Public examination of the artistic doctoral degree of Debi Wong
Title of the doctoral project: From Werktreue to Prototyping: reimagining the act of practicing in Western Art Music
- The board which assessed the artistic demonstrations: Kati Hämäläinen (chair), Annika Ollinkari, John Potter, Jukka Miettinen, Päivi Järviö
- Examiner of the thesis: Dr. Sara Wilén
- Custos: Markus Kuikka
Programme
Opening of the public defence
Lectio praecursoria
Music performances during the lectio:
- Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite – John Dowland
- Miserere, My Maker – Anonymous 16th c. song
- Ophelia Suite arr. Debi Wong & Mikko Ikäheimo
(with traditional ballads, text by William Shakespeare and “Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens” by John Dowland) Debi Wong, voice & Mikko Ikäheimo, Lute & Theorbo - Excerpts from “Bilitis Amoureuse” (video/audio) Debi Wong, Voice; Sirje Ruohtula, Lighting Design; Vilma Tihilä, Choreography & Dance; Riina Laine, Body Painter; Solmund Nystakbakk, Composer & Lute; Matthew Whittall, Composer; Aki Yli-Salomäki, Composer; Hedi Viisma, Kantele; Johanna Kilpijärvi, Viola Da Gamba; Kari Olamaa, Baroque Violin; Claude Debussy, Composer)
- Lagrime Mie Barbara Strozzi
- Memories of Medea Debi Wong & James Andean (featuring vocals from Adam Alexander & Milla Mäkinen)
Examiner’s statement: artistic component
Examiner’s statement: thesis
Discussion
Examiners’ closing statements
Audience questions
Closing of the Public Defense
About the artistic components of the doctoral degree
These performances and my doctoral study emerged because after 10 years studying classical voice in lauded institutions, I had developed an overwhelming feeling that I could never succeed as a classical singer and that I could never belong in the world of Western Art Music. I didn’t know it at the time, but my doctoral series was very much an exploration of what storytelling means to me and what it means to be a storyteller – someone who gathers people from disparate walks of life to embody new worlds, explore new ideas and share knowledge and creativity. The performances I curated and co-created were very intimate in that I now see how they were explorations of my identity and a reclamation of my own creative instincts and desires. It has been 10 years (or more?) since I started my doctoral studies and now I am the founder and director of my own interdisciplinary opera company. I can see how all five of my artistic projects in my doctoral studies laid the foundation for the ideas, values and production processes at my company and I am proud to run a company that has become a home for other artists who have felt “out-of-place” but have important stories to share with the world.
Abstract of the thesis
From Werktreue to Prototyping: reimagining the act of practicing in Western Art Music is the result of artistic research carried out by Debi Wong at the University Of The Arts Helsinki – Sibelius Academy between the years of 2012 to 2022 (year of publication of this work). As a classically-trained singer, she came to her doctoral studies questioning the culture of Classical Singing and how it has shaped her artistic practice and her understanding of how musicians engage with one another and with the world.
The world of Western Art Music encompasses myriad cultures that have been defined and continue to be molded by longstanding performance traditions. These traditions carry a sense of gravitas within the culture of Classical Singing, and for individual artists it can be difficult to look beyond the practices inherited from esteemed teachers, performers and composers past and historical treatises. This paper aims to put forward new tools and exercises that can be integrated into existing practices in order to expand a performer’s artistic range, hone their expressive capacities and deepen their connections to their collaborators and communities.
To distill these tools and exercises, core concepts from Design Theory, Devised Theatre and Intertextuality were used as devices for disrupting habitual ways of curating, preparing and presenting performances within Classical Singing culture. These devices were examined and tested within the context of a five-project concert series carried out by Debi Wong and further examined in a series of interviews with practicing artists from different Western Art Musical practices. The results put forward a broad cross section of creative practices and processes that all performers can use to innovate the ways in which they can engage with their unique artistic practices within existing Classical Singing traditions and culture.
About the doctoral candidate
Debi Wong is an interdisciplinary performance artist that loves to weave together sound, text, movement and technology to create contemporary stories. Her performances have been recognized as “unique and magical” (Rondo Classic) and “electric” (Schmopera).
As a soloist, Debi has performed with leading orchestras and ensembles across Europe and North America and most notably with her lute and voice duo, White Sparrow at The Stockholm Early Music Festival, The Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival, The BRQ Vantaa Festival (Helsinki), Garrick’s Temple To Shakespeare (UK). Most recently, Debi played the role of the Solar Ambassador at Lincoln Center’s recent performance Songs of the Ambassadors (2022) by Kenric Allado-MacDonald and Derrick Skye.
Debi is the founding artistic director of re:Naissance Opera in Vancouver, BC. With re:Naissance she has created #DidoAndAeneas (2014), an interactive, social-media opera and Acis & Galatea, which was recognized by Vancouver Classical Music as one of the city’s best operas in 2017. In 2019, Debi spearheaded OrpheusVR, an interactive Virtual Reality Opera that was featured at the VIFF Immersed exhibit at the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival and in 2020 she co-created the award-winning podcast The Apocrypha Chronicles (Finalist, New York Festivals Radio Awards). In 2022, she went on to co-create Eurydice: Live From The Underworld a livestream performance series that uses operatic performers to bring digital avatars to life in virtual worlds. The series garnered international acclaim when it became the first project to take home two awards – for creativity and innovation – AUREA XR awards in Germany.
Debi is a graduate of Yale University (M.Mus) and The Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Diploma in Sacred Music), where she studied vocal performance and was the recipient of the 2010 Margot Fassler award for outstanding performances in sacred music. She is currently a Doctoral candidate at The University of the Arts Helsinki.
