LAB5 Team
Jaak Sikk(PhD) is a researcher, improviser and a pianist. He teaches contemporary improvisation at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater and music College of Tartu named after Heino Eller. His doctoral thesis (PhD obtained in 2020) “The Influence of Stimulus Induced Imagery on the Quality of Improvising Freely” researched the possibilities of using imagery in the process of improvising. The research on the topic continues in the field of 'using imagery in group improvisation and interaction' in collaboration with Allan Vurma (PhD) and Marju Raju (PhD). In his teaching methodology, performances and research Jaak combines philosophical concepts, neuroscience and human psychology with practical actions and artistic experimentation aiming to create a context-sensitive transdisciplinary relation involving 'self” and the surrounding environments. Jaak is an active performer in Estonia and abroad as an improviser. From December 2021 on Jaak is a member of Estonian Youth Academy of Sciences. He is the manager of the collaboration project “MuseIA” between Estonian Academy of Music and Theater and Tallinn University of Technology which goal is to create an improvising AI. He has tought master classes in improvisation in the UK.
Vittoria Ecclesia is a clarinettist and PhD student at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater. The main focus of her work are the affordances of period and modern clarinets. She is also interested in the meta aspect of artistic research and the constructions of methodologies. Vittoria presented her work in various international conferences and is an active orchestra and chamber music player.
Kristi Kapten is an Estonian concert pianist. She is the winner of the Tallinn International Piano Competition (2011) and holds a phD in artistic research. As a soloist Kristi has given concerto performances and recitals in many European countries and in China. She has performed in festivals like Concerti del Tempietto (Rome, Italy), Edinburgh International Festival, St Magnus International Festival (UK) and Palermo Classica (Italy). As a sensitive stage partner Kristi has established partnerships with outstanding singers and instrumentalists. Her piano trio, formed in Glasgow in 2011, has become a well-known ensemble among Scottish audiences. The Kapten Trio was chosen for Chamber Music Scotland`s Residency Project in the years 2017 – 2019. Kristi has studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Bachelor; phD) with Prof. Peep Lassmann and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Masters) with Prof. Fali Pavri. Kristi teaches Vocal Chamber Music at the EAMT and supervises students in artistic research.
Fabrizio Nastari is an Italian composer whose aesthetic is based on the use of ironic devices. He is currently a PhD student at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. In 2022/2023 he teaches the elective course “Composing with 14th century Technique”. Since 2019 he works as a production assistant at the “highSCORE Festival”.
Kristel Pappel, Estonian musicologist, special research areas (1) history and theory of the opera and musical theatre, (2) history of the nineteenth-century music. Studied violin and musicology at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT), PhD 2004 („Opera in Tallinn in the Nineteenth Century“). Professor for music history and since 2015 Head of the Centre for Doctoral Studies at the EAMT. Several research scholarships (Stadt Lübeck; Forschungsinstitut für Musiktheater, Universität Bayreuth; International Wagner Society; Viro-Säätiö Helsinki etc.). 2011–2014 guest lecturer for musical theatre at the Vienna University; guest seminars at the universities of Göttingen, Dresden, Tartu etc.
Publications: several articles in Estonian, German and English; editor (with Michael Heinemann) of the essays by Joachim Herz (3 volumes, 2010–2012, Köln) and of the anthologies about August von Kotzebue (co-operation with the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Serie Berliner Klassik, vol. 22 (2016) and vol. 25 (2017)).
See also here
Together with Theodore Parker and their team she concepts Lab 5 in Tallinn.
Theodore Parker is a guitarist who works primarily in the fields of Free Improvisation and Experimental Music. Currently his focus is on live electronics as well as site specific sound. He is a member of Estonia’s first live electronics ensemble (EMA) and has created music for theatre and dance performances. His research activities pertain to the use of site specificity as part of both the aesthetic and music making processes involved in real-time music making. Currently he lectures at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater on the topics concerning free improvisation and artistic research.
Together with Kristel Kappel and their team he designs Lab 5 in Tallinn.