Peter Koch Gehlshøj

My PhD is part of the research project 'Voices, Places and Strife', focused on the music drama heritage in Denmark in the period 1721-1854. The project was made possible by a grant from the Augustinus Foundation and is led by Associate Professor Jens Hesselager.

The project examines the inherent conflicts and 'unheard' voices of the source material; that which, in a contemporary context, holds a particular potential for challenging the narratives that make up our prevailing historical understandings.

We collaborate with Hofteatret, the historical court theatre at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, on two artistic workshops with offset in musical and textual source material. The project thus encompasses both historical research, critical analysis, and performative dimensions, aimed at generating new formats for the dissemination of and research on music cultural heritage.

My scientific interest is focused on the potential of music and performing arts to renegotiate the places and practices that characterize our daily life and common historical narratives. In my master's thesis, based on fieldwork in a number of European cities, I investigated how street theater can be used in renegotiations of how we understand, use and share our everyday spaces and life.

Further research has been focused on music's potential for invoking spaces and atmospheres with offset inn analyzes of works by, among others, Debussy, Bartok, and Messiaen.

I have been part of the artistic management of the experimental performing arts collective HAUT, whose main purpose is to provide spaces for new artistic experiments that can challenge the way we understand and produce performing arts. I have taught opera history in primary schools and worked as a music drama critic.