Practice-led research in practice: two pianists' preparation processes of Ross Edward's Kumari for public performance & recording

![CDATA[Discovery-led research, also known as practice-led research, is dancer Sarah Rubidge’s (2005) term for when a researcher enters an ‘initially inchoate field’ with few if any speculative questions, and through professional experience, insights and skills, embarks on a research journey not clearly defined. In documenting and analysing a performance preparation journey, this paper is largely ‘performer’s analysis’, Rink’s (2002 p.36) term for what is taking place ‘as an interpretation is being formulated and subsequently reevaluated – that is, while one is practising rather than performing’ (p.39). These journeys of discovery and learning can take many different forms. Examples include Aggett’s performative strategies for approaching an Australian art song (2007), and Rothstein’s (1995) discussion of the effect music’s structure should have on the way in which music is performed drawn from his own piano playing.]]