2^e table ronde: Les musiques nouvelles en tournée — Réalités canadiennes et internationales

[traduction française non disponible]

Saturday, May 24, 2008, from 1:00 pm to 2:45 pm

A joint session with the Cool Drummings conference

(The following are notes taken by Tim Brady)

Tim Brady — moderator
Jarko Aikens — Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam)
Véronique Lacroix — Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal
Ana Lara — Musica Y Escena (Mexico)
Peter Hatch — Open Ears Festival (Kitchener)
Alan Pierson — Alarm Will Sound (New York)
Eve Egoyan — pianist (Toronto)
Frank Druschel — Wurtennberg Chamber Orchestra (Germany)

1. Jarko Aikens — Music is part of a living history. Amsterdam has been a very musical city for 400 years, so live music is an important part of the city’s cultural life. The goal of the Muziekgebouw is to create the conditions for the IDEAL performance of a work — no compromises when it comes to acoustics or the relationship with the public or artists. 50 % of programming is new music. The goal in creating the Muziekgebouw was also to create a centre where people could combine forces — bringing the arts and other cultural and social actors together.
2. Véronique Lacroix — ECM is about creating a forum for new composition. She also feels that there are no problems without solutions — just keep looking — this natural human curiosity to keep looking for answers is part of what ECM is designed to encourage. For ECMs touring works with both new music presenters and Music Faculties. The idea is to build a network for touring. ECM is also very interested in multimedia work — film, video, dance — in order to bring in outside audiences. Collaborations are also very important to building bigger projects, including education work and work for younger audiences. Collaborations on programming happen with presenters and festivals — finding programmes that work for both ensemble and presenter. Repeat performances are also important to developing both the group, and to developing a sense of repertoire and cultural artifact. “New Music is an acquired taste” — it takes time to develop a relationship with this music, as it is not part of the “regular” musical experience for most people.
3. Ana Lara — repeat performances are also important to Musica Y Escena. Collaborations — especially multi-media — are a key to this festival. Another key element is education and young audiences.
4. Peter Hatch — Positioning new music is very important — creating a relationship with the audience means being truly open, and truly accepting and exploring diversity. Peter likes to work with people who can “make things happen” — curators, certain individuals. This is MORE than just a “marketing” — it has to be about a vision, curating a larger vision of music and its place in society.
5. Alan Pierson — they only do 1 or 2 NY shows per year, they do a lot of residences, where they can develop a relationship over time. Repertoire comes out of discussions, with residences, presenters, record companies. They have very little grant income, it is all on performance fees, and the group is willing to “do what it takes” to play — not much money in the beginning!
6. Eve Egoyan — as a solo artists, repertoire choice is critical for touring. Certain Canadian composers are of more interest in Europe (Tenney, Schafer, Vivier) than others. There is also some discussion with presenters as to when one can do longer pieces (Alvin Curran — “Cities” project) and when shorter pieces are appropriate — context is crucial. She also finds that talking to the audience — making the music more personal — is a big help. She also suggests that “unknowing” is important — learning to listen anew, each time. Eve said that she was not sure she agreed with Véronique’s comment “New Music is an acquired taste”, as she thinks that an open audience will accept a great deal, if it is in the right context.
7. Frank Druschel — a chamber orchestra, so programming is more traditional, though they do include some modern work. The idea is to get the audience curious — to make them understand that new music is of value to traditional music making.

Eve Egoyan

(The following segment is from Eve Egoyan — pianist, Toronto)

Hello. My name is Eve Egoyan.

I am a Canadian pianist based in Toronto who specializes in the performance of new works. I have also produced five of my six solo discs.

Many of the works I perform and record by Canadian and international composers have been written for me.

Collaborating with living composers, and its subsequent shared creative process, is the root of my artistic practice.

The biggest difference for me between Canadian and international presenters is repertoire. Most presenters outside of Canada know the work of three Canadian composers — Murray Schaefer, Claude Vivier and James Tenney — and it is these Canadian composers they are interested in programming.

In many Canadian cities, it is rare to hear these same three composers ever performed. Their work is considered challenging, too experimental.

The same music that is savoured in Europe is rejected in Canada.

Why is this so? My guess is that European presenters and European audience members are more frequently exposed to challenging repertoire. Through exposure, this music ceases to be challenging and becomes what it actually is: music — uniquely composed, very interesting music.

As Anne Michaels wrote “New languages: old as feeling, old as sound”.

Many Canadians feel threatened by new music. They are uncomfortable with unknown territory. But it is exactly this feeling, unknowing, which is part of the experience. Being lost allows onself to discover new things.

When I travel within Canada, I address my audience before each work. I try to give them insight into the ways I will be listening as I play.

My hope is that my openness, my willingness to be in the moment with the music, will help my audience be open to the music too.

Listening is a fundamental experience for all of us.

Listening to music is overwhelmingly compelling.

Hearing new music, live, requires vulnerability especially within a social context.

New music needs time to be listened to.

In Canada, new music must no longer be presented as a token gesture. We often hear a new work of ten minutes or less within a concert programme. This music is situated in a way that indicates it is something to be tolerated and not enjoyed.

I have found my performances of long, extended works very satisfying. Longer works give audiences time to get used to a composer’s language and enter that world on their own terms.

In Europe, it is not uncommon for longer works to be performed or that a full evening of works by one composer is presented. In Canada, we tend not to hear as many concerts exclusively of one composer or one long work — this occurs even less frequently outside major Canadian cities.

In my experience, each presenter is uniquely different, regardless of city or country. Each presenter has his or her own agenda. Each presenter feels the push and pull of their own situation. Their responsibility is both aesthetic and practical.

Presenters of standard repertoire are sometimes interested in me because of my reputation for communicating new works.

However, there is often a defined limit of curiousity based on what they feel is appropriate to their audience. Negotiating a programme under these circumstances is a delicate process. I try to satisfy the presenter as well as maintain my own sense of integrity and passion.

From some European presenters I have had the rare feeling that they are working from a fully intuitive, poetic place of their own. Of course, there are always surprises. I was recently invited to participate as the only new music performer at a European classical music festival. As far as I could tell, the invitation was based on a review in an international magazine. This invitation still remains a bit of a mystery.

When I present my own concerts in Toronto, I have total curatorial freedom. It is very rare to be offered total freedom by a presenter, anywhere. On my own programmes, as with any programme, I spend a lot of time organizing the order so each work is heard within the best context.

Fortunately, there is funding available for soloists in Canada to present a concert in their hometown. There is also the possibility of recording experimental material on to disc and then disseminate world wide.

We are very lucky that these funds exist. Otherwise, constantly negotiating and trying to satisfy presenters can be an artistically taxing endeavour for any musician with a curatorial outlook and strong personal aesthetic.

In general, European presenters tend to want to hear what Canadians consider more challenging. It is tricky as a Canadian performer trying to find a comfort zone for oneself and one’s own vision between these opposing aesthetics.

In any case, performing new music anywhere is a huge responsibility for everybody involved. The performer is the medium through which the work is performed. However, it is the greater collaboration,

the collaboration between composer, performer, presenter and audience that is potentially so powerful.

Ultimately, when everything at play falls in to place, the MUSIC is heard.