VENI ACADEMY: Open scores in the performance practice of VENI ACADEMY – challenge for a creative solutions

on-line webinar for english speaking students from Poland and others

friday, 21.5.2021, 17:00 – 19:00

Webinar will be lead by Daniel Matej

Place: Zoom

Fee: webinar is free of charge

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/167165545324696

VENI ACADEMY is a project aimed at forming an ensemble which systematically educates young people, students of conservatoires and music academies in the interpretation of contemporary music. Its main repertory focus since the very beginning are so called open scores. The advantage of a repertory of this kind lies in the fact that most of it is performed by any kind (and often also any size) of a group of musicians.

Open score is a kind of “unfinished” music work, recorded by the composer either by traditional notation, verbally, or graphically, but having several parameters (such as instrumental set up, rhythm or pitch layers, etc.) left “open”, and thus creating a situation as if the composer invited the performer to be the “co-author” of the output.

Ensemble performance practice means a common performance of at least two persons, whereas the upper limit is not given (or is left open). It is often used as an alternative to more traditional terms, such as the chamber or orchestral performance practice, which, as opposite, are limited by exact instrumental set ups. 

Open scores are very adequate material for the ensemble performance practices, because they (often) enable creative meetings of unspecified groups of musicians and by their “openness” they challenge creative performance solutions.

During the seminar we will explore several examples of open scores, performed by the participants of the VENI ACADEMY during its now more than 10 years of existence and will show some possibilities of their creative solutions.

Key words: composer, work, open work, score, open score, performer, reproduction, ensemble performance practice, production, free improvisation, directed improvisation, conducted improvisation, DIY instruments, lo-fi electronics.