Strung Together: Realizing Music-cultural Hybridity within a Limited Time Frame.

This article discusses the creative practice behind Strung Together, an intercultural collaboration combining three non-congruent improvisation-based musics. An account of my experience as ‘musical-facilitator’ is framed with reference to theoretical constructs of cultural integration, compositional practice and collaborative creativity. By focusing on the process (comprising rehearsals, continual dialogue, co-composition, and coalesced methods of improvisation) and the development of an innovative working methodology (using notated ‘starting points’, which often evolve into ‘collective backbones’), this practice-led case study demonstrates that by inaugurating a democratic environment – where manifold approaches to music-making are properly considered and respected at a structural level – music-cultural hybridity is achievable within a limited time frame. Through pre- and post-project reflection, this account posits the notion that music-cultural hybridity may assume and traverse various forms; and furthermore, these forms – termed here as ‘hybridity strains’ – are likely to be in constant flux throughout intercultural–improvisatory collaborations. Counterpart definitions from other disciplines have been modified to classify the various hybridity strains examined, which together form an analytical model and critical framework that may be applied by others to evaluate future creative works; and thus, contribute to the wider discourse surrounding hybridity.