Ms Sabina Rakcheyeva
MA (Juilliard School), BA (Baku)
Overview
- Name:
- Ms Sabina Rakcheyeva
- Email address:
- sabinaviolin@yahoo.com
- Thesis title:
- Collaborative Improvisation as a Creative Tool of Cultural Diplomacy
- Year of Study:
- Began 2007
- Website:
- http://www.sabinarakcheyeva.com
Internal Supervisors
Biography
Violin performance, improvisation, cultural diplomacy, cultural policy, fusion of the Eastern and Western music, Azerbaijan.
PhD Research
My research investigates aspects of improvisation in recent musical practice juxtaposing this onto my own performance experience. I elaborate, in particular, how improvisation encapsulates processes of imagination, creation, and collaboration, working with specific musicians from various cultural backgrounds. The challenge of disclosing the nature of improvisation in academic terms – which forms one large segment of my dissertation –, is not simply a matter of communication but also, although often hidden, a reflection of personal emotional intelligence, experience and the embodiment of senses.
I have established a music group (members of which come from different cultural background) to develop these ideas; we are influenced by the musical traditions of Azerbaijan and the Arab World, and by the jazz and classical traditions of the West, and seek ways of translating traditions between cultures in performance.
My research also explores cultural diplomacy through music in our current era of globalization, looking at how musical collaboration as a tool of public engagement can narrow differences, and resolve and prevent conflicts. Researching the subject in the past, I found it very challenging to find an adequate and thorough scholarship on cultural diplomacy and it became obvious that the subject needed greater observation and examination. I present proposals for improving the effectiveness of current practices. My methodology includes performance, the development of presentation tools, work with composers, developing recordings, interviews with cultural and political leaders, evaluation of relevant literature, collaborations with cultural institutions and participation in forums and conferences on cultural diplomacy and development. My aim is to develop our understandings of performance within cultural diplomacy, as ‘soft power’ and as intercultural dialogue, taking my cue from Mahatma Gandhi, who said: ‘No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.’
PhD Conferences
- Performance at “Public Diplomacy: Meeting New Challenges”, Wilton Park, UK. October 6-8, 2008.
- Performance/presentation at Symposium “Cultural Diplomacy: Clash or Conversation”, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. March 27, 2009.
- “Music performance as a creative tool of cultural diplomacy”. To be presented at International Forum of Music Performance and Scholarship, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore October 29- November 2, 2009.
