Ewelina Grygier

In 2021 after 10 years of research I was awarded my PhD for the Thesis ‘Artist, Performer, Beggar: Street Music in 21st Century Poland and the Theory Of Performance’ written under the supervision of dr hab. Ewa Dahlig-Turek, prof. In The Institute of Art of The Polish Academy of Science. Street music is my passion. I do not regularly play on the streets myself too often, but I unertake field research, recordings and interviews with buskers, who mostly perform in Poland but also abroad

My PhD thesis concerning street music consists of two parts. The first part focuses on historical and theoretical aspects, while the latter deals with the characteristics and interpretation of modern street music making: The music-performance structure is examined including the time-frame and legal factors. Furthermore, non-musical elements of street music performance are analysed, e.g: performer’s attire, props, advertising and communication (oral or written) with the audience. The final part of this work is a description and analysis of the street music repertoire.

I propose also my own definition of street music. I understand the term contemporary street music as ‘Every grassroots, self-organised music act of artistic quality (music artificialis) manifested in a public space, irrespectively of the genre, form and technical quality, with a performance in front of an audience as its goal’