nomads and sedentary Malays. This project explores the music-cultural identity and related socioeconomic dilemmas of remote Sea Nomads vis-à-vis the Muslim Malays in the industrialising Riau Islands. It will further Australians' awareness of the intercultural contexts in which they work and help maintain Australia's leadership role and ongoing engagement with the Asia-Pacific.
Rehearsal without a director: Rethinking theatre history. This project will enrich our understanding of the European tradition from which Australian theatre is descended: the key cultural role of theatre means that understanding the processes by which it is generated provides insights into the forces behind the construction of national identity. This research has broader repercussions: theatrical rehearsal, where group creativity is the driving force, is an exemplar of a broad range of group soc ....Rehearsal without a director: Rethinking theatre history. This project will enrich our understanding of the European tradition from which Australian theatre is descended: the key cultural role of theatre means that understanding the processes by which it is generated provides insights into the forces behind the construction of national identity. This research has broader repercussions: theatrical rehearsal, where group creativity is the driving force, is an exemplar of a broad range of group social processes. Our work will transform the field of rehearsal studies by developing its historical dimension, and will advance the international reputation of Australian researchers at the forefront of the field.Read moreRead less
Modelling expressiveness and generation of affect in baroque and romantic music. The aim of the project is to develop a computational model of expression in music. The model will be able to distinguish between baroque and romantic expressive devices and enable the analysis of what makes one performance more expressive than another. Self-reported responses to the expressive and technical dimensions of music will be measured as compositions unfold. Time series analysis will be used to explain ho ....Modelling expressiveness and generation of affect in baroque and romantic music. The aim of the project is to develop a computational model of expression in music. The model will be able to distinguish between baroque and romantic expressive devices and enable the analysis of what makes one performance more expressive than another. Self-reported responses to the expressive and technical dimensions of music will be measured as compositions unfold. Time series analysis will be used to explain how changes in technical features can be used to explain and predict expressive response. The model will allow us to understand performance techniques and to gain new insights into the dynamic nature of music.Read moreRead less
Providing a theoretical and empirical foundation for the role of technical practice in the acquisition of musical mastery. Cecilia Bartoli, world-renowned mezzo-soprano, credits her phenomenal vocal technique to daily individual attention from her teacher. Such intensive individualised attention is financially impossible for most musicians so the value of teacher contact hours must be maximised through evidence-based, self-directed technical practice (TP). This multidisciplinary project will ap ....Providing a theoretical and empirical foundation for the role of technical practice in the acquisition of musical mastery. Cecilia Bartoli, world-renowned mezzo-soprano, credits her phenomenal vocal technique to daily individual attention from her teacher. Such intensive individualised attention is financially impossible for most musicians so the value of teacher contact hours must be maximised through evidence-based, self-directed technical practice (TP). This multidisciplinary project will apply world-leading technology to discover the principles of TP required for vocal mastery. By using these principles, teachers and performing arts institutions can maximise the effectiveness of musical instruction in a financially cost effective way, thereby consolidating our place as a world leader in musical performance and in performing arts research.Read moreRead less
Peking opera, epitheatre and writing in nineteenth-century Beijing. Employing the neglected 'flower-guide' booklets of nineteenth-century Beijing, this project explores the role theatre-based popular literature played in the formation of the capital city's emerging public sphere. Establishing epitheatre as a new field, it opens new horizons in the history of modern China, social history and literary criticism.
Beyond linear source-filter theory: how does the vocal tract affect the motion of the vocal folds? The human voice lies at the very core of human culture. Yet the way in which the vocal folds ('vocal cords') vibrate is only partly understood and the way in which sound waves within the vocal tract affect this vibration is almost unknown, beyond the fact that it is sometimes important. Using new and unique non-invasive techniques, we shall conduct acoustic experiments to measure properties of the ....Beyond linear source-filter theory: how does the vocal tract affect the motion of the vocal folds? The human voice lies at the very core of human culture. Yet the way in which the vocal folds ('vocal cords') vibrate is only partly understood and the way in which sound waves within the vocal tract affect this vibration is almost unknown, beyond the fact that it is sometimes important. Using new and unique non-invasive techniques, we shall conduct acoustic experiments to measure properties of the vocal folds and their interaction with the sound they produce in the vocal tract. This knowledge will solve some of the remaining puzzles about the voice. Practical applications will include exercises in voice control (especially for singers and orators) and potential applications in clinical diagnosis techniques.Read moreRead less