Research Publication: Theatre Music Today
Research publication on Theater Music (Cambridge University Press) Call for expressions of interests / proposals
Deadline: 21.07.2021
The DFG funded project „Theatermusik heute als kulturelle Praxis“ [Theatre Music Today as a Cultural Practice] (Prof. Dr David Roesner, Tamara Quick, M.A.) invites expressions of interest and proposals towards a working session and subsequent publication „Theatre Music Today. Practices, Approaches and Analyses“ (Working Title). This edited volume seeks to represent the current scholarship on contemporary theatre music. To this day, hardly any publications exist that address this ubiquitous and often exciting and innovative musical practice beyond individual case studies, historical accounts, and across different European theatre cultures.
This volume aims to assemble contributions that offer systematic terms of reference, develop methods of analysis, and allow for international comparisons of practices and aesthetics of theatre music. They may also reflect theatre music’s role in the genesis of theatre productions, the dynamic of performances and the experiences of theatre audiences. As editors, we hope to work towards a curated volume with a systematic structure and thematic coherence. While we invite proposals in response to the suggested list of topics below, we are also open to proposals beyond these topics which would complement this volume.
Selected scholars and/or practitioners will be invited to a 3-day working session in Munich in spring/summer 2022 to present a first exposé for their envisaged chapter. These exposés will then be discussed both in plenary sessions and smaller working groups. On the basis of this working session, full versions of the chapters should be written and submitted by end of 2022 /early 2023. Cambridge University Press has expressed a keen interest to publish the book, subject to a successful peer-reviewed proposal.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):
1. Analytical Approaches
a. Terminologies of theatre music
b. Recent historical developments
c. Methods and perspectives of studying theatre music
d. Ephemerality, materiality, documentation
2. The relational aesthetics of theatre music
a. Theatre music and dramaturgy
b. Theatre music as experience
c. Theatre music and meaning
d. Theatre music as theatrical scene
e. Meta-Theatrical aspects of theatre music
f. Theatre music in performance: Instruments and musicians on stage
g. Theatre music and voice h. Theatre music and improvisation
i. Theatre music between analogue and digital
3. Practices
a. Sound advice: Comparing handbook advice across times and cultures
b. Forms of training, pathways of learning
c. The interplays of theatre music and sound design
d. Workplaces of theatre musicians
e. How digital technologies shape theatre music today
4. Cultures
a. Reports on the role of theatre music in different theatre systems and cultural landscapes across Europe (and possibly beyond)
b. Socioeconomic aspects of an unregulated profession
Please send your proposal for one (or more) chapters to theatermusik@lrz.uni-muenchen.de by 31 July 2021. This should include
● A short CV with selected bibliography
● A 300-word abstract for your chapter suggestion. If you would like to suggest more than one chapter (or an alternative chapter), it is still 300 words each.