What to expect
In the programme, students learn different concepts and strategies that enable them to create and perform music in real time (in the moment). What is more, they explore specific instrumental playing techniques as well as the tonal range of their instruments. The culture and varied forms of playing in non-European improvisational music styles are also part of the curriculum.
In addition to the classes in their main instrumental or vocal subject in the Jazz, Classical or Folk Music profile, students attend one-to-one lessons in improvisation and acquire further skills in an improvisation ensemble. Under the direction of various lectures, this ensemble develops material from their respective areas of expertise and focuses on exploring questions around playing in a collective. Students not only practice free improvisation; engaging with concepts and techniques from, among other fields, experimental jazz, electroacoustic music, Noise or New Music is also part of the curriculum.
Moreover, students also attend ensemble classes from the Classical, Jazz and Folk Music profiles in their (practical) core subject area. Other modules available are offered in the framework of the main (generalist) part of the BA in Music programme.
By offering this programme, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts aims to elevate the status of inventing music vis-à-vis the reproduction of existing music. Students are encouraged to develop a personal musical voice by experiencing improvisation as a basic condition and possibility of creative music-making. They learn to draw from their own vocabulary, to expand it and to use it spontaneously in collective music-making. In-depth engagement with hearing and musical interaction are also fundamental to improvisation.
The Lucerne School of Music is part of the Metric (Modernizing European Higher Music Education Through Improvisation) Network and collaborates with the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) and other partners in its Joint Modules.
Magda Mayas oversees the programme. She also represents the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in the cooperative Metric Impro network.
