Dear Reader,
Coming back from the International Music Council’s 3rd World
Forum on Music in Tunis we would like to share some important
information on the activities of the European as well as International
Music Council.
Read more about the latest publications of the EMC, such as the ExTra!
final report and the ExTra! publication “Music
in Motion.
Diversity and Dialogue in Europe” or the
documentation on the
Israel 2008 conference “Music on
Troubled Soils”. Find out
about the prize winners of the IMC
Musical Rights Award and about the
First European Forum on Music in
Vienna and get informed about the
state of cultural policy at EU level.
Enjoy reading the EMC Newsletter!
With kind regards,
Secretary General
Policy and Communication
Secretary General Development and Finances
|
| 3rd
World Forum on
Music
by the International Music Council |
The 3rd World
Forum
on Music (WFM) organised jointly by the International Music
Council (IMC) and
the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Preservation of the Tunisian
Republic was a great success.
Entitled Access to Musical Diversity, the WFM focused on five areas
which IMC considers being of crucial importance to the world of music: |
- Supporting Musical Diversity: How
UNESCO, governments and
music organisations are implementing (or obstructing) the UNESCO
Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions
- Tunisian Music and Musics in
Tunisia. Converging and distinctive aspects
- Riding the Digital Tiger: New
developments in digital distribution and the shake-out of the music
industry
- The Changing Paradigms of Cultural
Policy: Perspectives from different
regions of the world. Speakers were Abderraouf Basti (Minister of
Culture and Heritage Preservation of Tunisia), Xavier Troussard (Head
of Unit for Culture Policy and Intercultural Dialogue at DG Education
and Culture, European Commission), Lupwishi Mbuyama (Executive
Director, Observatory of Cultural Policies in Africa), moderated by
Silja Fischer (Secretary General of IMC)
- Music Education from Advocacy to
Practice: The challenge of creating and managing a global network and
partnership system
- Challenges to Art Music: In a
world overrun by celebrity and
superficiality, is there an audience for the disciplines and profound
truths of art music?
|
In the frame of
the forum the IMC Inaugural Musical Rights Award was celebrated. The
first winner is:
- Freemuse
– The world forum on music & censorship.
Denmark (global). This unique programme advocates freedom of expression
for
creators and performers of music. It documents and often publicises
incidents of censorship and oppression, some of which may see musicians
gaoled or even killed. It acts in a variety of ways to support
musicians who experience limitations in their freedom to express
themselves, in some cases by lobbying offending governments directly.
It collaborates with other organisations working to implement the
principles outlined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights,
and with researchers and journalists to focus on issues of music
censorship. Hence, the programme goes to the roots of the five musical
rights defined by IMC.
Furthermore, the following two
projects/programmes were presented with the IMC Musical Rights Awards
2009:
- Musical
Programme of “Centro Andino para la Educacion y la Cultura”
(CAPEC). Argentina. This
programme targets groups of young people in Argentina who
for various reasons do not easily have access to musical education and
involvement, partly high-risk children. From the very start more than
20 years ago, the centre of the programme has been a small village,
distant from major national institutions. Over the years, the programme
has reached out to young people in the surroundings of this centre.
Systematically over the time of its existence the programme has grown
to encompass musical workshops, choral and instrumental ensembles,
training of musical promoters, establishment of a music school, and
organisation of competence building seminars for musical leaders,
musicians and music educators. The programme thus builds, in a most
systematic manner, the whole chain necessary to create an environment
in which the five musical rights can be practiced in direct relation to
a underprivileged group of young people.
- Revival of Music Education in Afghanistan. This
project aims at bringing music education and involvement in
music back into the Afghan society after the Taliban period and its
virtual obliteration of music life in Afghanistan and continuous threat
to all those who exposed themselves as musicians. In the aftermath of
this period, and under political circumstances which are still highly
fragile, an initiative has been taken by an expatriate Afghan musician
to establish a music institute, as a first step towards a national
programme for music education. It is remarkable as well as promising
that, in this situation, the initiative has obtained support by the
Afghan government and eventually from a number of other organisations.
