Discussique: Listening to Flowers

Discussique: Listening to Flowers is a multi-stage, interdisciplinary project by the Centre for Artistic Research (CEAR) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG) under the direction of Jeremy Woodruff. It will be performed at three different locations in Graz as part of the BLOOM exhibition series. All three dates are part of an artistic research project for and with the public.

In critical discussions, singers analyse how flowers, as a feminine symbol in music, are used differently in different cultures to represent ‘love’, ‘loss’, “resilience” or ‘peace’. The flower metaphors also enable an intensive exchange on a technical level: the musicians begin to listen to each other differently and react to each other. They recognise how ‘the flower’ can manifest itself differently in music theory and in vocal or instrumental expression.

At the last event, a group of instrumentalists joins the research. In workshops, approaches such as listening to recordings, intensive panels and discussions, bringing together musical fragments, mutual imitation and, finally, collaborative improvisation and interpretation of newly composed works in a concert are tried out. In the spirit of cross-pollination, new ways of listening and making music are found together.

The project is comprehensively documented with musicological and music-theoretical rigour. Listening concepts and the tracking of cognitive metaphors are used to question gender roles in performance technique. The musicians also engage in a participatory exchange with the audience, including discussions about song lyrics and botanical science.

Planting

21 March 2026, 3:30–6:00 p.m., Botanical Garden / University of Graz

Just in time for the start of spring and accompanied by a musical installation, the Botanical Garden invites visitors to take a tour of its floral treasures in the greenhouses. Afterwards, visitors can enjoy a miniature sound painting inspired by the secret sex life of flowers. The different climate zones of the greenhouses and the acoustic facets of the plant world come to life in a sound portrait that combines musical metaphors from all over the world and different eras.

Musicians:

Marko Ciciliani – Electronic music and spatial audio

Barbara Lüneburg – Violin

Daniel Fuchsberger – Styrian folk song and guitar

Anuradha Genrich – South Indian classical (Carnatic) singing

Ellen Rose Kelly – Mezzo-soprano

Zsófia Faragó – Classical piano accompaniment

Farahnaz Sahebghalam – Persian classical singing

Sina Shaari – Persian classical oud accompaniment and guitar

Seydou Traore – Traditional singing and ngoni from Burkina Faso

Sarah Weiss – Indonesian gamelan and singing

Julija Novosel – Indonesian gamelan accompaniment

Further dates:

Blooming

6 June 2026, 4–6.30 p.m., Eggenberg Palace Park

Re-seeding

26 September 2026, 4–6.30 p.m., Kunsthaus Graz