068 - How to Plan a Musical Informance

This year, Rochester, NY is in the path of the total solar eclipse. There are lots of special events happening in town—the orchestra is performing a special concert, the science museum is hosting a festival, and the schools are giving everyone the day off to experience this historical event.

As I looked ahead at this year, I thought it might be fun to plan a special event of our own to mark this occasion in the studio. Maybe special repertoire? An incentive program?

Then I thought about the informances the performing ensembles at my school put on early in the year: an informal demonstration for parents of what they're learning and what they're working on.

What if we did something like this in the studio? I thought.

Today, I'm taking you behind the scenes in real-time as I research, plan, and organize my first informance for my students. I'll share a few historical examples of musicians who exemplified this model of education and engagement, talk about ways you could structure this, outline the necessary components that separate an informance from a performance, and share how my students and I are preparing for this event.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ep. 064 - How I Plan a Year of Student Repertoire

D. Headlam (2021). "Musical Informance: Performance for the Information Age." The Oxford Handbook of Public Music Theory. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197551554.013.2

C. Nowmos (2010). "Using Informance to Educate Parents and Demonstrate the Music Learning Process." General Music Today, 23(3): Special Focus Issue: The Informance as a Teaching Tool in General Music, 5-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/104837130936

"Watch me play... the audience!" (Bobby McFerrin)

Live Improvisation at the Kennedy Center (Bobby McFerrin)

Interactive performance at Cornell (Bobby McFerrin)

Curious, Collaborative, Creativity (CCC)

Curious, Collaborative Creativity: A Guide for Transforming Music Ensembles (Dr. Caron Collins & Dr. Danni Gilbert)

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