Sound Diaries

Follow the journey of our visiting professor David Dolan and viola student Laure Ramon in the world of classical music improvisation.

Professor David Dolan

Dolan specializes in teaching improvisation to classical musicians using chamber music. His teaching is a process in which musicians learn to improvise in the styles of different composers and at the same time free themselves in their own expression. From Dolan, students gain a new kind of understanding of the structures of musical harmony and thereby the depth of interpretation.
Viola student Laure Tissino-Ramon

Laure Tissino-Ramon loves the sound of the viola, which to her combines the sounds of cello and violin beautifully. Thirst for knowledge has also led her to study music analysis and art history in Toulouse. She enjoys teaching, chamber music, and concerts where different art forms fuse and work together. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy.

Diary entry 1: Introduction, David Dolan

In his first diary entry, Dolan talks about her approaches to improvisation.
Diary entry 1: Presentation, Laure Tissino-Ramon

In the diary entry, we hear more about Laure’s background in music
Diary entry 2: My own voice, David Dolan

In his second diary entry David reveals what are “musical mind-reading”, state of flow and intensitity in classical improvisation.
Diary entry 2: My own voice, Laure Tissino-Ramon

… being able to integrate several musical styles in my own playing, in my own “musical mother tongue” – that would be something I really would like to have.
Diary entry 3: What I would like to learn next. Laure Tissino-Ramon

“Being able to improvise in Beethoven style or Dvorak style would mean that I have been able to appropriate the stylistic elements of that composer”