The Symposium’s first event is funded by The Royal Musical Association (RMA) and will focus on music. The (Per)Forming Art Symposium will take place in the School of Music, University of Leeds on 20th September, 2015.
The acts of composing and performing are central processes to the formation of a musical work. Performance is a medium through which music is formed. It is a significant part of a work’s compositional process and, as such, forms a symbiotic relationship with the act of composing. An iterative cycle between performance and composition comes about when the composer performs their own work and/or composes through performance. Performance in this manner can be seen as a form of practice-based research that can guide the compositional process. This RMA conference focuses on performance as a type of compositional technique and as a mode of practice-based research for the act of composing a work. Primarily engaging with music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ‘(Per)Forming Art’ invites proposals for a series of lecture-recitals by composers to demonstrate their research through performance. Such disciplines include, but are not limited to, acoustic composition, electronic composition, composing with improvisation, live coding. Presenters and delegates will have the opportunity to meet other researchers, performers, and composers as well as learn about a variety of approaches, techniques, and processes relevant to the formation of an artwork. Proposals are invited for forty-minute lecture-recital slots (thirty minutes for presenting and performing followed by ten minutes for questions and answers). Composers may perform their own works or invite performers to accompany them (performers will not be provided by the conference). Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Performance as practice-based research of compositional techniques in general
- Performance as an actual technique for composing music
- How performing other works can inform the compositional process of one’s own work and/or how one engages with performance as a compositional technique
- How engaging with other performers performing other works can inform the compositional process of one’s own artwork.
- Live coding and its influence on compositional practice
- Improvisation and its influence on compositional practice
- Performance as a unifying medium between separate artistic disciplines within interdisciplinary artworks
- Performance as a technique for composing a work vs performing a ‘finished’ composed work
Presenters will also be asked to perform in the conference concert on the evening of the conference. The artwork(s) they perform should be related to (if not the same as) their lecture-recital topic. Proposed lecture-recitals should be emailed as abstracts (of up to 500 words, and with titles) to the (Per)Forming Art Symposium (performingartsymposium@gmail.com) no later than Monday 6th July, 2015. Lecture-recital proposals should include the following details: name, institutional affiliation (if any), email address, any special requests such as AV requirements.
(Per)Forming Art 
The acts of composing and performing are central processes to the formation of a musical work. Performance is a medium through which music is formed. It is a significant part of a work’s compositional process and, as such, forms a symbiotic relationship with the act of composing. An iterative cycle between performance and composition comes about when the composer performs their own work or composes through performance. Performance in this manner can be seen as a form of practice-based research that can guide the compositional process.
Primarily engaging with music of the twentieth- and twenty-first centuries, (Per)Forming Art: Performance as Research in Contemporary Artworks focuses on performance as a type of compositional technique and as a mode of practice-based research for the act of composing a work. It addresses how performance and composition are reciprocally entwined and what role this hermeneutic relationship plays in creative practice today. This publication is the work of multiple authors from academic institutions around the world; each approaches the topic “(Per)Forming Art” from their own perspective. As such, the contents of this book will appeal to a variety of academic interests pertaining to various “styles,” traditions and cultures, all of which are unified by the relationship between performance and composition.
We would like to thank the following researchers for contributing to this book: Michael D. Atkinson (Sheffield Hallam University); Gabriele Cavallo (Goldsmiths, University of London); Hans–Peter Gasselseder (University of Aalborg); Jacopo Gianninoto (Assumption University of Thailand); Alannah Marie Halay (University of Leeds); Maria Kallionpää (University of Oxford); Marina Liontou Mochament (Leiden University, Orpheus Institute); Adilia Yip (Royal Conservatoire Antwerp); Cornelia Zambila (Royal Conservatoire Antwerp; former Orpheus Institute Ghent)