Lisa Dillan

Lisa Dillan is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) in the Department of improvised music, jazz and folk music, where she has worked since 2001. Born in 1969 in Bodø, she is also a freelance singer, composer and performance artist with a primary focus on improvisation across various musical genres and interdisciplinary contexts.

Her research interests include:

• Improvisation as a universal or genre-based performance form (jazz, free improvisation, classical forms, contemporary music)
• Vocal techniques in experimental, improvised, jazz, pop and contemporary music
• Composition using traditional techniques, graphic scores, and Open Form structures
• Intermedial improvisation at the intersection of dance, music, light, video and visual art
• Improvisation psychology focusing on meta-competence strategies for performers

Lisa Dillan's artistic work shows a consistent exploration of vocal expression and boundary-pushing performance. Her discography spans from the critically acclaimed 'Vocal Improvisation' (2005) through 'Arousal' (2010), 'Love Me Tender' (2012), 'Change of Habit' (2015), 'Botanikk' (2016), to her upcoming 'Jorda' (2025), demonstrating her evolution as an artist who works at the intersection of traditional and experimental approaches.

Her notable projects include:

• 'Sverm' (2012-2015): Artistic development work on improvisation in intermedia contexts
• 'To disappear without disappearing' (2024-2027): NordART Artistic development project
• 'Headstand': Ongoing political art project encouraging perspective shifts

Lisa Dillan maintains an active performance career while contributing to academic discourse through her teaching and research at NMH, making her a significant figure in contemporary Nordic music and intermedial performance art.