Research
By invitation of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) I wrote recently a review of the book “Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature” (2015), by Alva Nöe. The book contributes with fresh ideas to a long lasting debate on the meaning of art in our lives and it makes for a very interesting reading. Here’s a taste of the review:
“Through examples and discussions about various art forms and their particular ways of addressing us, skilfully weaved with references to personal experiences, the author involves the reader into fresh reconsiderations about the meaning of art and its place in our lives. The very first reference in the book is the strong criticism of an artist who dismissed the scientific awe reported by Nöe in a conversation concerning how our vision can be so rich while the visual input captured by our eyes is so impoverished—“tiny distorted upside-down images in the eyes” (p. xi). The artist proposed that the questioning should be inverted: how can we see so little when we are given so much to perceive? A bold suspicion that the exegetical standpoint of philosophy in relation to art is inadequate is shared upfront. Nöe suggests that scholars (from philosophy and also other fields) might have been missing opportunities to learn from art: “Not because art is cryptoscience, but because it is its own manner of investigation and its own legitimate source of knowledge” (ibid.). In 17 chapters organized in 4 parts, Nöe unpacks his theory providing thoughtful examples, comparisons between the arts and different forms of communication, and his criticism towards scholarly approaches (for example, neuroaesthetics and evolutionary explanations for the existence art).”
The complete text of is up on ISME’s website.
Exercising musicianship anew through soundpainting: speaking music through sound gestures (2016) discloses my research into soundpainting performance and composition as a doctoral student at Lund University—Malmö Academy of Music (financed by CAPES—Brazil). Developing this project within the field of artistic research was an enriching opportunity. It allowed me to conduct a research through soundpainting and not simply about it. From an artistic research perspective I could also address and strengthen my initial questions concerning the education of professional musicians, particularly orchestra musicians.
This work resulted in many performances, recordings, conference presentations, and the thesis with a CD and a DVD. I am grateful for the support of my supervisors Prof. Dr. Anders Ljungar-Chapelon (SWE) and Prof. Dr. Antônio Carlos Guimarães (BRA), all the ones that contributed artistically and academically, and for the support provided by CAPES (Ministry of Education of Brazil) in the form of a scholarship. Click on the image or the link above to access all the material included in the dissertation. Visit MEDIA for videos of the final PhD concert at Palladium-Malmö.
Exploring points of (im)balance through artistic research transactions appeared as a chapter in the book Beyond Methods: Lessons from the Arts to Qualitative Research (2015), edited by Prof. Dr. Liora Bresler. In it I discuss a key methodological lesson that I took from experiencing and purposefully exploring the interplay between balance and imbalance as I conducted my doctoral research. Prof. Bresler gathered insightful discussions about the contributions of the arts to deeper understanding of and within qualitative research. As such, it resonates with the important work done by other scholars such as John Dewey, Martin Heidegger, Elliot Eisner, Tom Barone, and Alva Nöe who in different ways addressed the need for reconsidering the role of the arts as key knowledge-producing and sensitive-enhancing tools.
The research project Intersections of traditional flute teaching methods with Brazilian popular music: other horizons of improvement aims for a deeper integration of the rich repertoire of Brazilian popular music in the everyday practice of flutists. Its first part was conducted at the Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF-Brazil) with the support of a scholarship program focused on scientific initiation. Together with the student Nina de Oliveira, I explored many possible intersections of flute exercises with musics of different styles such as choros, sambas, bossa nova. Parts of these work were presented in symposia and conferences such as the X International Festival of Flautists at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP—Brazil).
2017- In my current research work the focus is on the multidisciplinary dimensions of the soundpainting practice. The project seeks an expansion of the concept of chamber music through the creation of multidisciplinary soundpainting works that involve music, theatre, visual arts, and dance. Other current projects include: explorations of improvisations for flutes and live electronics and explorations of the expressive possibilities of the contrabass flute.