The institute will cater to the music-educational needs of gifted and
motivated youth, especially supporting underprivileged children. The
project is a spearhead in giving the Afghan people the right to again
celebrate their own music without the risk of being punished.
In addition to the recommended winners, the
jury
found that another six projects/programmes have high scores in relation
to the award criteria. Each of these projects/programmes contributes in
a proactive way to the promotion of one or several of the five musical
rights. The jury recommends that the following six projects/programmes
be recognised as Specially Commendable (in alphabetical order):
The Tunisian
hosts provided an inspiring concert programme
demonstrating the musical diversity of Tunisia in breathtaking concert
venues.
|
| 33rd
General Assembly of the International Music Council (IMC) |
Next
to the 3rd World Forum on Music the 33rd General Assembly of IMC
took place. In the frame of the assembly elections to the IMC Executive
Board as well as for the IMC Presidency took place. The newly elected
IMC Executive Board is composed of:
- Frans de Ruiter (The Netherlands),
President
- Beata Schanda (Hungary), Executive
Vice President
- Liane Hentschke (Brazil), Vice
President
- Fethi Zghonda (Tunisia),
Vice
President
- Lars Grunth (Denmark), Treasurer
- Fernando Condon (Uruguay)
- Sonja Greiner (Germany)
- Gary Ingle (USA)
- Timo Klemettinen (Finland)
- Lupwishi Mbuyamba (DR of Congo)
- Henrik Melius (Sweden)
- Blasko Smilevski
(Macedonia/Belgium)
We would like to congratulate the newly
elected President Frans de Ruiter as
well as the newly elected Board members Fernando
Condon, Henrik
Melius, Blasko
Smilevski and Fethi
Zghonda.
We
are looking forward to a continuing fruitful cooperation between EMC
and IMC.
For his outstanding engagement over the past few years for the IMC and
the world of music, Richard Letts was elected Honorary Member of the
IMC with standing ovations from all delegates present. Our sincere
thanks and congratulations go to Mr. Letts!
|
Meeting
of Youth Delegates
As a response to the call from the outgoing
IMC
President, Richard Letts, in his opening speech of the 3rd
World
Forum on Music,
the invited youth delegates formed the International Music Council
Youth Advisory Group.
This was the result of intense
discussions at the meeting scheduled for youth delegates during the
Forum in Tunis. In attendance and forming the group are 11 young people
representing various organisations and youth groups and coming from
Argentina, Australia, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey and
the United Kingdom. This group in its initial stages is a network
between youth music organisations around the world and is immediately a
resource for which the IMC can call upon for the perspective that young
musicians, organisers, and networks can provide. All IMC member
organisations are warmly invited to nominate young people under the age
of 30 to join this network.
At the General Assembly of the IMC
the Youth Advisory Group called upon the IMC Board and Membership to
accept this group into their proceedings and encouraged immediate
dialogue between this Youth Advisory Group and the new IMC board on all
IMC matters. The reaction was very positive and the IMC Youth Advisory
Group and IMC Board are now exploring ways in which young people can
play a more active role in the future of the IMC.
For more information or to get involved please contact the
group’s coordinator, Andrew Stone. |
| First
European Forum on Music. Musical Diversity. Looking back, looking
forward |
The
next Annual
Meeting of the EMC members will take place in Vienna from 15 to 18
April 2010, next to the European Forum on Music. The conference will
take place in the venues of the University of Vienna, and will be
organised jointly with the Austrian Music Council. Its main focus will
be “Musical Diversity. Looking back, looking
forward”. It
will include discussions about the possible actions to implement the
UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions, as well as about overall discussions on the role
of the UNESCO commissions in this implementation process. As an
effective promotion of cultural diversity cannot elude actions taken on
the citizen level, an interactive discussion will tackle these issues
including inputs by personalities from European Capitals of Culture and
from the City of Vienna.
