Artistic Research
Artistic research is a field of activity that has been growing over the past few decades and encompasses all kinds of artistic practices. Work in this field is often experimental and always grounded in practice; characteristically, its focus is in some way on the knowledges that come into being through practice.
Music has not always been on the forefront of developments in artistic research, but artistic research in music specifically is also a growing field. Some leading centers include:
The Orpheus Institute in Ghent, Belgium & its publications series
Arne Nordheim Centre for Artistic Research in Music (NordART) at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo
Artistic Research Programme in Music at the Malmö Academy of Music, Sweden
Doctoral School for Artistic Research at the University of Music and Performing Arts (KUG) in Graz, Austria
The Research Catalogue lists many other parthnering centers and institutions.
On a personal note, below is a piece on the differences between work in artistic research in music and work in music theory that specifically focuses on performance. The piece was conceived as an overview for US-based performer-scholars as well as an introduction to an interview with Swedish concert pianist and licensed psychologist Francisca Skoogh. The piece lists more resources in artistic research.
NOTE: This piece is forthcoming on the blog page of the Performance and Analysis Interest Group of the Society for Music Theory, and will be available in November 2020.