Arts Flanders Music

Tuned City Brussels

carlo — Thu, 30 May 2013 13:37:18 +0000

June 27-30, 2013

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Urban environments and architecture are traditionally described in visual terms, but it is our sense of hearing that assists us in experiencing and navigating through the spaces we inhabit. Likewise, there is no space without sound and no sound without space. Sound is an essential part of social experience, and should be of the utmost concern to architects, planners and artists alike.

Tuned City is a project researching this relationship between sound and space. The first was in Berlin in 2008 and then went on to Tallinn and Nürnberg. Q-O2 workspace has invited Tuned City to create a Brussels version of this event in 2013. Tuned City presents artistic work and theoretical approaches derived from critical preoccupations with sound in the context of urban and architectural situations, with particular emphasis on original approaches to the role of ’sound’ and ‘listening’. In this project, exploration and research are as important as the artistic outcomes. In other words there will be a strong interaction between the different aspects.

Brussels proves to be a very dense and diverse multi-layered urban environment. The city is characterised by many sudden breaks and cuts in the city fabric, architecture and social settings, resulting in a vibrant tension. Very often these contrasts seem to create a third instance within their thresholds – a very particular kind of resonance. What tools do we have to explore, probe, decode, transcript and describe an audible environment like this, which goes beyond the obvious?

These observations have led to certain thematic complexes which will be explored in greater depth in both the theoretical and the artistic part of the project: noise and multiplicity, architecture as a medium of listening and atmospheres of place.

Tuned City Brussels is starting in collaboration with Sint Lucas Architectuur, Erasmus Hogeschool RITS/Radio, Sint Lukas Transmedia, a.pass and La Cambre (ENSAV) option Espace Urbain, with a series of lecture events, artistic presentations, mini-residencies, university projects and workshops over the first half year (see PRE-EVENTS). These will be followed by an international four-day festival from 27th to 30th June, mixing a conference with artistic activities such as concerts, walks, installations and interventions in situ.

Tuned City Brussels is co-organised by Q-O2, workspace for experimental music and sound art and will be realised with the support of the Brussels Goethe Institut, the Flemish Minister for Brussels Affairs and the Flemish Community Commission, and in collaboration with Beursschouwburg, Kaaitheater, WIELS, Citizenne, STUK, l’Escaut and the abovementioned art schools.

http://www.tunedcity.net/

Music

TERMM#3: The EuroRegional Music Meeting

carlo — Thu, 30 May 2013 13:15:23 +0000

"Imagine there's no countries"

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TERMM stands for ‘The EuroRegional Music Meeting’ which focuses on all (future) professionals from the music and art industry in the regions of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (FR), Picardie (FR), Wallonia (BE), Flanders (BE) and England (UK).

A mix of debates, workshops and hands-on sessions will be delving into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. These sessions will feature speakers from at home and abroad since many of the themes and issues within our industry are not limited to a given country. TERMM #3 is organised by the De Kreun and Muziekclub 4AD concert clubs in the context of the IC Music project. For the first time TERMM will be taking place in Flanders (the locations for previous editions were Rijsel and Roubaix).

The IC Music (‘International Cooperation Through Music’) project comprises 8 concert clubs - as well as one social and cultural organisation - from France, Belgium and England. Its goal is to set up a professional network in these countries and to offer promising bands and musicians opportunities to go on stage abroad, as well as educational opportunities.

TERMM #3 will take place on Thursday, 6 June and Friday, 7 June in and around De Kreun in Kortrijk, Belgium.

You can find full information on accessibility, public transport and overnight accommodation options through this link.
You can find full information on the times of the sessions through this link.

www.icmusic.eu

Music

Composition competition to rescore Scorsese's short film 'The Big Shave'

carlo — Thu, 30 May 2013 13:02:00 +0000

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Every year, the Ghent Film Festival offers young talent the chance to gain renown as a film music composer. This year is the eleventh award ceremony and the fourth time the event includes the whole of Europe.