Registration will be open as of December 2010 – keep an eye
on the EMC
Website for update!
|
 |
| Update
on the Working Group Youth |
The
Working Group Youth is working on three main interesting issues:
- The creation of a European Agenda
for Youth and Music
- The organisation of a very special
youth event: Access! In 2010 in the European Youth Capital Torino
- Making youth projects and
initiative more visible for the EMC organisations in order to increase
the youth participation
Read more about the actual issues of the WGY in its latest newsletter!
|
|
| MuST:
Music and Societal Tasks. The new project of the EMC |
The
European Music Council is working on a new project! A lot of
organisations answered positively to the call given by EMC a couple of
weeks ago.
European societies are challenged by diverse factors, such as
migration, demographic change, climate change or globalisation. Music
and music politics offer possibilities to face these challenges and to
perceive them as opportunities. The UNESCO Convention,
which has been ratified by many national governments in Europe as well
as by the EU itself, offers a set of arguments that strengthen the role
of music in the political and societal sphere. The project MuST
aims at
raising the awareness for the Convention and its opportunities; it will
also contribute to the "Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions" on practical level.
|
EU
Conference 28 September 2009 and
European Culture Forum – 29-30 September 2009, Brussels,
Belgium |
A
three-day marathon in the Brussels based Flagey building that also
hosts the newly launched European House for Culture, gave room for the
valorisation conference on the European funded projects as well as for
the Culture forum (28 September 2009). The Culture forum is a bi-annual
event to be
organised by the European Commission as part of the European Agenda for
Culture with the aim to enhance the dialogue between the political
field and the culture sector. The culture forum focused on the three
objectives of the European Agenda for Culture, i.e. cultural diversity
and intercultural dialogue, culture as a factor for growth and culture
in the external relations of the EU.
More than 1000 participants were registered for the forum which
provided an excellent space for networking, as seemingly the networking
opportunity was the most valuable attribute that participants gave to
the conference (cf. culture.info). The forum sessions
itself have been
ambivalent – on the one hand the European Commission
successfully
invited speakers from other policy areas such as DG development,
external relations and social affairs and therefore successfully met
the objective of “Culture Mainstreaming”; on the
other hand
the forum sessions clearly lacked the element of discussion either
between the panellists or the panel and the audience. A very successful
part of the programme were the so-called
“flash-info-sessions” that gave each platform
(Culture
Sector Platforms: Intercultural Europe, Access to Culture, Potential of
Creatvie Industries) the possibility to present its work in approx. 20
minutes.
You will find the recommendations of the platforms online at:
More interesting reviews on the Culture Forum are available at:
Culture Action Europe
LabforCulture.org
Culture.info
Educult
|
| Music
on Troubled Soils – Conference documentation |
Last
year, the European Music Council and IMC Israel jointly organised
an inspiring conference in Jerusalem, under the title Music on Troubled Soils.
An exhaustive documentation has been published by EMC on this
conference, listing inputs from expert organisations and giving an
overview of model projects lobbying for peace and understanding through
music in conflicted areas. You can get your personal copy by
sending us an email, or you can download it here.
|
|
The
ExTra! project has come to an end – but the concerns remain.
The
project aimed to promote cultural diversity in Europe and enhance the
exchange between different cultural traditions present in European
societies today. One of the primary motivations behind the ExTra!
Project was the strong belief that a higher intercultural competence
will contribute to a peaceful world. The ExTra! project strived to
ensure that the exchange between different cultural groups is handled
with the utmost sensitivity and respect.
The ExTra! recommendations
have been developed in the context of the political frameworks of the
UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions, and the European Agenda for Culture in a
Globalized World.
|
|
| Music
in Motion. Diversity and Dialogue in Europe |
One
very original activity of the ExTra!
project has been the publishing of a research publication. After two
years of intensive cooperation, the ExTra! Publication was released in
April 2009 with the title Music
in Motion. Diversity and Dialogue in Europe.
