The New Lexicon I.
Philosophy of Music Performance [research group]
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RESIDENCY PROGRAMME FOR COMPOSERS
[October 2026 – June 2027]
The New Lexicon is an international research residency devoted to the critical investigation, articulation, and advancement of philosophy of music performance as a field of inquiry. It convenes performers who approach performance not only as the interpretation of musical works, but also as a mode of thought through which musical knowledge, value, agency, experience, and possibility may be generated, examined, contested, and reformulated.
Across four online seminars and a public residency, participants will articulate the philosophical grounds of their practices, develop projects through dialogue, and contribute to a plural vocabulary for thinking performance anew.
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PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
Program period: October 2026–June 2027
Format: Four online seminars followed by an on-site festival phase
On-site location: Bled, Slovenia (EU)
Public presentation: Seventh Bled Contemporary Music Week
Application deadline: September 15, 2026
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FORMAT
Stage I | Articulation and Presentation | October 2026
Two online seminars introduce participants’ practices, projects, and research questions, with attention to their conceptual premises, methods, and artistic stakes.
Stage II | Critical Inquiry and Development | January 2027
Two online seminars examine the grounds, methods, and functions of philosophy of music performance while establishing trajectories for artistic and research development.
Stage III | Public Presentation and Exchange | June 2027
Participants present their research through lectures and discussions at the seventh Bled Contemporary Music Week in Bled, Slovenia.
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RESIDENCY OVERVIEW
The New Lexicon is an international research residency dedicated to the critical investigation, articulation, and advancement of philosophy of music performance as a field of inquiry. It convenes performers who understand performance not solely as the interpretation or presentation of musical works, but as a mode of thought through which musical knowledge, value, agency, experience, and possibility may be generated, examined, tested, contested, and reformulated.
Across four online seminars and a culminating public residency, participants will articulate the philosophical grounds of their practices, develop projects through sustained critical dialogue, and contribute to a shared yet plural vocabulary for thinking performance anew. The programme offers a setting in which performative decisions are examined beyond technique, style, expression, or effectiveness and in relation to the concepts, assumptions, forms of knowledge, and structures of value they enact.
The residency is addressed to performers whose work raises questions that cannot be resolved by technical discussion alone. These questions may concern the relation between work, score, and event; the status of interpretation and fidelity; the role of embodiment, gesture, memory, and technique; the distribution of authorship and agency; the conditions of liveness and mediation; the relation between performer and listener; or the aesthetic, ethical, social, and political circumstances within which performance takes place. Participants need not subscribe to a particular philosophical tradition, repertoire or practice. What matters is a willingness to examine one’s work, expose its assumptions to collective inquiry, and engage seriously with different positions.
The New Lexicon is neither a conventional masterclass nor a seminar in which an established philosophical system is applied to performance. It is a practice-based research environment in which performance and philosophy enter into reciprocal relation. Philosophy provides methods for clarifying concepts, testing claims, distinguishing problems, and situating practices historically. Performance, in turn, is approached as a distinctive form of inquiry capable of producing concepts, experiences, and forms of understanding that may exceed or transform existing theoretical language.
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MENTORS
Dr. Alastair White
Urban Megušar, Double M.Mus.
Dr. Niki Zohdi
Dr. Dré A. Hočevar
COORDINATOR
Brina Kren
DATES
MENTORS
PROGRAMME FORMAT
RESEARCH PREMISE
WHY THE NEW LEXICON?
CENTRAL QUESTIONS
WORKING METHOD
PARTICIPANT VALUE
WHO THE PROGRAMME ADDRESSES
TOWARDS MULTIPLE PHILOSOPHIES OF COMPOSITION
APPLICATION
APPLICATION FORM AND
PARTICIPATION FEES
The New Lexicon program is produced by .abeceda Institute
.abeceda [Institute for Research in Art, Critical Thought and Philosophy], a public-benefit NGO and non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing contemporary artistic practices and critical inquiry. Through its innovative programmes, .abeceda has gained international recognition as one of the leading platforms for contemporary music and artistic research in the Adriatic region and across Europe: www.abeceda.io