Candidates must be under 36 and will be asked to compose music for ‘The Big Shave’, a short film directed by Martin Scorsese in 1968. This Italian-American director has a very special connection with Belgium: he received his very first honour at the festival of experimental film in Knokke - organised by the Royal Belgian Film Archive - where this shocking short film was a prize-winner. Scorsese gave the festival organisation permission to have an excerpt from this legendary short film rescored for this composition contest.

The winner of the competition will be awarded the highly-regarded SABAM Award For Best Young European Composer. This award was created by the World Soundtrack Academy and brings the winner €2500 and, for the three finalists, a live performance of their compositions by the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Dirk Brossé, during the World Soundtrack Award ceremony at ‘t Kuipke in Ghent on 19 October. This is the official closing ceremony of the 40th Ghent Film Festival (8 - 19 October 2013).

The composition must be submitted by 12 August. A professional jury of internationally experienced people from the film and music worlds will judge the compositions. The rules for the competition can be found through this link.

Enrolment will be accepted via this link until 11 July 2013.

Enrolment information: Valerie Dobbelaere (tel. +32 9 242 80 74 - valerie@filmfestival.be)

Music

Love & Devotion. The Gruuthuse Manuscript

carlo — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:35:13 +0000

Medieval songbook at the heart of an exhibition and congress in Bruges

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Egidius … waer bestu bleven. Is one word enough for you to complete this sentence? If so, then you know it’s the opening line of the Song of Egidius, a gem of Middle Dutch literature. The text is part of an extensive parchment manuscript that contains poems, prayers and songs. It was written in Bruges around 1400 and is now known as the Gruuthuse Manuscript.
For centuries this remarkable manuscript was privately owned, and then in 2007 it was purchased by the Dutch Royal Library. This spring there will a unique opportunity to see it in the Gruuthuse Museum. Unique artefacts will bring the writing and its subjects back to life. They sketch a picture of the cultural, social and religious climate of Bruges, which was an international trading city in the early 15th century.

The Gruuthuse Manuscript is of course unique, but as an anthology manuscript it is part of a wider European tradition. For that reason the exhibition is bringing together the most important Middle Dutch anthology manuscripts, in addition to examples from the French and German traditions.

The song lyrics in the manuscript are partly accompanied by simplified musical notation. Most songs tell of the courtly or formal love as was usual in the court, sometimes arising from a certain occasion such as New Year, the month of May or a farewell. The texts regularly report that love brings luck if it is reciprocated. The manuscript also contains non-courtly songs about betrayal, adultery and sex. They are meant to be amusing, but give a flavour of what sort of behaviour was deemed objectionable.

The Gruuthuse Manuscript contains not only prayers, but also a number of poems and songs in which religion plays a prominent role. There are also many references to the devotional context in Bruges: to the veneration of the Virgin Mary and of other saints, to brotherhoods and pilgrimages.

In addition to the exhibition, Concertgebouw Brugge will be organizing 'Love and Devotion’ concerts with music drawn from the manuscript; the works include both reconstructions based on years of research, as well as improvisations based on the manuscript’s mysterious notation, together with other pieces from the 14th-century Flemish and European repertoire.

And finally, an academic congress will also be held: The Gruuthuse Manuscript. Literature, music and devotion around 1400. This congress takes the exhibition's themes (music, love, ‘const', companionship and devotion) as the basis for an international and multidisciplinary approach to (city) culture in northwest Europe at the beginning of the 15th century.

Congress programme
Enrolment form
More info

Music

Logos' Robot Orchestra at the Unesco Music Days in Glasgow

carlo — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:08:36 +0000

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On 19 and 20 April 2013 Glasgow will be hosting the second edition of the UNESCO Music Days. ‘Contemporary Music, Man and Machine’ being this year’s theme, the cities of Glasgow and Ghent decided to select the Logos Foundation's unique robot orchestra and its 'Man & Machine' ensemble to perform in the Royal Concert Hall.

