What happens when musicians improvising on acoustic instruments sample and exchange their sound libraries? How can such a transgression of sonic territories contribute to an expanded understanding of one’s own sonic identity? And could this b/lending of identities point to a more ambiguous yet vibrant field of intra-play? Departing from these questions, this project intends to challenge our idea of sonic identity as a personal subject-oriented entity, and consequently investigate how a collaborative sharing of sampled sounds, can contribute to an expanded understanding of the sounds we play and are played by. Individual idiomatic approaches to one’s own instrument are thus interfered as we transgress habitual boundaries for action possibilities and musical imagination. The practice circulates from the duo of Torben Snekkestad and Søren Kjærgaard toward external collaborators, where the sharing process involves different approaches to audio sampling and mapping, embedding and embodying, listening and playing with each other’s sonic material to a point where authorship, origin, instrument and sonic identity is diffracted.
TRAVERSING SONIC TERRITORIES
Søren Kjærgaard (b. 1978) is a Danish pianist, composer, improviser, researcher and educator, currently holding a position as Associate Professor, Vice Principal and Head of Research and Development at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. His work orients across a variety of settings that playfully intersects listening and improvisation. In his artistic research, Kjærgaard has investigated multilayeredness as a conceptual ground for solo performance practice. He has worked with the transpositionality of sonic identity and investigated diffractive methodologies in cross-disciplinary and collaborative formats, along with approaches to disseminating that aim to share embodied sonic knowledge in performative formats. Søren Kjærgaard has produced a growing discography of albums as a leader and recorded and performed with a wide range of musicians across the world.
Torben Snekkestad (b.1973) is a Norwegian saxophonist, composer, improvisational musician and researcher who explores a rich palette of musical genres and aesthetic expressions. From free improvisation to electroacoustic music, from jazz to classical solo and chamber music, his musical signature is forged from an intensive amalgamation of diverse musical influences, with extended saxophone techniques playing a distinctive role. Snekkestad has shared both stage and studio with a substantial list of internationally esteemed artists. He has toured around the world and also shares his expertise as an educator at reputable music education institutions. With an extensive discography spanning from solo works to numerous collaborations with various ensembles, Torben Snekkestad has explored the realm of composition, improvisation and interpretation in multiple settings. He is currently professor of contemporary music performance at Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo and holds a Ph.D. in artistic research from Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.
Visit the exposition in the database Research Catalogue.
