Laura Farré Rozada, Conceptual Simplification: Formalisation of a New Method to Simplify Complexity in Post-Tonal Piano Music
Conceptual Simplification: Formalisation of a New Method to Simplify Complexity in Post-Tonal Piano Music
Laura Farré Rozada
Abstract: There is a gap in music performance, education and psychology in terms of memorisation training for post-tonal piano music. Despite the repertoire spanning over 100 years, pedagogues and professionals still lack effective tools for developing this skill. Existing research in this domain is mostly focused on observing practitioners’ behaviours during practice to understand how they prepare for a memorised performance of a selected repertoire. However, a systematic method for effective memorisation is not provided. This lecture-recital discusses a new method for the analysis, learning and memorisation of posttonal piano music, named Conceptual Simplification, developed and formalised with the PhD thesis Farré Rozada (2024). This method is informed by certain areas of mathematics and computer science and aims to enhance musical memory and performance. During this lecture-recital, Conceptual Simplification will be exemplified with works by Philippe Manoury, Ofer Ben-Amots and David Lang, which will also be performed in full.
Bio: Dr Laura Farré Rozada is an award-winning pianist and mathematician, deemed a 'Rising Star' by BBC Music Magazine and a 'New Talent' by the BIME Equity Awards 2022. She also received the American Classical Young Musician Award 2022 in Washington D.C. (USA). Her PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire was funded by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council through the Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Studentship. As a soloist, Laura released three award-winning albums, and toured in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Faroe Islands, UK, Malta, Bulgaria, Serbia, Armenia, Canada, USA, Argentina and Singapore. Some of the composers she worked with include George Crumb, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy, Rebecca Saunders and Márton Illés. She has also given over 90 world and national premieres of works by Unsuk Chin, Philippe Manoury, David Lang, George Lewis, Dai Fujikura, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Pierre Jodlowski, Vladimir Djambazov, Thierry Escaich, Ofer Ben-Amots, Tyshawn Sorey and Piyawat Louilarpprasert, among others. As a researcher, Laura specialised in music and mathematics, musical memory, performance psychology and the post-tonal repertoire. She has been invited as a guest lecturer to universities in Spain, Malta, UK, Norway, USA, Canada, Chile and Mexico; and presented her work at conferences organised by the Royal Musical Association (RMA), American Musicological Society (AMS), European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM), Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE), South African Society for Research in Music (SASRIM) and Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO).
More info: https://www.laurafarrerozada.com/