Moniek Darge of the Logos Foundation:

“This invitation is very valuable to us, because we were selected to perform with our exceptional robot orchestra and the 'Man & Machine' Ensemble as the main representative of Ghent, Unesco City of Music. Our thanks to the City of Ghent and the organisers of the Unesco Music Days for this great honour.”

For many decades, collaborative concert projects with interactive robots, dancers, musicians and performers have been the central focus of Logos' activities. Forty years of experience in the use and development of all sorts of musical interfaces (wireless gesture control, real-time sound analysis, microwave radar, acceleration sensors, pyroelectric detectors, light sensors, myoelectric devices, brainwaves, EEG and ECG etc.) combined with the results of experimental robot design are now bearing fruit. This has led to the founding of a professional ensemble with an international profile, specialised in performances in which humans encounter machines. This is where the name “Man and Machine”, (M & M), comes from.

The designer, builder, programmer and one of the composers for the robots – of which there are now 50 – is Godfried-Willem Raes.
In Glasgow he will perform with Kristof Lauwers (composition), Dominica Eyckmans (dance), Françoise Vanhecke (voice) and Moniek Darge (music box performance).

The public will be able to play some of the robots live in real time in the form of an installation, so the listeners and viewers can try for themselves what it can be like to interact with robots.

Logos can be heard and seen on Friday 19 April 2013 in the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.

Music

Tomorrowland, the first Flemish festival to be staged abroad

carlo — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:08:51 +0000

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Tomorrowland, the Flemish dance music festival, is being exported. The first TomorrowWorld, this new international dance music festival, will take place in Chattahoochee Hills near the city of Atlanta in the American state of Georgia on 27, 28 and 29 September.

This year's Flemish Tomorrowland festival is as usual being staged in Boom in Antwerp province on 26, 27 and 28 July.

TomorrowWorld in Atlanta will be the first occasion that this successful Flemish festival is being staged abroad. The organisers have chosen a location in the midst of nature, but one on a property owned by a Belgian.

This year, Tomorrowland is being staged in Boom for the ninth time. The 180,000 tickets for the festival were sold out in no time.

The organisers announced an international version last month. Ever since, they have been inundated with offers from venues willing to stage the festival. Chattahoochee Hills was eventually chosen.

The organisers say that TomorrowWorld will be staged in a natural setting: "There is an amphitheatre for the main stage. It is as if Tomorrowland has found a second home."

Fans will have little trouble reaching the venue. Atlanta has a major international airport.

The festival line-up will be announced at the end of April and advance ticket sales start in the US on 4 May.

Music

Flemish bands abroad

carlo — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:49:43 +0000

New album releases and international tour dates

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With the new year hardly started, we are already losing count of all the new albums released by Flemish bands. On top of this, international tour dates are being announced continually.

Some highlights:

An Pierlé: Strange Days, touring The Netherlands and France (March & April 2013)

Balthazar: Rats, touring in France, the UK and Scandinavia (February & March 2013)

Equinox, the Peacekeeper: Birdsongs on the Wasteland, touring The Netherlands and the UK (February & March 2013)

Flat Earth Society: 13, touring The Netherlands, the UK, France and Luxembourg (March, April & May 2013)

Goose: Control, Control, Control, touring Germany, France, Luxembourg, the UK, The Netherlands (February & March 2013)

Liesa Van der Aa: Troops, touring France (March 2013)

Marco Z: The ordinary life of Marco Z, touring Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France (February & March 2013)

Trixie Whitley: Fourth Corner, touring the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, the UK (February & March 2013)

Check the Arts Flanders events calendar for more details!

Music

Tomorrowland awarded as Best European Festival

carlo — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:46:50 +0000

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During the opening night of the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen (The Netherlands), Belgian music festivals again won several major prizes. Tomorrowland carried off first prize by winning the award for Best Major Festival. Pukkelpop and Herman Schueremans, the organiser of Rock Werchter, were also among the winners.

It's quite an understatement to say that Flemish and Belgian music festivals can boast a solid reputation abroad. Since 2009 this positive image has been confirmed every year thanks to the European Festival Awards. The winners are picked by both the music industry and public vote. Belgian festivals invariably crowd the shortlists in all categories and often end up with the first prize.

