Global Creative Studies

The University of Minnesota School of Music’s Global Creative Studies area brings together scholars and practitioners working at the dynamic nexus of artistic and intellectual exploration. Students may explore and combine composition, improvisation, and scholarship, embracing musical creativity and critical inquiry from around the world.

Prospective students interested in our graduate composition program can pursue their creative muses in any direction they may lead— electroacoustic, experimental, jazz, raga, maqam, free improvisation, and beyond—all guided by critical studies in sound art, gesture theory, disability studies, mathematical music theory, and ethnomusicology. The School of Music’s broad spectrum of ensembles and the Twin Cities’ vibrant music scenes offer an abundance of opportunities for exploration, performance, and collaboration.

Prospective students interested in Composition can learn more here.

We are currently revising our graduate program in Ethnomusicology and you can expect to see our exciting opportunities outlined here soon.

Global Creative Studies Faculty

Performance

Students in Global Creative Studies are afforded many opportunities for performance. A list of potential ensembles includes:

Degrees

Projects & Creation of New Work

Creative Studies & Media students collaborate with each other and with faculty from across the School of Music and the University to create projects that cross multiple disciplines.

Recent Projects from Global Creative Studies

  • The Enchanted Guitar Forest (EGF), improvised, arranged, and original pieces for two guitars
    • An ongoing project of eclectic music improvisations rooted in (but not limited to) Eastern European (Balkan and Jewish) and American (jazz, rock, and blues) themes, rhythms, and tonalities
    • Alex Lubet (acoustic guitar, ukulele, national steel guitar) and Maja Radovanlija (classical guitar, prepared guitar)
  • Faculty plays The Beatles, joint faculty and student’s project of arranged songs by The Beatles.
    • Alex Lubet, Dean Sorenson, Scott Currie, Wendy Zaro-Mullins, Maja Radovanlija, Andrew Bergmann.
  • Instabilitrio, collective improvised music for woodwinds, guitar, and harmonica
    • Drawing upon avant-garde jazz, rock, and contemporary music conceptions
    • Scott Currie (saxophone/flutes), Erkki Huovinen (guitar, harmonica, bass clarinet), Edward Schneider (alto saxophone)–performances at Art of This gallery, live broadcast on KFAI, CD released on Heartbreaker Records.
  • Opera Project, DVD recording, Summer 2012
    • Guerino Mazzolla, David Walsh, 16 students and composer Manuela Kerer (Italy); Grant-In-Aid funding.
  • CD production Passionate Message
    • Joomi Park, Guerino Mazzolla (published by Silkheart Records, 2012).
  • CD production RELENTLESS
    • Guerino Mazzolla, Alex Lubet, Nick Zelinski (to appear on Silkheart records).
  • MIA/composition studio project, project that took place several years in a row.
    • Composition students write pieces inspired by current exhibitions at MIA for variety of instruments. In 2012, students wrote music for and with guitar.
    • Alex Lubet
  • Nouvelle musical Cousine: Real-time creativity, joint faculty and student project/concert of improvised music.
    • Alex Lubet, Guerino Mazzola, Scott Currie, Maja Radovanlija, Adam Zahller, Joey Crane, Andrew Bergmann, guest: Michelle Kinney.

Ongoing & Upcoming Projects

  • Improvising Ecosystems: Sounds and Visions of Cedar Creek
    • The pilot project brings together a collaborative team of faculty, staff, and students representing a variety of disciplines (improvisers/composers, visual artists, environmentalists); Maja Radovanlija, Scott Currie; Fall 2013, Cedar Creek Ecosystem, SOM, IonE, School of Fine Arts.
  • Collaborative project with Michelle Kinney and U of M Dance Studio
    • Alex Lubet, Guerino Mazzolla, Scot Currie; Fall/Spring 2013/14.
  • Collaborative project of composition students (A. Lubet) and applied studios (Guitar, Clarinet, percussion, etc.)
    • Ongoing project, semester-based; Collaboration between composition students and their colleagues from applied studios, initiated by A. Lubet. Every semester several works are written for applied studio and performed at various locations in town; Alex Lubet.
  • Gestural Duo Improvisation
    • A creative research-performance project focusing on the fundamental role that the exchange of motivic/rhythmic ideas plays in collaborative extemporaneous compositional processes; Scott Currie (saxophone) and Guerino Mazzolla (piano).