3.6.2021
News … Home News Per Artistic Research through the Galaxy Per Artistic Research through the Galaxy 03.06.2021 Interview Sandra Steindl The Italian musician, graphic designer and video artist Lucia D'Errico took up one of the first two professorships for Artistic Research at the Mozarteum University in April. A conversation about the happiness that artistic research brings her. Lucia D'Errico, you studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello and English literature at the Università Ca' Foscari in Venice. When did you start to get interested in artistic research? Lucia D'Errico: In fact, my immersion in the world of artistic research was accidental. In 2014, while looking for a permanent position, I came across a call for applications at the Orpheus Institute in Geneva, which immediately excited me. Because it looked very much like the position and the institute, one of the leading centers for artistic research in Europe, could bring together and catalyze a wide range of interests that had no place in my life as a musician. Also because this life was strongly regulated by the market and by expectations that I personally found restrictive. Then, in Geneva, I quickly realized that Artistic Research was a field where I could redefine myself as an artist because there were different rules. This job changed my life and was like a kind of enlightenment. When you arrived at the Orpheus Institute, was it immediately clear to you where your journey was going? I was lucky because my dissertation was part of the "MusicExperiment21" project and I benefited from a strong community of researchers, but also from an enormous creative energy that the project exuded. It offered an overwhelming fireworks of new ideas and possibilities - and it felt natural. What definitely took a while was figuring out what Artistic Research actually is, as the field itself refuses to give a clear definition. That's irritating at first, and can also be frustrating. But what I liked right away is that Artistic Research is a verb, not a noun*. You have to do it and it takes time, you have to stick with it. And that's a good thing, too. Because that's exactly where the opportunity lies to lead artistic attention away from the end result. The power of Artistic Research lies in its focus on the process. So everyone who enters this world has both the chance and the responsibility to redefine it. I find that absolutely exciting and also revolutionary. Both for art and for science. In your dissertation "Powers of Divergence. An experimental approach to written music," you pose the question of whether one can abandon the faithful reproduction of a score without abandoning the heritage of Western notated art music. Can one? The answer to the question depends on what we mean by this heritage. If we start from the premise that it is a heritage in the sense of a closed reservoir of museum objects that must be preserved in their original state, then this notion closes off access and the works will forever remain what they are. But if we assume that these works are not something, but do something, and that they have the ability to affect us or communicate with other times because of their location in a particular historical period, then we can indeed do something with them and experiment with different possibilities. The book and the project wanted to show one of these possibilities. The most important thing, in my opinion, is a change of perspective - away from closure to the possibility of opening up. And most importantly, to invest in something that is relevant to today. As a classical musician yourself, have you suffered from the "museumization" of music? It must be mentioned at this point that for a long time I was really very precise in reading scores. That's probably exactly what led to my outburst, or at least it contributed a significant part to it. But yes, I also suffered from a dissatisfaction that came with a contradiction. Namely, the contradiction of the supposedly free performer stuck in a supposedly open score and its information. There exists this illusion of communication between the two sides, which is paradoxical and at some point no longer worked for me personally. Which of your artistic research projects was particularly enriching for you? One project that I enjoyed the most, besides my dissertation on divergent perfomances, was "Rasch X." It was based on Robert Schumann's "Kreisleriana" op. 16 (1938) and Roland Barthes' essay "Rasch." Via further acoustic and visual elements as well as numerous texts, we generated a network of aesthetic-epistemic cross-references within the framework of this artistic research project, which were intended to open up additional levels of perception for the audience: that of the music, that of the projected and read texts, that of the images and the voices. Beyond interpretation and hermeneutics, "Rasch X" thus explored an experimental performance practice that departs from conventional, repetitive performance and transforms familiar artistic objects into objects of thought via an infinite galaxy of layers, things and objects - including manuscripts, editions, recordings, but also philosophical texts. And thus opened up the piece. In the end, we did play the piano piece, but it was only one element of many. The reactions of the audience, which usually has nothing to do with artistic research, were amazing. What significance can the two professorships have for the Mozarteum University? Artistic Research definitely holds an undreamt-of development potential for artists that should at least be seen and recognized. Most artistic personalities are researchers anyway, as they rarely work without context - whether social, political or cultural. Most of the time, they write about their work. Even if they are just program texts, that is already a start. This is also a form of verbalization that goes hand in hand with reflection and is thus a kind of research. For the Mozarteum University, I would like to see research become more visible, not as something that only a few do, but as a great opportunity from which we as musicians, as artists, can benefit enormously. Powers of Divergence. An Experimental Approach to Music Performance, Leuven University Press 2018 Artistic Research: Charting a Field in Expansion, forthcoming from Rowman & Littlefield International (First published in Uni-Nachrichten / Salzburger Nachrichten on June 5, 2021) More News Musik-Multis: Next Generation 2026 12.6.2026 Musik-Multis: Next Generation 2026 Mozarteum University's support programme for young music-lovers will be running again in autumn 2026. Registrations are open until 10th July. Press release Bella Musica and LAUT:SPRECHER included in the ‘Atlas of Good Teaching’ 11.6.2026 Bella Musica and LAUT:SPRECHER included in the ‘Atlas of Good Teaching’ Two projects from Mozarteum University Salzburg have been included in the “Atlas of Good Teaching”, a nationwide platform showcasing innovative teaching initiatives at Austrian universities. The Pre-College ensemble project Bella Musica and the university teaching initiative LAUT:SPRECHER demonstrate how artistic excellence, academic reflection and social responsibility can be combined in higher education in the arts. Both projects provide inspiring examples of participatory, future-oriented teaching practice. News Europe's first remote orchestra 8.6.2026 Europe's first remote orchestra The commissioning of a "European Symphony" marks the start of a wide-ranging research project that combines digital technology and classical music in a new way: Musicians in 12 different locations will use innovative technology to overcome physical distances and perform a joint concert for symphony orchestra and large chorus. The Mozarteum University is also contributing to the project, in the form of a choir. News Measuring virtuality 8.6.2026 Measuring virtuality The “Staging Realities” festival will mark the opening of the Mozarteum University’s new X-Reality-Lab at the Kurgarten (UMAK) from 24 to 26 September 2026. From October onwards, the lab will explore new narrative forms shaped by post-digital aesthetics. News More news