For the first time in the history of the European Festival Awards, electronic music rose to take the crown for Best Major Festival, courtesy of Belgium’s mighty Tomorrowland – widely hailed as the festival success story of the year. With its fairytale scenery, excellent line-ups and tight organisation, Tomorrowland lures a record number of visitors year after year. In 2012 about 180,000 dance-lovers from 75 countries visited the festival.

The two most important industry-oriented awards were both taken back to Belgium, with the team behind Pukkelpop being declared Promoter of the Year – a heart-warming accolade in light of the tragedies that befell the event when it was hit by a freak storm last year.
Herman Schueremans, from Belgium’s division of Live Nation, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The winners: public vote
    Best Major Festival: Tomorrowland (B)
    Best Medium-Sized Festival: Heineken Balaton Sound (Hungary)
    Best Small Festival: Tauron New Music Festival (Poland)
    Headliner of the Year: Foo Fighters (USA)
    Newcomer of the Year: Of Monsters and Men (Iceland)
    Best European Festival Line-up: Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park (Germany)
    Best Indoor Festival: Sensations (Netherlands)
    Festival Anthem of the Year: Lykke Li – 'I Follow Rivers' (Sweden)
    Best New Festival: Electro Magnetic (Germany)

The winners: industry jury
    Lifetime Achievement Award: Herman Schueremans
    Promoter of the Year: Pukkelpop (Belgium)
    Artists' Favourite Festival: Roskilde (Denmark)
    Green Operations Award: We Love Green (France)

More info: eu.festivalawards.com

Music

Music for Car Parks - International composition competition

carlo — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:13:59 +0000

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Concertgebouw Brugge and Interparking are organising a composition competition to find an innovative soundscape for car parks.

On 9 May the Bang on a Can All-Stars perform Brian Eno’s Music for Airports in Concertgebouw Brugge. In connection with this event, the concert hall is now searching for MUSIC FOR CAR PARKS: a soundscape that relaxes and/or stimulates the car park user, ambient music that turns every visit to an Interparking car park into an artistic experience.

Anyone with musical talent who is interested in composing a soundscape for this project can take part in this competition between 1 February and 15 April 2013.

The only condition is that their music subtly stimulates the car park user and provides an added value not offered by the ubiquitous and hackneyed Muzak.

Slip into your studio and create your own MUSIC FOR CAR PARKS. Who knows, maybe your soundscape will soon be heard in hundreds of car parks across Europe!

More info:

http://musicforcarparks.com/en

http://youtu.be/ZaU89k9D8U

Music

Flemish bands at Eurosonic 2013

carlo — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 10:31:26 +0000

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Eurosonic Noorderslag is the annual rendezvous for a wide range of international booking agents, managers, record labels and journalists, who come to get a taste of the European music scene. This year, no less than 16 Belgian bands will be playing at Europe’s biggest showcase festival.

From 9 to 12 January, Groningen will welcome 18,000 festival visitors, 3000 international music professionals, 260 European bands, 150 panel discussions and conferences, 25 EBU public radio stations, representatives of 400 European festivals and about a hundred European journalists.

The focus of the festival will be on Finland, but Flanders will be omnipresent as well with gigs by Amen Ra, BRNS, Compuphonic, Dan San, Liesa Van der Aa, Netskylive, Oscar & The Wolf, Raketkanon, Renée, Roscoe, Sarah Ferri, SX, Tommigun, Trixie Whitley, Wallace Vanborn and Gaëtan Streel.

Eurosonic 2013 will also host the fifth European Festival Awards. Flemish festivals have confirmed their reputation with multiple nominations in several categories. Next to the more established festivals such as Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland, Pukkelpop, De Lokerse Feesten and I Love Techno, also less obvious and smaller festivals such as Absolutely Free Festival and Ronquieres Festival were nominated. The winners will be announced during the opening night of Eurosonic.

