Curating Within Music Ensembles

The central question for curating innovative performances by ensembles, which connect to their moment in time and to their audiences, is deciding what to play, and why. What repertoire shall we play? Or perhaps, what shall we arrange? What should we learn and practice, and what should we commission? And underlying these questions is the wonder-filled query: Why? What is the magical combination that informs these choices? I explored these central questions via a two-hour virtual conversation with leaders of three very different ensembles. My starting point for this exploration is that music ensemble leaders are involved in a complex process of making choices in relation to the intention of their ensemble and the time and place of the performance. Even if they do not already use the word, I suggest that curating is what these ensembles are doing. In order to grasp the nature of curation, we can learn a great deal from the process as it develops within an ensemble.

The Meaning of the Deer Representation on Dambus from Bangka Island

Dambus is one of the art products (traditional music) found on Bangka Island used by the landbased people. They are obviously related to Malay people. Dambus is a term used for musical instruments, music (ensembles), patterns, techniques, songs and dances. The dambus art in its ensemble consisted of a tawak-tawak, a larger main drum, anak drum that was smaller in size, a tambourine and a gong. The dambus has a unique feature. It is the instrument head shape that resembles a deer head which contrasts with Malay beliefs namely with the teachings of Islam. In Islamic teachings it is strictly prohibited to make something similar to a statue or idol as the form of a dambus. The Bangka community also had the activity of ngelapun or berasuk in the past. Ngelapon or berasuk is a community activity that hunts deer in groups using a type of Lelapun (trap). During the Berume event, tradition of Ngetep Nasik Baru, Rusa's animal meat was one of the side dishes presented during the process of preparing food from the first crop, called ‘new rice’. This research will explain how all these things are interconnected to get a common thread about the meaning of the deer head representation on the musical instrument dambus of Bangka.

Studio Production in Contemporary Vietnam

Chapter 5 examines how and why the VOV music ensembles are keeping their red music relevant in contemporary Vietnam. In the reform era, the ensembles were separated into two groups: the national or ethnic music ensemble (nhóm nhạc dân tộc), comprised of traditional instrumentalists and folk singers, and the new music ensemble (nhóm nhạc mới), which performs Vietnamese songs and instrumental music composed for choir and chamber orchestra. Drawing on fieldwork at the radio studios in Hanoi, this research provides an ethnographic account of contemporary music production processes at the station. The first case study examines how recordings by the traditional music ensemble, a versatile group of instrumentalists and folk singers, represent and reify the three major cultural regions of Vietnam. The second explores how productions by the new music ensemble, which reference the musical styles of DRV revolutionary opera, memorialize government achievements, valorize heroes of the past, and are made relevant to the contemporary political context through references to current issues such as territorial claims in the South China Sea. Rather than dismiss these musicians as political puppets, the chapter investigates their creative, pragmatic approaches to the constraints and contradictions of life in a (post)socialist state. Meanwhile, culture brokers working at these national broadcasters are leading the politicization of this intangible cultural heritage, a process they justify with the language of cultural sustainability.

Organizational dynamics in community ensembles

Looking into organizational dynamics in community ensembles, this chapter addresses the questions of: (1) how musical, social, and paramusical factors shape participation in community music ensembles; (2) how participants progress from peripheral or non-participation to full participation in such ensembles; and (3) what factors both facilitate and impede such participation, and how these tensions might be addressed. The meaning of participation in community music ensembles is something which is constantly negotiated and renegotiated between those involved. The chapter introduces a number of theoretical perspectives as “lenses” through which to view the resulting discussion. These include a consideration of the inherent tensions involved in performing both “works” and “relationships” as a holistic practice, as well as the value of a “situated” understanding of sociocultural practice, and how this can lead to the formation of “rational communities” of practice which both include and exclude participants in the formation of group identity.

Playful production

This case study of The Assembled, an ensemble based at the University of York, UK, explores the approach, rationale, and processes used to develop performances operating at the intersection of experimental music and devised theatre practices. Detailing the rationale for the formation of the ensemble and the relationship to its institutional educational context, the chapter also discusses the historical background to the work of experimental music ensembles and illuminates the working practices of the group, examining components of collaborative facilitation emerging from participant interviews. These relate to the ethos of the group, methods of operation, considerations of space and audience, and verbal interaction.

