High-performance teams
Orchestras are teams of high specialised professionals. But what is the most successful way to bring together the individual capabilities of the performers to get to high performance?
Factsheet
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Schools involved
Bern Academy of the Arts
Business School - Institute(s) Institute Interpretation
- Research unit(s) Intersection of Contemporary Music
- Funding organisation BFH
- Duration 01.02.2014 - 31.12.2015
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Head of project
Dr. Thomas Gartmann
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Riedl -
Project staff
Prof. Dr. Andrea Gurtner
Afi Sika Kuzeawu
Tobias Pfleger
David Sinclair -
Partner
Collegium Novum
Les Passions de lâme – Orchester für Alte Musik
Berner Symphonieorchester - Keywords orchestra, high-performance, interaction, communication, hierarchy
Situation
This research projects aims at describing and understanding the functioning of high-performance teams in music. Our analysis focuses on informal interaction, based on a survey of the organisational structure of the ensembles.
Course of action
Our aim is to find out which conditions should prevail to get best results in high-performance music teams. We analysed three differently organized ensembles. After surveying the formal structures of the ensembles and their contexts, aims and structures by questionnaires we analysed decision-finding processes by oberserving rehearsals. Additionallys we conducted interviews with key players of the ensembles and with experts from other areas (business, sport etc.).
Result
Data surveyed on by several methodologies concerning conditions and realisation of high performance in music ensembles show that not only leading positions are important for the interaction, but also informal central persons. Among them co-leaders take a very significant role. The basis of high performance in music ensembles is what psychologists call "heedful interrelating", which meens to be aware that only optimal cooperation of the group generates best resultes.
