Four panel discussions
26-30 October, 3 pm, Vilnius Teachers’ House (Vilnius str. 39)
Considering the current situation of composer, autonomy of artist seems one of utmost out-dated utopia. Contemporary composing strategies are deeply influenced by engagement of composer with the world of reproduction, consumption and evaluation of music, e.g. politics, economics, marketplace, media, academy and others. What space is devoted nowadays to composer in this ever-changing culture and society? How does music as artistic activity relate to other fields of musical culture? What is relationship between composer and his/her partners and patrons – publishers, producers, politicians, critics and others? The cycle of public discussions is dedicated to confront wide range of issues (artistic, political, social, economic, technological etc.), tackling current positions and strategies of composer in different countries.
Composer & State
26 October, 3 pm
The session is devoted to various strategies of the public support for creativity – individual composers‘ actions (having in mind that earnings from creative work make up less than 50% of the composer‘s income), institutional commissioning system, measures to encourage exploitation of the repertoire in media, various collective, union / association based actions. What is the state support system for composition in various countries? Can the composer rely only on earning from composition alone and how does it influence the quality of his / her work? What are the principle arguments for the governmental subsidies going to creativity and why it is discussed as an unquestionable benefit?
Participants:
Moderated by: Richard Tsang (Hong Kong, board member of the Hong Kong Guild of Composers, President of the ISCM, composer)
John Davis (Australia, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Music Centre, Vice-President of the ISCM)
Henk Heuvelmans (The Netherlands, Head of the Contemporary Music Department at the Music Centre The Netherlands, General Secretary of the ISCM)
Ivo Josipović (Croatia, President of Zagreb Biennale, board member of the Croatian Composers’ Society, composer)
Olga Smetanová (Slovakia, Managing Director of the Music Centre Slovakia, President of IAMIC)
Tapio Tuomela (Finland, Head of the ISCM Finnish section, Artistic Director of the Time of Music festival, Board member of the Finnish Copyright Society Teosto, composer)
Composer & Agent
27 October, 3 pm
Session will discuss the composer’s agency and promotion of his / her music, emphasizing two basic models – commercial publishers / agents and not-for-profit organizations / associations, working in the field of music information and promotion (such as Music Information Centres). What kind of services composers expect from their agents? What are the differences in practice between the commercial sector and not-for-profit organization? Are there points to share and to learn from each other? What is the role of the composer today in the promotion of his / her own music? Maybe the most important agents of the composer’s work have always been music performers? How synergetic are the relationships between all these parties?
Participants:
Moderated by John Davis (Australia, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Music Centre, Vice-President of the ISCM)
Magnus Anderson (Sweden, guitar player and teacher, former Artistic Director of the festival Stockholm New Music)
Vykintas Baltakas (Lithuania, composer and conductor)
Sally Cavender (United Kingdom, Director of Performance Promotion and Vice-Chairman of Faber Music)
Graham Hayter (United Kingdom, owner of the CMPromotions agency, former Director and Head of Promotion at Peters Edition in London)
John McLachlan (Ireland, composer, broadcaster and writer on contemporary music, Executive Director of the Association of Irish Composers)
Composer & Commission
29 October, 3 pm
The session is dedicated to the commissions, the most common incentive of creativity. Commissions today are given by performers, various arts institutions (festivals, theatres, concert organizations), media (public radio), new works and premieres become the matter of prestige for the commissioners. The festivals are chasing for the well-known names and creating networks for over again larger and more expensive projects. Often a composer becomes the hostage of this production machine, where ideas are lost somewhere on the way to their realization. On the other hand, is it not the case, that often commissioning schemes induce certain sense of overproduction, when quantity starts dominating over the quality?
Participants:
Moderated by Lieven Bertels (Belgium / The Netherlands, Artistic Coordinator of music programme at Holland Festival, Curator of the ISCM World Music Days 2008)
Stephen Lias (United States, composer, the Founder and Director of The Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers (CPCC).
Andris Dzenītis (Latvia, composer and writer on contemporary music, Founder and Director of the biannual Young Composers’ Mastercourse at Dundaga (2002 - 2006) and Mazsalaca (in 2008))
Jonathan Harvey (United Kingdom, composer)
Graham McKenzie (United Kingdom, Artistic Director of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival)
Rūta Prusevičienė (Lithuania, Managing Director of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, Executive Director of Vilnius Festival)
Composer & Critic
30 October, 3 pm
This session is dedicated to the importance of the public reflection of the composer’s work. Fragmentation of contemporary music scenes changed the relationship between the composer and music critic as well as overall function of musical criticism. ‘Big ideas’ and general trends in contemporary music are vanishing, the composer and critic are often not linked anymore by the same cultural environment and experiences. Besides, in the face of the diversity of musical expression, musical criticism more often identifies itself with the audience, opening up new musical worlds and transformations of the musical practice and perception, than with the creator, legitimating his / her artistic ideology. What role does the criticism play in creative practice today? How does the criticism influence the creator’s role in the social-cultural field and functioning of composer’s music? To what extent musical criticism today approaches cultural policy and management shaping critical judgements and configuring strategies of international promotion?
Participants:
Moderated by Jurij Dobriakov (Lithuania, writer on contemporary music and arts)
Andreas Engström (Sweden, editor-in-chief of Nutida Musik, magazine on contemporary music, editor of the ISCM World New Music Magazine, lecturer on contemporary music and sound art)
Sorin Lerescu (Romania, composer, President of the ISCM Romanian Section)
Reinhard Oehlschlägel (Germany, writer on contemporary music, founder and editor of MusikTexte, founder and former editor of the ISCM World New Music Magazine)
Jan Topolski (Poland, writer on contemporary music, editor-in-chief of Glissando magazine on contemporary music)
In English only. All events are open for the public.
