AEC European Platform for Artistic Research in Music EPARM Conference 2022

7-9 April, Royal Academy of Music, London, UK

‘The Artistry of Artistic Research’

Call for Proposals

The European Platform for Artistic Research in Music (EPARM) is an initiative of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC), acting as a resource for artistic research in the specific context of Higher Music Education: sharing knowledge, insights and outputs; promoting and developing the discourse around artistic research; incubating new ideas and developments; and offering support and inspiration to AEC members.

The ninth EPARM conference welcomed music researchers, educators, performers and composers to a three-day exploration of artistic research in music at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK.

EPARM recognises that there is no one way to pursue artistic research in music. Nonetheless, at the core of all such research is the artistic practice itself, which functions not only as an object of study, but as a source of significant questions and a means of pursuing original insights. It is an expectation that presentations at EPARM will include performance or the presentation of original work.

The ninth EPARM conference took the title The Artistry of Artistic Research and, while presentations relating to any aspect of artistic research in music were invited, the peer review panel particularly welcomed presentations that consider:

• the special insights that flow from practice;
• relationships between craft and investigation;
• exploratory engagements with repertoire and instruments;
• and the impact of artistic practice.

To reflect the centrality of performance in artistic research, the EPARM conference included a special evening programme of performance and discussion. Proposals were welcomed for short performances of a maximum of 30 minutes, which were themselves the outcomes of artistic research. Nine such performances were selected for an evening programme called L8nite Performances, with performers contributing to a moderated audience discussion following immediately after the performances. Proposal for the L8nite Performances followed the specific requirements below.

To support the development of excellent artistic research at the doctoral and post-doctoral levels, doctoral students and early career researchers opted to participate in a facilitated session with a dedicated respondent offering feedback on the presentation and actively leading the discussion. Participants opting for these sessions needed to submit the text of their presentations, together with any relevant audio or video materials, by 5th January 2022.

For the submission it was compulsory to use the template provided below

Proposals for parallel sessions

Proposals for a 20 minutes presentation (including any performance or examples) followed by 10 minutes facilitated audience discussion addressed a clear question or questions that were rooted in practice.

Proposals were sent in Word format (using the provided template below) and included the following:

• Name of the presenter/s
• Institution
• 150-word biography
• Title that effectively summarised the presentation for a general audience
• 350-word description of the presentation, including:
  • A clearly articulated research question, issue or problem, relevant to artistic practice in music
  • A clearly articulated and appropriately documented relationship between the artistic practice and the research
  • Evidence of a critical approach to method
• For doctoral students and early career researchers: an indication that you wished to participate in a facilitated session with respondent.

Relevant additional audio or video materials were welcome where appropriate.

Proposals for L8nite Performances

Proposals for a 20 minutes performance followed by a 10 minutes facilitated audience discussion clearly addressed the relationship between the proposed performance and the artistic research of which it was an outcome.

Proposals were sent in Word format (using the provided template below) and included the following:

• Name of the performer/s
• Institution
• 150-word biography
• Title that effectively summarised the performance for a general audience

• A one-page note on the performance, which was the basis of the peer-review process and written in a form suitable for distribution to the audience at the L8Nite was asked for. In addition to introducing the performance, this note:
  • Clearly articulated the relationship between the performance and the artistic research of which it was an outcome
  • Indicated the key questions with which the performance engaged

All proposals for performances included a relevant recording (audio or video) of the proposed performer/s.

N.B.: Performance spaces contained a grand piano, music stands, and an A/V system with screen and PA. Limited additional equipment were provided on request, such as a mixing desk, stereo speakers, and microphones.

For the submission it was compulsory to use the template provided below

Peer Review

A peer review panel composed of the EPARM working group members selected those submissions that were featured in the EPARM conference. The panel sought additional expert input when necessary.

Timetable

The timetable for this process was as follows:

16^th November:          Circulation of the call

5^th January:            Deadline for submissions

18^st January:              Results communicated to the applicants (who were required to confirm by 22^nd January)

1st week of February:             Publication of the final programme of EPARM 2022 and Registration launch

7^th April:                   Start of EPARM 2022

Proposals were submitted in Word format using the provided template and were sent to the AEC office at the following email address: events@aec-music.eu.

Any submissions that did not follow the guidelines above were not considered