The AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice (CMPCP) was launched in October 2009, with a five-year research programme focused on live musical performance and creative music-making. The new Centre is undertaking five research projects with associated workshops. A Performance Studies Network will enable collaborative research between scholars and performers from around the world, and Visiting Fellowships and three doctoral studentships will also be awarded.

The Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice is addressing such questions as:

How is musical performance creative, and what
knowledge is creatively embodied in musical
performance?

How does music in performance – and indeed the
very act of performance – take shape over time?

How does understanding musical performance as
a creative practice vary across different global
contexts, idioms and performance conditions (such
as solo and ensemble, in the rehearsal room,
recording studio and concert hall)?

CMPCP is the Phase 2 successor to the AHRC Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM), also funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It is based at the University of Cambridge in partnership with King’s College London, the University of Oxford and Royal Holloway, University of London. One of the research projects is being conducted in collaboration with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music.