The Creative Process of a System-loving Improviser

In this research seminar contemporary pianist/improviser/composer Andrea Keller discusses her creative practice and systems for generating new work. On a continuing search for meaning, deeper purpose and a refinement of personal voice, Keller’s investigation of the music of contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt from a practitioner’s perspective, uncovered a series of diagrams—hand drawn images by Pärt—that proved pivotal in her own musical practice. Serving as impetus for the cultivation of new music and renewed practical frameworks, the diagrams sparked the formation of a series of templates, functioning as generative models for ongoing improvisational and compositional activity. Sharing examples of her work, Keller offers a series of strategies and procedures that demonstrate a method of employing Pärt’s compositional processes and techniques within the creative practice of an improviser/composer/performer.

Andrea Keller is an Australian pianist, composer and improviser. Dedicated to the performance, creation, and nurturing of contemporary jazz and improvised music, her projects celebrate the wealth and diversity of Australian musicians. With a propensity for the ‘new’, Andrea is somewhat of a serial bandleader, having devised and led almost twenty projects over her career to date.

In addition to her own projects, she is part of numerous collaborations and ensembles, including the Australian Art Orchestra, Vanessa Perica Orchestra, Sam Anning Sextet and Sandy Evans/Andrea Keller duo. Andrea has received multiple commissions to create new work for musicians in varying genres, including Ten Part Invention, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey, Flinders Quartet, and more.

Highly lauded for her music in Australia, Andrea has received numerous awards for her albums, ensembles and compositions, including three ARIA’s, multiple Australian Jazz Bell, and more. She runs the educational program Gender Defying Jazz and is Head of Jazz & Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.