The Galata Electroacoustic Orchestra Project

Abstract

Abstract - The Galata Electroacoustic Orchestra (GEO) project was realised in 2013 as a Lifelong Learning Programme at the Conservatory Paganini in Genoa, Italy. Its general objective was to found an orchestra devoted to live collective compositions created by music students, to merge the Western Classical tradition of score-based music with improvisation techniques, in particular those of Ottoman Turkish Makam music and Anatolian folk music. GEO proposed a multidisciplinary didactical approach to the specific subject and to its current potential thanks to the contribution of electroacoustic technology. The main aim of the project was to create a connection between electronic and traditional instruments through performing practice. Improvisation was chosen as a paradigm for the GEO, as it is the most widely practised of all musical activities; it is probably the least recognised and understood, though present in every kind of music. This study is divided into two parts: in the first the GEO Project is described from an institutional and structural point of view, and three interviews with two students and one teacher are carried out and analysed, providing the key points of the survey scheme for the subsequent interviews. In the second part of the study, a number of GEO participants collaborated by taking part in interviews on Skype. The collected and analysed data concerned personal information, pre-enrolment requirements, insights on instruments, peers, teachers, improvisation and performance. The high-level human relationship was the basis for the effectiveness of the GEO project, improving the performative quality of all the musicians.