Belgian bands at Eurosonic 2013:

Amen Ra (group / artist)
Liesa Van der Aa (musician)
Netsky (group / artist)
Oscar & The Wolf (group / artist)
Renée (group / artist, musician)
Raketkanon (group / artist)
Tommigun (group / artist)
Trixie Whitley (musician, group / artist)
SX (group / artist)
Sarah Ferri (group / artist, musician)

More info:

www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl

Music

Milow to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert

carlo — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:56:43 +0000

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Each year the Nobel Peace Prize Concert gathers a selection of talented artists and hosts from around the world to pay tribute to the year’s laureate. This year, Flemish singer-songwriter Milow will play several songs during the concert.

Over the last five years this Belgian artist (born Jonathan Vandenbroeck) has emerged as one of Europe’s most exciting young talents: a plugged-in singer-songwriter with the ability to touch a crowd and the pop know-how required to make great records. This combination of the intimate and the widescreen has won Milow a devoted fanbase across Europe, not to mention a list of achievements that includes number-one singles, platinum albums, sold-out tours, performances at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals and millions upon millions of YouTube hits. What’s more, he’s accomplished all this as his own boss, releasing music through Homerun Records, a label he founded in his bedroom.

The Noble Peace Prize Concert concert will take place on 11 December in Oslo, and will be hosted by actors Gerard Butler and Sarah Jessica Parker. Apart from Milow there will be performances by Seal, Jennifer Hudson, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Karpe Diem, Laleh, Ne-Yo, OrqueStrada and Susanne Sundfør. The concert will be broadcast in 130 countries;

http://www.nobelpeaceprizeconcert.org/

Artist website: www.milow.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/MilowOfficial
Twitter: @Milow

Music

Glimps Festival 2012

carlo — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:07:08 +0000

Tomorrow's Music Now

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Glimps is an international music festival that provides a stage for the best music that Europe has to offer. More than 80 bands from all over Europe will be presenting their music at 13 different locations throughout the city: from intimate music clubs to prestigious concert venues.

Together with music professionals and journalists, visitors can discover new and upcoming bands. Glimps presents “Tomorrow's Music Now”: for you and for and everyone behind the scenes in European music clubs and festivals.

Glimps is an initiative by 5 major players in the Ghent music scene: Rock'o Co, Keremos, Democrazy, Gent Jazz Festival and Vooruit. It is an initiative in cooperation with "Ghent – Unesco Creative City of Music"

Glimps is supported by Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen, Wallonie-Bruxelles Musiques, Vooruit, Handelsbeurs Concertzaal, Circa and Toursupport and subsidized by Ghent city council and the Flemish Community.

More info:

http://glimpsgent.be/en

Music

Interactive online concert

carlo — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:18:26 +0000

Over the borders

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The 2012 World Music Days (and TRANSIT) are going ‘world wide web’ more than ever with an Interactive online concert. Flemish composer Peter Swinnen will get musicians at two different locations to play together.

Max Savikangas (Finland) expands the palette of the viola using electronic means. Hui Ye (Austria) will turn things around with gentle poetry based on only 3 letters (WEI), while colouring the human voice with electronic sine tones. The recorder and harpsichord will reveal themselves able to converse amazingly well with electronics, in a sea of sound by Fred Momotenko (Russia) and In Chordis Canam by Roderik de Man (Netherlands). Bart Vanhecke brings peace and quiet with a poetic duet for mezzo-soprano and alto flute.

This concert, with live audio and video streaming, will take place simultaneously in Leuven (B) and 's-Hertogenbosch (NL). Performances will alternate between the two cities, with audiences at both locations. The musicians playing Peter Swinnen’s premiere will be playing together from two stages in the two cities!

