Instrumental improvisation

Becoming a master of rhythm means wanting to teach music through the body and through improvisation. To improvise is to invent one’s own music, develop the tools that will enable you to accompany the students, to follow and elicit their movements, to encourage their musicality. To improvise is also to understand the music of the interior, to appropriate languages and create a direct connection from the thought to the instrument.

Taught by experienced professors, the instrumental improvisation class at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) offers students the chance to acquire the tools they need for all situations: accompanying a song, or a movement, creating quality in their listening, and eliciting curiosity while overcoming their own inhibitions. The class places the emphasis on learning in small groups of 3-4 students. Each student will have a chance to play on their own, in a duet, or in an ensemble.

The learning is done mainly on the piano, which is a very important instrument for those looking to master rhythm. The other instruments are also included depending on the opportunities and requirements for each skill worked on.

By looking at the repertoire and composers from centuries past, from baroque to jazz, from song to atonal music, from exploration to construction, the students become acquainted with the fundamentals that are vital for future music and rhythm teachers. The link with the harmony on the keyboard and writing classes makes it possible to strengthen skills in tonal improvisation, and to develop musical culture. The jazz and contemporary music courses expand this field still further.

The students at the HEM’s Music and Movement Department regularly take part in internal performances within the department, of original personal and collective works, Masterclasses, concerts or projects with a broader scope alongside the HEM’s other departments or a number of external cultural partners, including the Institut Jaques Dalcroze de Genève, with whom our institution has close ties. These various activities enable our students to pick up experience of broadcasting and of the stage, and to build the foundations of their professional network.

Teachers

Pablo Ernesto Cernik

Professor of Keyboard Harmony and Jaques-Dalcroze Writing - Instrumental Improvisation - Physical and Mental Preparation: Bodily Approach to Music through Jaques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics - Jaques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics - Jaques-Dalcroze Solfège

Pablo Cernik is currently employed as an adjunct professor, teaching in the Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and CAS programs in the Music and Movement Department at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM). He collaborates with the department's administration on tasks related to the visibility of the programs and also with the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in coordinating the Diplôme Supérieur. He is the director of the Dalcroze Certificate programs in Italy, Spain, Chile, and Argentina. He has significantly contributed to the dissemination of the method by conducting workshops and conferences in various regions and countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. As an opera, chamber music, and dance pianist, his presentations have placed particular emphasis on multidisciplinary creation. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Arts at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes (UNA) in Buenos Aires. He is a member of the Jaques-Dalcroze College and the central committee of the International Federation of Eurhythmics Teachers (FIER). He is also the president of the Dalcroze Association of Argentina.

Stéphane Orlando

Lecturer in Improvisation Workshops (co-ordinator) – Keyboard harmony and Jaques-Dalcroze notation – Instrumental improvisation

Winner of the 2020 SABAM for Culture Award for contemporary music, pianist and composer Stéphane Orlando regularly collaborates with a range of musicians, ensembles and orchestras.Since 2022, he has been composer-in-residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège.Stéphane Orlando draws his inspiration from classical and traditional music, as well as jazz, but also from his own practice of piano improvisation.He enjoys composing for solo instruments or chamber music, with or without electronics, as well as for orchestra, but above all he likes to set his music within a rich narrative context, with a keen sensitivity to images, words and movement.Stéphane Orlando teaches instrumental improvisation at the HEM.More about Stéphane Orlando

Laurent Sourisse

Professeur d'improvisation instrumentale - improvisation instrumentale Jaques-Dalcroze - Harmonie au clavier et écriture - Accompagnement de chansons

Né en 1970 dans une famille de musiciens, Laurent Sourisse étudie au CNSM de Paris avec Thierry Escaich (Fugue et Formes), Marc-André Dalbavie (Orchestration), Alain Louvier (Analyse), Jean-Claude Reynaud (Harmonie) et Bernard de Crépy (Contrepoint), il se perfectionne en improvisation au piano auprès de Thierry Escaich, Alain Savouret, et Isabelle Duha. Il enseigne l’écriture, l’harmonie pratique, et l’improvisation sur Paris, puis sur Genève depuis 2001. Il est fréquemment sollicité pour des masterclasses et congrès à l’étranger (Taïwan, Japon, Canada, Belgique, France, Espagne), et pour des formations continues et postgrades. Au sein du trio Meigmata (avec Marie Mercier, clarinette, et Michael Chapon, batterie), il explore l’improvisation aux multiples influences et la composition collective. Il expérimente également l’association avec d’autres pratiques artistiques : danse (Florence Jaccottet, Luisa Schöfer), marionnettes (Fanfare du Loup, Théâtre de Marionnettes de Genève), matchs d’improvisation (impro.ch et HEM).