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Petra Kirchner

Petra, Premanjali Kirchner is a keyboard artist and researcher whose work brings musical schema into dialogue with historical performance practices, reimagining their expressive possibilities for contemporary performance. She is currently undertaking a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the supervision of Neal Peres Da Costa. Originally from Vienna, she completed her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, under the guidance of Natasha Vlassenko.

Building on Gjerdingen’s work on musical schema, her artistic research examines the relationship between schematic structures in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century repertoire and the expressive principles of historical performance practice and bel canto aesthetics.

In works by Mozart and Chopin, she traces the relationship between compositional schema and the expressive practices of nineteenth-century pianism, drawing on these connections to reimagine creative and expressive possibilities in contemporary performance. Her artistic inquiry also draws on the traditions of partimento and historical solfeggio, informed by her work with IJzerman, Demeyere, and Baragwanath. These traditions further inform her approach to the relationship between compositional structure, improvisation, and expressive performance.

This work has also been explored in an orchestral context, opening possibilities for integrating knowledge of musical schema with historical performance practices and bringing their expressive potential into ensemble performance.