BIOGRAPHY

Vittoria Ecclesia is a clarinettist, artistic researcher, and educator currently working as a Senior Scientist at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. She obtained a Doctoral degree in Classical Music Performance from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with an award-winning dissertation titled “Practice Beyond Boundaries: Enhancing Musicianship through Historical Clarinet Affordances.” Her undergraduate studies occurred at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and Conservatorio Cantelli of Novara.

She has worked at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre as a junior researcher (2022-2024), supervising undergraduate theses, organising events in the doctoral department, and participating in interdisciplinary collaborations such as the Erasmus+ RAPP Lab project. Together with fellow artist-researchers Kristi Kapten and Theodore Lee Parker, she is currently conducting a research project titled “Modernised Salon: Broadening Performers’ Perspectives on Public Presentation” (KUM-LU14), funded by the Estonian Ministry of Culture. She has given lectures on artistic research at the Conservatories of Rome and Alessandria.

As a performing artist, Vittoria brings versatility and depth to every performance. From 2020 to 2024 she has been a clarinettist with the Estonian National Opera Orchestra. She has collaborated with various orchestras and ensembles, such as Orchestra dell’Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared at festivals like Festival Verdi, Clarinettomania, MüriaadFEST, Afekt, and ICA New Music Weekend. She has premiered many works dedicated to her.

Vittoria’s scholarly work includes presentations at international conferences across Europe, where she shares insights on historical clarinet in contemporary music, artistic research methodologies, and the exploration of embodied knowledge. Through her research, teaching, and performance, Vittoria is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of clarinet performance and enriching the field of classical music.

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ACADEMIC CV

CONFERENCES and PRESENTATIONS

30th November 2024, Mattatoio "La Pelanda", Rome: guest at the round table "Dottorati e ricerca artistica musicale: Prospettive e obiettivi nel contesto europeo", organised for the 61st Festival of Nuova Consonanza. Watch the full event in Italian here.
26th-28th September 2024, Complesso Monumentale di San Lorenzo, Napoli: presenter at the II Convegno Annuale ANDA-AFAM. Presentation title: “Musica contemporanea per strumenti storici: una collaborazione artistica” with Fabrizio Nastari.
19th September 2024, Anton Bruckner Private University, Linz: presenter at the Symposium “Thinking with the Body: Breaking Methodological Boundaries”. Presentation title: “Historical Clarinet as a Source of Embodied Knowledge”.
16th-17th May 2024, Orpheus Insitute, Ghent: Conference of Doctoral Students "Media in Music and Sound Arts: Awareness, Interaction, and Identity". Presenting "Transcending Time: Historical Clarinet in Contemporary Music".
30th September 2023, I.S.S.M. “Vecchi-Tonelli”, Modena: I Conferenza ANDA-AFAM. Presenting "Metodologie ibride per la ricerca artistica". Read the abstract on page 31.
30th August-1st September 2023, Royal Academy of Music, London: Doctors in Performance Conference. Presenting: "Developing musical flexibility through the practice of period instruments”.
6th-10th March 2023, Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, Rome: RAPP Lab 6 on “Conscious Improvisation: a deep and functional approach”. Learn more on RAPP Lab 6 here.
2nd-3rd February 2023, Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, Rome: guest lecturer in Artistic Research for the Master program “AReMus – Artistic Research in Music”.
18th-20th April 2023, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Facoltà di Musicologia, Cremona: Musicology in Progress Conference. Presenting: “Developing musical flexibility through the practice of period instruments”. Read the abstract on page 23.
16th November 2022, Orpheus Institute, Ghent: Conference of Doctoral Students "Serendipity - The Unsought Discovery". Presenting: "Shifting perspective: the unexpected affordances of period clarinet".
19th-23rd September 2022, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn: RAPP Lab 5 “Exploring Musical Identities: Autoethnography”. Lecturer in a seminar on autoethnographic interviewing and a seminar on autoethnographic writing. Learn more on RAPP Lab 5 here.
30th May-3rd June 2022, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna: RAPP Lab 4 “Transculturality in Artistic Research”. Learn more on RAPP Lab 4 here.
5th-7th May 2022, Latvian Academy of Music, Riga: Conference “Artistic Research: various fields, approaches, experiences”. Presenting “Art and Rigour: Designing experimenting processes for Artistic Research. Read the abstract on page 30.
15th-16th April 2022, Casa da Música, Porto: Xperimus2022 Forum on Experimentation in Music. Presenting “Art and Rigour: Designing experimenting processes for Artistic Research”. Read the abstract on page 30.
1st-3rd September 2021, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn: Doctors in Performance Conference. Presenting “Art and Rigour: a personal path in adapting methodologies for Artistic Research”.
1st-5th February 2021. Online event: ESCOM Cross-European Winter School On Musical Ability.
25th-27th January 2021, Tallinn University, Tallinn: X Winter School of GSCSA. Presenting “The evolution of virtuosity as part of the expression: a case study based on Iwan Müller’s Clarinet Quartets”. Read the abstract here.

PUBLICATIONS

Ecclesia, V., 2023. "Art and Rigour: Creating Methods for Artistic Research in Music" - Culture Crossroads. pp. 12-21. Full article here.
Ecclesia, V., 2024. "Practice beyond boundaries : enhancing musicianship through historical clarinet affordances". Doctoral thesis, manuscript. Full text here.
Ecclesia, V., 2024. "A 13-Keyed Clarinet May Transform Classical Music Practice", for researchinestonia.eu. Full article here.