From: Sandeep Bhagwati (sandeep.bhagwati@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Jan 16 2011 - 13:52:08 EST
The discussion got sidetracked into the money issue. Not so interesting, I
agree.
But since we are talking money: I think there is sufficient money (and
goodwill) in ea to sustain an active scene.
Put together all the salaries and subventions and sponsoring...and who pays
for all these precious studios ?
I was speaking about how the money is distributed - and how seemingly
inclusive calls are in reality not inclusive because they assume that people
can get access to other funds or self-sponsor their own participation in
these events. There is a real danger in assuming that you are among the
elect because you have the funds...
I wanted to propose a new attitude towards the use of the available funds.
Towards real inclusiveness. And towards an awareness of the global presence
of ea - a presence that could enrich and blow away the aesthetic staleness I
sense in many current ea work. Where is the post-colonial turn in ea music ?
Please re-read the post...
As regards the self-image as "the most arcane on the planet": I would not be
so smug to think that about ea music. If you define "arcane" as "understood
by only a few initiates and characterized by scarce funds", the ea music we
are talking about is a corporate multinational giant compared to many other
traditional or private musics on this planet...
Also: Let us leave aside the general public for a moment. What about the
cultural scene ? When was the last time a writer mentioned academic
electroacoustic music in a novel, either as background, a descriptive
passage or as a metaphorical/narrative component of his text ? Who can name
artists from other fields (choreographers excepted) admitting in an
interview to being spontaneously inspired by an ea composition they
discovered and loved ? Which philosopher references ea music as an
illustration of his thoughts ? Why do our colleagues at university do not
listen to it - while many of them do go to contemporary art shows, theatre
or dance ?
A lot of the flak directed at contemporary art music (including ea) to me
seems to center not on its right to exist, but on the disparity between its
low profile even in the intellectual cultural discourse of today and the
high profile funding it requires and gets...
So much for now
Sandeep
2011/1/16 James Phelps <jimphelps_niucms@yahoo.com>
> Please correct me if I'm wrong (I'm sure you will) but, bottom line, aren't
> we talking about the availability of monetary support for what is possibly
> the most arcane music on the planet? What is it about this situation we
> fail to understand and what is it about this situation that we all didn't
> knowingly "sign-up for" when we got into this realm of creativity?
>
> -Jim
>
>
>
> --- On *Sun, 1/16/11, Scott Wilson <s.d.wilson.1@bham.ac.uk>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Scott Wilson <s.d.wilson.1@bham.ac.uk>
>
> Subject: Re: Call for Works: Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music 2011
> To: "cec-conference@concordia.ca" <cec-conference@concordia.ca>
> Date: Sunday, January 16, 2011, 5:10 AM
>
>
> Back to the start of this...
>
> Xenia is quite right of course that performers do a lot of charity for
> 'love of the music', but AFAIK, (Eric chime in if I'm wrong) Sonorities does
> pay performers 'properly'. IME composers are usually the last ones to be
> paid in new music events both inside and outside of academia, both for the
> original work, and for the presentation of it, even if their presence is
> crucial for the latter. As someone with an academic job, I appreciate the
> freedom of being able to do interesting things for free, and in most cases I
> think there's a general principle of good-will involved, so I don't mind if
> some money goes to something more needy, although it's nice not have to go
> into the red at least.
>
> Given that composers and even composer/performers often receive nothing for
> attendance, I think Sonorities should be commended for offering something.
> Of course they do have to choose some balance between how much to pay and
> how many people they can pay/invite.
>
> Sandeep's point is well made though, and I think probably the most profound
> insight in this (particular round of a perennial) discussion, as it frames
> things in terms of issues of access for artists around the world. This is
> something rarely considered, but likely to be of increasing importance in
> the future.
>
> S.
>
> On 16 Jan 2011, at 05:19, James Phelps wrote:
>
> "herring in frankfurt? it's particularly the red ones i'm interested in"
>
> I'm loving that one!
>
>
>
> --- On *Sat, 1/15/11, jef chippewa <jef@newmusicnotation.com<http://mc/compose?to=jef@newmusicnotation.com>
> >* wrote:
>
>
> From: jef chippewa <jef@newmusicnotation.com<http://mc/compose?to=jef@newmusicnotation.com>
> >
> Subject: Re: Call for Works: Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music 2011
> To: cec-conference@concordia.ca<http://mc/compose?to=cec-conference@concordia.ca>
> Date: Saturday, January 15, 2011, 10:34 PM
>
>
> the example was just that, an example, but you have now taken it waaaaaay
> out of context.
>
> going back to my original point: my example used an originating country
> that is slightly far (in europe) from the venue and is a country where not
> much EA activity is happening at the moment, in comparison with *some* other
> european countries. the 87 eur was *round-trip* cracow-dublin. therefore the
> £350 fee is really not that bad for SOME people from SOME communities in
> SOME circumstances.
>
> *that* was my point and now you are informing us where to get pierogis in
> dublin and filling up my attachments folder with crap photos you lifted from
> the internet. hm... i'm hungry now. say, do you know where to buy herring
> in frankfurt? it's particularly the red ones i'm interested in, i'm
> travelling there wednesday evening.
>
> > Maybe not such a good example. Polish is [was] the second language of
> Dublin. This is the cost of the flight into Ireland. I flew London to Dublin
> for 40 Euros, but getting out was five times as much.
>
>
>
>
>
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