How can communication shape ongoing performance?
Speaker: Dr Kathryn Emerson, City, University of London
Abstract
In this talk I will use conversation analysis to demonstrate how a conductor's communication guides and shapes ongoing choral singing on a moment-by-moment basis.
There has been recent interest in how embodied interaction can regulate others’ ongoing behaviour, particularly in the context of teaching and directing (e.g. Ehmer & Brône, 2021).
Conducting music ensembles occupies a unique position in relation to this literature, due to the nature of both music (e.g. its temporal predictability based on a musical score) and the conductor’s role (e.g. being present during the final performance as well as rehearsals).
Whilst a choir is singing in rehearsals, the conductor uses a variety of non-verbal and verbal communicative resources to regulate their behaviour.
This interaction gives the singers continuous information about what they have just done and what they should do in the future, as well as shaping the singing they are doing at that moment, which allows the conductor and singers to co-construct the performance together.
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