From a musicia's point of view!

Last night we had a very interesting discussion with Sam Murray as a guest speaker, talking to us about his current practice and previous work experiences as a clarinet musician.
It was a beautiful session as it involved a lot of musical pieces that were enrichened with improvisational quotations by him and his band.

The main themes the discussion revolved around were:
-Improvisation
-The importance of group compositions
-The ways people receive music
-Authorial intensions
-Interesting technological ways, as new approaches to music

Firstly we got to thinking on how improvisation has an impact on the audience, how can you make a person relate to a song whilst it is performed, how do people react towards improvisation during a performance,  and in other words how can you make the audience be a "part" of the show as a whole?
At this point (as a performer), I was thinking if this is the same as to when performing a dance routine to an audience, if you are trying to make them a "part" of the show as well of if dance sits differently to this situation. I'm still brainstorming on this point! What are your thoughts on this?

Later on we discussed about the importance of group compositions, and how one member of the team usually creates the skeletal form of a new piece, and later on the other members exchange constant ideas as to bring this skeletal form to life.
At this point I did find a big relevance to the creation of  a new choreography in the dance field, because especially when a group choreography is being made, you usually start of with an idea and later on as a part of the group you exchange thoughts on how this choreography can be developed and presented to a live form! Discussion between the group can always bring up new ideas and new thoughts that can contribute to the development of a piece in all different ways either in music or dance.

Another point of discussion was around the ways the meaning of a song can be transmitted to the audience, and if the meaning you give to it should be the same as to the one someone else gives it. 
I was thinking that the answer to that is no, because when you create something new as a song or a choreography, you should give the audience the freedom to react and respond to it the way they wish.
By giving up the idea of authorial intensions, as it was mentioned in our discussion, you allow the people to receive the meaning of the piece the way they want to, and most of the times this is done by creating a connection between the piece and something personal in their life  … 
I believe that dance or music does have this "power", it can help you bring back memories and make connections to personal aspects of your life even by watching or listening. You don't necessarily have to be the performer to get this feeling and make this connections.

At the end, there was a discussion around how new evolving technologies can affect the more traditional ways of presenting music, and I was thinking dance as well :) , especially during the current pandemic and the need for the use of online communication platforms much more often!
What I asked at the end how he feels about the pandemic situation, online performing and if he thinks the importance of physical contact and interaction is in a way now lost because of all the performances are now being done online,

Very interesting discussion to say the list!

Maria