On 2 December 2026, at 3:15 pm, the PhD examination of Master’s graduate Rodrigo Affonso in Music will take place, during which he will defend his dissertation entitled “Metaphor and the Polyphonic Event: Modes of Access to Musical Complexity in Choral Rehearsal”, under the supervision of Vasco Negreiros. The defence will take place in the Carlos Borrego Amphitheatre, Department of Environment and Planning, at the University of Aveiro.
PhD Committee
- Prof. Dr José Carlos Esteves Duarte Pedro (UA)
- Prof. Dr António José Vassalo Neves Lourenço (UA/INET-md)
- Prof. Dr Aoife Hiney (UTP/INET-md)
- Prof. Dr Vasco Manuel Paiva de Abreu Trigo de Negreiros, orientador (UA/INET-md)
- Prof. Dr Janete da Conceição Soares da Costa Ruiz (Uminho)
- Prof. Dr Pedro Miguel Pires de Oliveira Neves (ESML)
Metaphor and the Polyphonic Event: modes of access to musical complexity in choral rehearsal
This thesis investigates choral rehearsal as a space for the production of musical thought and knowledge within the framework of artistic research. It proceeds from the understanding that the musical phenomenon is constitutively complex, involving the simultaneous interaction of multiple dimensions—sonic, bodily, textual, historical, and relational. The situated experience of this complexity is conceived as a polyphonic event, understood as the relational actualization of the musical phenomenon. The study engages with the notion of Ereignis, which allows the musical to be understood as a processual event that cannot be reduced to linear analytical models. From this perspective, metaphor is investigated as a mode of thought, perception, and action capable of engaging with complexity without reducing it. Such an approach manifests itself in choral rehearsal practice at different levels: in language, in the relationship between text and music, in the conductor’s gesture, and in the methodological organization of the rehearsal process itself. The investigation unfolds through conceptual reflection grounded in the practice of choral conducting. Rehearsal episodes are presented as focal points of experience from which the research questions emerge, highlighting rehearsal as a situated space in which the musical event is constructed.
Keywords
Choral conducting; Choral rehearsal; Polyphonic event; Metaphor, artistic research; Text-music relationship; Rehearsal practice.