More information
Debi Wong
tel. +17852852280
debiwong@aya.yale.edu
- The board which assessed the artistic demonstrations: Kati Hämäläinen (chair), Annika Ollinkari, John Potter, Jukka Miettinen, Päivi Järviö
- Examiner of the thesis: Dr. Sara Wilén
- Custos: Markus Kuikka
Programme
Opening of the public defence
Lectio praecursoria
Music performances during the lectio:
- Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite – John Dowland
- Miserere, My Maker – Anonymous 16th c. song
- Ophelia Suite arr. Debi Wong & Mikko Ikäheimo
(with traditional ballads, text by William Shakespeare and “Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens” by John Dowland) Debi Wong, voice & Mikko Ikäheimo, Lute & Theorbo - Excerpts from “Bilitis Amoureuse” (video/audio) Debi Wong, Voice; Sirje Ruohtula, Lighting Design; Vilma Tihilä, Choreography & Dance; Riina Laine, Body Painter; Solmund Nystakbakk, Composer & Lute; Matthew Whittall, Composer; Aki Yli-Salomäki, Composer; Hedi Viisma, Kantele; Johanna Kilpijärvi, Viola Da Gamba; Kari Olamaa, Baroque Violin; Claude Debussy, Composer)
- Lagrime Mie Barbara Strozzi
- Memories of Medea Debi Wong & James Andean (featuring vocals from Adam Alexander & Milla Mäkinen)
Examiner’s statement: artistic component
Examiner’s statement: thesis
Discussion
Examiners’ closing statements
Audience questions
Closing of the Public Defense
About the artistic components of the doctoral degree
These performances and my doctoral study emerged because after 10 years studying classical voice in lauded institutions, I had developed an overwhelming feeling that I could never succeed as a classical singer and that I could never belong in the world of Western Art Music. I didn’t know it at the time, but my doctoral series was very much an exploration of what storytelling means to me and what it means to be a storyteller – someone who gathers people from disparate walks of life to embody new worlds, explore new ideas and share knowledge and creativity. The performances I curated and co-created were very intimate in that I now see how they were explorations of my identity and a reclamation of my own creative instincts and desires. It has been 10 years (or more?) since I started my doctoral studies and now I am the founder and director of my own interdisciplinary opera company. I can see how all five of my artistic projects in my doctoral studies laid the foundation for the ideas, values and production processes at my company and I am proud to run a company that has become a home for other artists who have felt “out-of-place” but have important stories to share with the world.
Abstract of the thesis
From Werktreue to Prototyping: reimagining the act of practicing in Western Art Music is the result of artistic research carried out by Debi Wong at the University Of The Arts Helsinki – Sibelius Academy between the years of 2012 to 2022 (year of publication of this work). As a classically-trained singer, she came to her doctoral studies questioning the culture of Classical Singing and how it has shaped her artistic practice and her understanding of how musicians engage with one another and with the world.
The world of Western Art Music encompasses myriad cultures that have been defined and continue to be molded by longstanding performance traditions. These traditions carry a sense of gravitas within the culture of Classical Singing, and for individual artists it can be difficult to look beyond the practices inherited from esteemed teachers, performers and composers past and historical treatises. This paper aims to put forward new tools and exercises that can be integrated into existing practices in order to expand a performer’s artistic range, hone their expressive capacities and deepen their connections to their collaborators and communities.
To distill these tools and exercises, core concepts from Design Theory, Devised Theatre and Intertextuality were used as devices for disrupting habitual ways of curating, preparing and presenting performances within Classical Singing culture. These devices were examined and tested within the context of a five-project concert series carried out by Debi Wong and further examined in a series of interviews with practicing artists from different Western Art Musical practices. The results put forward a broad cross section of creative practices and processes that all performers can use to innovate the ways in which they can engage with their unique artistic practices within existing Classical Singing traditions and culture.
About the doctoral candidate
Debi Wong is an interdisciplinary performance artist that loves to weave together sound, text, movement and technology to create contemporary stories. Her performances have been recognized as “unique and magical” (Rondo Classic) and “electric” (Schmopera).
As a soloist, Debi has performed with leading orchestras and ensembles across Europe and North America and most notably with her lute and voice duo, White Sparrow at The Stockholm Early Music Festival, The Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival, The BRQ Vantaa Festival (Helsinki), Garrick’s Temple To Shakespeare (UK). Most recently, Debi played the role of the Solar Ambassador at Lincoln Center’s recent performance Songs of the Ambassadors (2022) by Kenric Allado-MacDonald and Derrick Skye.
Debi is the founding artistic director of re:Naissance Opera in Vancouver, BC. With re:Naissance she has created #DidoAndAeneas (2014), an interactive, social-media opera and Acis & Galatea, which was recognized by Vancouver Classical Music as one of the city’s best operas in 2017. In 2019, Debi spearheaded OrpheusVR, an interactive Virtual Reality Opera that was featured at the VIFF Immersed exhibit at the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival and in 2020 she co-created the award-winning podcast The Apocrypha Chronicles (Finalist, New York Festivals Radio Awards). In 2022, she went on to co-create Eurydice: Live From The Underworld a livestream performance series that uses operatic performers to bring digital avatars to life in virtual worlds. The series garnered international acclaim when it became the first project to take home two awards – for creativity and innovation – AUREA XR awards in Germany.
Debi is a graduate of Yale University (M.Mus) and The Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Diploma in Sacred Music), where she studied vocal performance and was the recipient of the 2010 Margot Fassler award for outstanding performances in sacred music. She is currently a Doctoral candidate at The University of the Arts Helsinki.
More information
Debi Wong
tel. +17852852280
debiwong@aya.yale.edu