Celebrating becoming Professor of Improvisation
Bath Spa University is proud to announce our first Professor of Improvisation, Professor Nick Sorensen. Nick, who is currently Acting Head of the School of Writing, Performance and Humanities (WPH), embodies the spirit of interdisiplinary creative inquiry which defines our institution. His groundbreaking interdisciplinary research continues to shape our understanding of improvisation across music, education, the humanities, and social practice.
Professor John Strachan, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at Bath Spa University, said: “Nick’s appointment as Professor of Improvisation reflects Bath Spa’s deep commitment to innovation, creativity, and the breaking of new ground in research. His work exemplifies the transformative power of the arts and education in reimagining our world”.
Nick Sorensen writes:
I am very pleased to have been able to become Professor of Improvisation as this title reflects the interdisciplinary nature of my research interests that have developed over the past 40 years. My MA thesis, “The Value of Improvisation for Arts Educators” (1988) was grounded in my experience as a drama teacher and jazz musician. However, I felt that this research begged more questions that it answered, which set me thinking about the pervading presence of improvisation in social contexts.
Eventually I discovered the way to explore this line of enquiry through asking questions about the relationship between improvisation and teacher expertise. This became the focus for my PhD research, a qualitative enquiry based around in-depth case studies of seven expert teachers. A monograph based on this research project The Improvising Teacher: reconceptualising pedagogy, expertise and professionalism was published by Routledge in 2023.
Becoming a Professor of Improvisation has provided me with the opportunity and motivation to continue and extend my research interests; these can be broadly divided into two areas of study. The first is centred on my practice as an improvising musician, exploring the importance of listening and silence within improvised performance, a line of enquiry stimulated by Miles Davis comment that “it’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play that matters”. The second is concerned with the application of improvisational skills within social contexts; developing an understanding of improvisation as a mode of professional creativity in teaching, leadership and organisations.
Simon Rose, in his excellent book The Lived Experience of Improvisation: In music, learning and life sees improvisation as ‘a pervasive aspect of being human, in every sphere of life, enabling existence; life without the improvisational response is difficult to imagine’. However, improvisation has always been a problematic concept, containing a multiplicity of senses and significances that are not necessarily compatible with each other. There is a need for a better understanding of improvisatory processes and enabling the clarity of practice that is found in music and the other arts to be developed in other areas. Being Professor of Improvisation provides opportunities and to share the knowledge and understanding of what the Roman rhetorician Quintilian refers to as ‘artful improvisation’. I look forward to establishing this dialogue with others.
Nick Sorensen 