Using performance sociograms to investigate inter-performer relationships in music ensembles

Performance sociograms provide a means with which to visualize and investigate relationships between musicians during ensemble performance as they are subjectively experienced. This chapter presents a case study with a contemporary music ensemble, exemplifying a methodological approach that provides insights on a phenomenological level by minimally affecting the performance itself. Relationships between co-performers as experienced by individuals in three performances were assessed via questionnaires, interviews, and self-created sociograms. Performance sociograms were also generated based on a qualitative content analysis of these data. Each performance sociogram provides a view on the respective performance situation from an individual musician’s perspective. Comparing sociograms reveals insights into individual differences and developments from concert to concert. Enabling integration of qualitative and quantitative data, which can be combined with a variety of approaches from ethnography to computational approaches, sociograms are a promising tool for future research into understanding relationships between players in music ensembles.

The impact of group identity on the social dynamics and sustainability of chamber music ensembles

Group identity is viewed as a way to distinguish one group from another. In a competitive, ever-changing environment, group identity is considered increasingly important for a musical ensemble in terms of developing a niche, gaining audience attention, and creating a successful performing team. Thirty professional chamber musicians from “unconventional” or “non-traditional” ensembles were individually interviewed about their personal experiences working within this environment. Results show that group identity emerges in two main ways: members sharing similar characteristics, goals, and objectives, often based on repertoire choice and programming; and the sound or musical aesthetic developed through an interpretation of repertoire, instrumental combination, and the collective skills and knowledge of the musicians. This case study highlights the need for a constant vision and aesthetic concept throughout the lifetime of the ensemble in order for it to be sustainable, yet having to evolve and adapt to changing environmental factors and external influences.

Empowering ensembles

This chapter explores how membership of a music ensemble can empower participants across a range of dimensions: purpose, connections, achievement, and identity formation. In a Western context, empowerment is often linked to agency, purpose, and self-esteem. Agency and purpose are raised through the goals and educational aspects of music ensembles. Self-esteem is linked to achievement, frequently flowing during music ensemble experiences. Connection, another key aspect of empowerment, includes connections to others, the past, and lost selves. For migrants and refugees, the connection is often to a past self and a relinquished land and culture. The research studies reviewed in this chapter encompass the homeless, prisoners, migrants, refugees, and older adults. Expanding from the reviewed work, the chapter looks at historical examples to discuss how music ensembles helped Australian settler communities create their worlds and shows how findings from these historical music ensembles can inform research into music communities today.

Music ensembles as self-organized groups

Making music in small groups can be viewed as a form of intensive team work. This chapter examines the self-organized nature of music-making, taking as its departure point current thinking in organizational studies. In achieving their goals, self-organized music groups need to balance flexibility and creativity within a framework of “rules” or conventions, within a genre or community of practice. Organizational characteristics of music ensembles are presented as a number of tensions, in which competing forces of stability versus change, collectivity versus individuality, and maturity versus emergence are balanced. These tensions are managed in relation to an organizational structure consisting of roles, leadership, and communication processes, as well as constraints and developments over time. These perspectives offer ways to reflect on group dynamics and musical creative processes, and the internal and external forces impacting rehearsal and performance.

Music for a Lifetime: How Are We Doing? A Review of Literature on Adult Participation in Large Community Music Ensembles

A common rationale for the continued existence and support of music education in schools has been the development of skills and attitudes leading to a lifetime of music-making for all students. Therefore, the purpose of this review of literature was to examine previous research on adult participation in large ensemble (i.e., band, choir, or orchestra) community music settings. The research literature included in this study was summarized and presented according to three broad categories: (a) status studies of both demographic information and the music backgrounds of large ensemble community music participants; (b) the motivations encouraging or discouraging such participation; and (c) potential issues, both concrete and philosophical, in what Jellison (2000) termed the transition between school-based music and that of the adult world. Implications for music educators and potential ideas for future research are discussed.