The project Unromantic - Improvisation as interpretation will for the next three years explore interpretation through experimentation with style and improvised interaction, under the leadership of the duo. The allocation from PKU is close to NOK 2.1 million.
Roggen and Nyhus' project concentrates on (late) romantic songs, where the singer and pianist examine improvisation as an interpretation strategy. They will explore ways of working, perspectives and (un)possibilities within an expanded interpretive framework, and experiment with strategies such as «de-romantisation» and style transition. As part of the study, sound-in-room exploration is also included, on different combinations of acoustic and amplified sound.
Extended collaboration
During the three years, the project leaders will invite other musicians and artists to dialogue and to exchange ideas, through conversation, interaction and text - about experimentation in tradition and interpretation. Furthermore, they will address performer attitudes to play, ideas of «the romantic», style and aesthetics, and relationships between interpretation, improvisation and composition. Roggen and Nyhus will also highlight this in arenas at NMH, together with colleagues and students across genres.
Results and dissemination
The project will lead to concerts, recordings, texts, dialogue meetings and forums. Along the way, Roggen and Nyhus will both work with a reflection log about their ongoing duo work and with an exposition of dialogue texts and videos with other artists about the project's main theme. Both of these publications will be on the Research Catalogue platform.
