Becom­ing with cur­at­ori­al per­form­ance prac­tice. Emer­gence of perform(ance/er) agen­cies, sub­jectiv­it­ies, and artist(ic) haec­ceity in cur­at­ori­al music per­form­ance

Theresa Coffey's doctoral dissertation explores such questions in that which it terms “curatorial performance practices”: practices in which performers both configure and situate musical works in a relational context and configure the conditions of encounter to activate performative contingency. The dissertation then explores how such practices make propositions of subjectivity and agency. Three case studies combine performance and interview analysis, drawing on a diffractive reading of Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) assemblage philosophy and Barad’s (2007) agential realism to articulate how entangled agencies, agential cuts, and lines of flight and sedimentation emerge in curatorial performance practice. A fourth case study involving artistic research inverts the theoretical framework to explore the author’s own entangled subjectivity through curatorial performance practice. The dissertation proposes a reciprocal becoming of artist and practice.

Theresa Coffey (b. 1990) studied trumpet and economics at Northwestern University and pursued advanced trumpet studies at the University of Maryland and Norwegian Academy of Music. As a freelance musician, she has appeared with such ensembles as the Oslo Philharmonic, The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Whiting Park Festival Orchestra. Her independent curatorial projects explore electronic and acoustic sound, embodiment, spatiality, atmosphere, institutional critique, memory, and subjectivity. In addition to her artistic work, Coffey has held positions in marketing and communications for a concert hall, opera company, and baroque ensemble.

NMH Publications 2025:2

ISSN 0333-3760
ISSN (online) 2535-373X
ISBN (print) 978-82-7853-350-5
ISBN (pdf) 978-82-7853-351-2

The video files in the dissertation are available at the download link.