Speaker
Description
Experimental music is one of the most prominent compositional practices since the 1950s. Some central concepts of experimental music such as open form, improvisation, a shift of emphasis from the composer to the performers and a more ‘democratic’ direction – e.g. music making by people without formal musical training– may play a significant role in educational environments. In this context, a Group of Experimental Music was founded in 2011 at the Music High School of Pallini and developed an innovative practice in Greek secondary musical education. In the proposed paper, I give an account of the goals and activities of the ensemble and I focus on year 2019-2020, when techniques of Freinet pedagogy, an approach that enhances collectivity and inclusion, have been applied in the classroom. Also, I highlight the common points between the aforementioned practices and I illustrate how the ensemble used them to prepare a performance of photographic scores.
CV
Valia Christopoulou holds a Ph.D. in Musicol¬ogy (University of Athens, 2009). She graduated from the Department of French Language and Literature and the Department of Music Studies (UOA) and, also, received a piano diploma, a harmony degree (National Conservatory of Athens), and a counterpoint degree (Athenaeum Conservatory). She is the author of the Catalogue of Works of Yorgos Sicilianos (Athens: Panas Music, 2011) and, also, contributed the article on Sicilianos to the Grove Music Online (2013). As a musician, she has participated in the groups Open Score Project and WHI. She is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Athens.
