Why a Master in Creative Practice and why now?

When I see people talking about why they

chose the music career, I often hear that music always came naturally to them, since a young age, and
that they could not imagine themselves doing anything else. Although I find that inspiring, the truth is I
never felt it to be true for me. I never felt that music was an easy subject, nor that I had a musical gift.
What I always felt was that I loved music, that it challenged me constantly, and that this sense of
challenge was exactly what made me keep pushing myself to learn more and learn different subjects.

Even though I had formal music lessons at school from a young age, I was 12 years old when I
decided to learn the electric guitar, a decision that ultimately changed my life. During the following
years, I also had vocal and piano lessons and played in ensembles, but the guitar remained as my
favorite form of expression. As a teenager, I began experimenting with home recording. The discovery of
MIDI technology was a particularly defining moment. I found that there was so much I could do, with my
computer alone. I became fascinated with the possibilities surrounding music creation and production,
and I am continuously amazed by how much we can do with the help of different technologies. Around
the same time, I started acknowledging and being interested in gender issues. Specifically about music, I
noticed that my position as a female guitarist was seen as uncommon and I was a minority among guitar
players.

Shortly after joining the Popular Music bachelor at the Arts Institute of the Federal University of
Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre/Brazil, I reached a turning point in my academic and professional life,
when I met professor Isabel Nogueira, coordinator of the Research Group in Gender, Body and Music.
During my first week at the university, in an ensemble class, all my (male) classmates assumed that I
could be the singer for the group, despite me saying that I was a guitar player. Professor Isabel then said
she specifically wanted me to play the guitar, as there were plenty of other students that had stated
more experience with singing than myself. From that point on, I decided I would not let others'
expectations of what musical roles I should perform affect me, or to give up what I wanted to do
because of others. When facing new professional and academic challenges, I try to remember myself of
how I felt that day, when my voice was heard, and let that feeling guide me.

By that point, I had already realized women were only 23% of the Music Department student
body, and I was curious as to why that happened and what could be done to encourage more women to
join our department. Professor Isabel shared the same questions, and invited me to work with her in her
Research Group. There, we discussed many articles regarding gender and music, and I became very
interested in the similarities between the gender situation I encountered at my university with other
parts of the world. Georgina Born's studies about women studying Music Technology in the UK and
Goldsmiths professor Freida Abtan's work about women in electronic music culture were particularly
interesting in that aspect. Obviously, being able to be close to and study with an academic reference of
mine like professor Abtan would be very enriching for me as an artist and as a researcher. I have also
participated in several congresses and seminars presenting papers about our research on active female
composers in Porto Alegre.

Our research group also wanted to actively encourage more women to create and be engaged
with music. This led us to organize multiple workshops during my time at the university, some of them in
partnership with researchers from other departments or institutions. For example, we taught teenage
girls from public schools how to build a synthesizer using Arduino through collaboration with the Physics
department of the university. In 2018, we offered multiple workshops on soundwalking and music
creation with researchers Linda O Keeffe and Rebecca Collins, who spent over a month working with us
in Brazil. Linda and Rebecca are part of UK organization Women In Sound Women On Sound (WISWOS),
that has members among Goldsmiths staff and students. Studying at Goldsmiths would provide me a
great opportunity to be in contact and work with WISWOS again.

In parallel to those activities, I began working with professor Isabel in sound creation and
performance projects, the main one being "Medula Collective of Sound Experiments", a constant
changing group of artists that had interest in sound experimentation. We worked with free
improvisation, instruments built by the group, audiovisual installations and a variety of music
technologies to create our performances. This was the first time I had experience with merging audio
and video, and started seeing them as one thing, as part of our performances experience. I also came
across expanded techniques for the electric guitar and effects pedals, which are now very present in my
guitar practice. Working with Medula made me get out of my comfort zone as a musician, and I try to
maintain that practice in my daily routine as an artist. I discovered with them that I'm very interested in
mixing the guitar with music technologies and in experimental ways of making music.

During my years at the university, I had the opportunity to experience many professional
activities as well. I wrote the soundtrack for two short films done by Communications students of the
university and for a play done by Drama students. I was fascinated by how their creative process was
immersive and collective, and I now try to apply that to any group I'm part of. Additionally, I have been
studying live sound and music production and working as a freelance in these areas for a few years. I
started going in that direction because I was curious about how the music I listened to reached their
final sound. Nowadays, I believe curiosity is a huge part of my professional activity, as I'm constantly
learning new things by working with others and through experimentation. ​Finally, I am also part of the
organization team of Girls Rock Camp Porto Alegre, which is part of the international Girls Rock Camp
Alliance. It is a summer camp for girls aged 7-17 where a female-only volunteer team teaches them
music along with other activities such as composition, stage performance, fanzine and others. Working
in this project has definitely changed my life, as it connects me with dozens of amazing women I never
knew before from my own city! More importantly, it makes me proud because I know we are making an
impact in our community by encouraging the campers to do music (and anything they wish)!

When I reached the start of my university graduation year, I took a step back and thought about
all the experiences that led me to that precise moment. I realized that all of them, and all of the people
that I had contact with, made me who I am. I also realized that my musical experiences had always been
hybrid. I comprehended that this is my characteristic as a musician that I like the most. To be diverse
and to be curious and to be always moving towards new knowledge and experiences. And that is why I
chose the MMus Creative Practice. Because I feel it is also hybrid and I know it can help me develop all
areas I am interested in. It can give me the tools to be a better musician, performer, researcher,
producer, tutor, artist. A better person, after all. I am thrilled to be able to experience Goldsmiths
creative environment and to be in contact with students and professors. I am looking forward to
exploring Goldsmiths facilities, its studios and the events held at the university.

Thinking about the future, I see myself pursuing further academic qualifications and to keep
working with music production and live sound. I am interested in doing a Master in Research and a PhD,
to expand my experience as a researcher and, more importantly, as an artist-researcher. I want to apply
the academic knowledge I will gain in my professional activities, and vice versa, because I believe
practical and theoretical knowledge are complementary. Furthermore, I want to continue working
towards a more gender equal world, and to engage more and more women in music. As I said before, I
feel that everything I experience turns into a part of who I am, and I want to be a part of Goldsmiths. I
want Goldsmiths to be a part of who I am.