It provides inspiration, which is both theoretical, thanks to
background articles written by approved experts, and concrete, thanks
to several exciting project presentations. The publication was edited
by the European Music Council and an Editorial Board that comprises
Bernd Clausen (University of Würzburg), Ursula Hemetek
(University
of Vienna) and Eva Saether (Malmö Academy of Music).
More about the publication
You can order a copy on the ExTra!
website
|
|
European Festivals Association
launches FestLab for Creativity and Innovation
At the occasion of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation, the
European Festivals Association (EFA), the umbrella organisation for
arts festivals across Europe and beyond, launched the FestLab for
Creativity and Innovation together with European Commissioner Mr
Ján Figel’. The FestLab invites arts festivals
worldwide
to demonstrate the important role that culture, arts, artists and
festivals play in fostering innovative and creative competences. Taking
part in the FestLab means committing to support young artists, foster
the creation of original works, develop new forms of partnerships and
share innovative projects – to be featured on the FestLab
webpage
at www.efa-aef.eu/festlab.
To sign up to the FestLab and receive the FestLabPass, click here!
|
 |
Music
Connects People. Music Connects Europe.
The European Musical Exchange Platform aims to give music lovers in
Europe the opportunity of networking, with information being swapped
across the borders and exchanges between the regions. The web portal
conveys information on current musical events in Europe and passes on
to its visitors and users useful items of interest on the music
cultures in the regions. With the www.music-connects.eu
option,
the platform also provides a variety of ways for people to present
themselves to an international community and get in touch with one
another. Starting with some countries in Eastern Europe, the Music
Platform intends to link up as many European regions as possible, thus
fostering an exchange between the music cultures of Europe. The project
is sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the
Media. Cooperation partners are the Goethe Institute and the European
Music Council.
Be a part of
it!
Musicians, event organisers and cultural organisations are warmly
invited to post their profiles free of charge on the European Musical
Exchange Platform site, to publish details of events, to register
offers of
or searches for cooperation projects or to showcase already existing
partnerships amongst the countries participating.
If you take advantage of our offer, you can gain from the advantages of
an array of presentation options and information and contact facilities.
Read the press release here
|
 |
Europa Cantat
General Assembly 2009
The Europa Cantat General
Assembly 2009
with Board elections will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, November 13th
to 15th 2009. The General Assembly will be connected with workshops on
Singing and Health as well as with a workshop on Bulgarian Repertoire.
A detailed programme and information can be found in ECmagazine 2/09
and on www.EuropaCantat.org.
|
 |
AEC Annual Congress 2009
The AEC Annual Congress 2009
will take
place at the Academy of Music in Maastricht, one of the oldest cities
in The Netherlands. The AEC will continue to address the role of
research in conservatoire education during this year’s
congress.
Information about the progress of the second 3-year cycle of the
ERASMUS Network for Music ‘Polifonia’ will also be
presented. Furthermore, the AEC Congress 2009 will address the local
and regional function of conservatoires as cultural centres.
Letter of invitation, Congress brochures, programme, registration forms
and hotel information for the 2009 Congress can be downloaded here. |
 |
ARTMUSFAIR/2009
organised by the European Composers Forum, is the
place to develop your music project together with European
partners! Open to representatives from throughout the contemporary
classical music scene, we aim to attract hundreds of composers, music
publishers, record labels, musicians, promoters, managers and agents
from across the whole of Europe.
The ARTMUSFAIR #2 will take place in Galsgow, Scotland, from 29 October
to 1 November 2009. More information here. |
 |
|
The
EMC is a Regional Group of the
The EMC is
supported by
Explore the
EMC and ExTra! Websites:
Information,
activities, press articles,
reports... and a lot more!
|
| This communication reflects the views only of
the EMC and its members. The funders cannot be held
responsible
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
|
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