SomAção & Orquestra Insólita: Collective Improvisation and Sound-Action Methodologies in the Northern Brazil

Léo Perotto and Heitor Martins Oliveira performing with Orquestra Insólita (2025).

I am Dr. Heitor Martins Oliveira, Associate Professor of Music and Performing Arts at the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT) in Northern Brazil. My research and creative practice focus on the concept of “sound actions and interactions” (ações e interações sonoras), investigating the inherent theatricality of musical materials, dramaturgical sound design, and collaborative creation. As the co-founder and co-artistic director of Orquestra Insólita—an experimental ensemble for free improvisation and com-provisation—and the developer of the SomAção methodology, my work bridges contemporary concert composition, scenic arts, and regional cultural expressions. Based in the Amazonian region of Tocantins, these initiatives explore how collective listening and real-time sonic interaction can transform both creative processes and pedagogical practices.

Audio samples

Key Publications / Abstracts

Experimentation as intersection between composition and performance in musical creation: a collaborative experience

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5965/2525530405012020177

The  article  discusses  the  role  of  ex-perimentation  in  the  creative  collaboration ‒  composition  and  performance  ‒  of  the  group  Coletivo  N·S·L·O.  The  investiga-tion builds on records collected during the creative process and reports produced by the  members  themselves.  Thus,  the  discussion  considers  the  particular  perspec-tives  of  each  one,  until  the  consolidation  of  the  musical  products.  In  this  process,  experimentation creates a space in which the  composer  and  performers  act  togeth-er in a decisive way for the creative result achieved.  The  results  of  the  experiments  are   incorporated   into   the   composition,   through  indeterminacy,  and  performance  preparation,   through   games,   consisting   of  musical  materials,  actions  and  interac-tions.  Collaboration,  while  preserving  the  division of roles, is horizontal and flexible. The  aesthetic  proposal  encompasses  the  aspects of theatricality and play, as a result of  the  dynamics  between  indeterminate  notation and performance.
Keywords: Musical  creation;  collab-oration;  indeterminacy;  experimentation;  creative process.

Sound action and interaction models: genesis of an improvisation system

DOI: http:/dx.doi.org/10.5965/2764.4669020420220203

The genesis of SomAção, an improvisation system for on-scene sounds, is based on the author's understanding  of  listening  experiences  and  models  of  sound  action  and  interaction,  in  music-theater   and sound-theater.   Listening   experiences   are   plurivalent,  emergent   and   situated, encompassing  multiple  focuses,  dimensions  and  references.  Each  model  of  sound  action  and interaction mobilizes intentions and attitudes, articulating body poetics and listening experiences. Collaborative  experiments  and  reflections  with  sound  action  and  interaction  models  such  as Support, List, Ostinato, Reading, Melos and Dialog give rise to initial results and reflections on the possibilities and limitations of the system.
Keywords: sound action, sound interaction, improvisation, music-theater, sound theater