Tinker Field Research Grant Recipient – Andrés Pantoja

Andrés Pantoja’s project “Extended Techniques for the Classical Guitar in Chile,” was selected for a Tinker Field Research Grant in the amount of $2000 to cover travel and field-related expenses for pre-dissertation work in Chile. The selection committee reviewed an unusually large number of competitive applicants this year. His project
was chosen based on quality, feasibility, and potential impact, in addition to meeting Tinker eligibility criteria. Congratulations Andrés!

Andrés Pantoja will conduct preliminary research for his doctoral dissertation on the use of extended techniques in Chilean music for guitar from the last 30 years.

Extended Techniques (ETs) refer to novelty sounds produced by traditional instruments played in a non-traditional fashion that “increase the expressive range of instruments.”  ETs for guitar have been used as part of the palette of resources for many composers around the world since the second half of the twentieth century, and they have been widely studied by many scholars who have provided extensive publications about their musical notation and interpretation. However, there is no information about ETs in the Chilean repertoire for two primary reasons: 1) the repertoire is very recent and, 2) many works have not been published yet and remain in private libraries. With support from the Tinker foundation, his aim is to conduct fieldwork that will allow me to fill this gap in current guitar literature.