Maria Bunea participated in the research project “Reverse Ethnomusicology: Migrant Musicians as Researchers”1. In the following, she presents insights from her research and her experience as a “musician-researcher”.
I joined the project “Reverse Ethnomusicology. Migrant Musicians as Researchers” in 2023, one year after graduating from the mdw with a degree in “modern” classical guitar and at the beginning of my studies in early music (lute) at the MUK. As a musician-researcher, I was offered the freedom and space to develop my own research questions on a subject of my choice and to be creative in the way I carried out my research. I conceive of “reverse ethnomusicology” as a “mirrored” setting in which formally trained researchers investigate how and which questions pertaining to various subjects of interest are raised by musicians and how they approach answering them—and as my own project unfolded, I realized that I am also interested in how musicians do research.
I decided to centre my research on the field in which I myself perform, in particular on the challenges, strategies, and decision-making processes of musicians and composers who connect written musics from the past with contemporary perspectives and performance practices. I aimed to explore how professional musicians deal with the fact that most of the music they perform is “old” (a term I now find inaccurate) as well as the approaches they employ to enable their audiences to better understand such music. During this one-and-a-half-year period, I conducted interviews with musicians active in Vienna’s classical music scene and engaged in participant observation at concerts that addressed the topic of my research more or less directly. I also engaged in discussion with researchers and reflected upon my process in regular meetings with the project group. The myriad of topics that arose across the research period—essentially encompassing the joys and sorrows of a musician’s life in the present day—included repertoire-related choices, ways of connecting with one’s audience, limitations on creativity within professional institutional contexts, the audience as “consumers” with certain demands, the intelligibility of historical musical styles and contemporary musical language, personal taste, and approaches to performance practice.
In addition to valuable findings that enriched my own approaches to music, one of the most rewarding aspects of this project was the willingness and generosity of my interview partners, comprised of friends and musicians whom I admire, to share with me their most intimate experiences with music. I was surprised to learn that some things can only be said as answers to specifically formulated questions in an interview setting—for amidst the routine of our existence, the important things in life (or music) can so easily escape being told. Being able to really take time, discuss, and reflect upon these things was a veritable feast for the mind.
During my research process, I had the impression of being given a magnifying glass in order to look closer at things. This lens was and still is with me pretty much all the time. I perceive apparently trivial things like the design of a concert flyer, a remark in a rehearsal, or a dramatic vibrato in a concert in a different way now. Observing bigger and smaller things opens up new questions and further space to explore. As my project unfolded, the individual musicians’ approaches turned out to be a good starting point while more and more related questions became visible. How far can musicians go in introducing less-known repertoire to audiences? How much understanding is necessary in order to enjoy music? How much freedom does a musician really have when interpreting another person’s music? And many more…
When I look back, studying classical music at the University was already like a huge research project: “researching” the instrument, the repertoire, and my own musicianship was an essential part of my studies. And having now completed the project described above, I can only encourage fellow musicians and students to explore research as a tool that not only expands knowledge but also provides a deeper connection to music and transforms us as musicians.
