Improvisation techniques in piano playing and conversation

Contributors

Program

The lecture examines the principles underlying improvisation in piano playing and in conversation - and how the same principles are shaped differently. These include expectation building; surprise as a productive break; the "yes and..." principle; the maxim of cooperation as benevolent cooperation; resonance as finely tuned resonance; playful 'letting things happen' as well as repertoire, risk resilience and much more. Using musical and interactional miniatures, the speakers show how these shared principles enable creation and enjoyment in music and language and open up exciting, joyful and explorative spaces for encounters in the high art of virtuoso piano playing and successful conversation. The interdisciplinary perspective also outlines methodological consequences for the teaching, analysis and practice of improvisation in art, science and everyday life. Including short live demonstrations with audience participation.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pfänder is Professor of Romance and General Linguistics in Freiburg. He investigates how understanding succeeds in challenging communication - through real-time coordination of gestures, gaze, rhythm and tone, including in clinical settings.

Prof. Dr. Laurens Patzlaff has been Professor of Improvisation at the College of Music in Freiburg since 2024. He has played a key role in the renaissance of classical piano improvisation in Germany, with his repertoire encompassing almost all styles, and regularly gives concerts and masterclasses in Europe, Asia, Australia and North and South America.

The event is part of the FZM lecture series "Improvising: Spontaneous Creativity in Art and Everyday Life" and part of the FZM event series "musik + wissen".

In the summer semester 2026, the Freiburg Research and Teaching Center(FZM) is organizing a lecture series on the topic of improvisation from various specialist perspectives and facets. In addition to ten lectures by members of the FZM and guests, which will take place on Wednesdays in the lecture hall of the University's Musicology Department, events with improvisational-musical performances or cross-genre performances are planned on five Monday evenings at the College of Music, two of which are part of the FZM event series "musik + wissen".

Here you can find the short program (pdf) (this file is not barrier-free) with all individual dates of the public lecture series.

The Freiburg Research and Teaching Center (FZM) is a joint institution of the College of Music and the University campus Freiburg with the aim of mutual networking in music-related research and teaching.