Teaching and evaluating music performance at university

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book demonstrates several approaches to teaching and evaluating music performance at university that, while looking forward rather than back, seek to be inclusive, rather than dismissive, of earlier forms of pedagogy. It explores a dialogue about what performing Annea Lockwood’s 1968 avant-garde work “Piano Burning” offers to the student. The book investigates student response to performing avant-garde scores of the 1960s, the improvisatory frame scores of English composer Bernard Rands and Americans Terry Riley and Kirk Nurock. It suggests students that there are ethical and philosophical principles that undergird any musical engagement; elements that the study and practice of free improvisation lay bare. The book offers students collaborative and peer learning opportunities, plus fresh interpretations of repertoire, brought about by having freedom to experiment, that results in expansive learning.