The greatest challenge for the concert lies in what is known as latency, the not inconsiderable difference in time caused by the distance, which means that physically, the two locations can never really play together (an example of this is the delays in international telephone calls). By introducing well-chosen delays, a new kind of composition develops, which sounds synchronous for each of the participating locations, but in reality produces as many unique sound results (Gestalts) from a piece that is occurring in multiple time-realities. It can be seen as a kind of complex virtual canon where antecedent and consequent can be interchangeable. In order to allow each site to control its own microtiming to best advantage, which is after all the essence of a live performance, the interaction takes place mainly through automatically generated images which are continually interpreted by the other site as a graphic score (thus the reference to Cornelius Cardew in the title). This in turn results in another new graphic score, which can be sent back to the original site. The increasingly tighter feedback between the two sites thus slowly but surely creates a new temporal reality, which finally is still determined exclusively by the physical characteristics of the connecting network.

E. C. Draw. For Cornelius, commissioned by TRANSIT, will have its premiere on 27 October 2012.

More info:

http://www.festivalvlaamsbrabant.be/en/concerten/interactive-online-concert

Music

Free Your Ears!

carlo — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 10:22:06 +0000

Online platform for contemporary music.

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In 2012, Flanders/Belgium has the opportunity to organize the World Music Days festival for the fourth time. The festival is spearheaded by partners from across the Belgian musical scene - Flanders Music Centre, ISCM Flanders and Le Forum des Compositeurs.

This unique collaboration also led to the birth of the Free Your Ears project, a platform that builds on the lasting effect of a large festival like the World Music Days on the contemporary music scene.

Free Your Ears is an online platform aiming to establish an international community for contemporary music.

Freeyourears.be provides information and documentation on contemporary music, concerts, festivals and composers from Belgium and abroad, targeting both the casual listener and the seasoned connoisseur.

World Music Days 2012
During the 11-day festival 33 concerts will take place at 9 venues in 6 cities.

A wide variety of works by 150 composers from 50 different countries will be performed by 20 ensembles and more than a dozen soloists.

You can check the programme here by clicking on the days you want to view.

Download a PDF version of the full programme here .

Watch the promotional video here.

Music

New Ears: International Conference on New Music Education

carlo — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 22:00:00 +0000

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On the occasion of the ISCM World Music Days in Belgium 2012, the MATRIX New Music Centre decided to organize a conference on the topic of new music education.

In this conference, Matrix aims to spotlight those forms of music education that are specifically dedicated to contemporary music. Offering different perspectives, Matrix aims to reach both professionals from the field of contemporary music, educators, (music) teachers and students. Therefore, part of the programme consists of parallel sessions, so all the participants should be able to find a session to their liking. During one of the plenary sessions, an overview of new music education in its many different shapes and sizes will be presented. The conference will take place on Thursday 25 october.

PROGRAMME

9:30 | Enrolment & coffee

9:45 | Welcome

10:00 - 10:30 | Keynote speech by Richard McNicol

10:30 - 11:15 | Presentation: an overview of new music education in Flanders

coffee break

11:45 - 12:45 | Parallel sessions
* 1 * Panel discussion: Collaboration with concert organizers
* 2 * Project presentations (LAbO, Composers in Education Database, School of Arts)
* 3 * Interactive presentations: new music in the classroom
* 4 * Interactive presentations: new music in music schools

lunch break with information market

14:15-15:00 | Presentation & concert: "Composing in the classroom"
Exchange project by K&K Kulturmanagement & Kommunikation (DE), MATRIX and Toverveld primary school (Veltem-Beisem), based on the project "QuerKlang - Experimentelles Komponieren in die Schule" by K&K, MaerzMusik and the Universität der Kunste (Berlin, DE).

15:00 - 16:00 | Parallel sessions
* 1 * Panel discussion: Methodologies and targets
* 2 * Lecture by Paul Craenen (Musica)
* 3 * Workshop by Aifoon (researches sound in silence)
* 4 * Composing with and for amateurs

coffee break

16:15 - 16:30 | Conclusion

16:30 | Reception

ENROLMENT

Enrolment fee: €35 / €17.50 (students)

To enrol, please fill in the enrolment form. You can pay the enrolment fee by bank transfer to IBAN BE43 7340 0229 8101
BIC KREDBEBB, mentioning your name.

Click here to fill in the enrolment form.

Questions? Don't hesitate to contact Matrix! +32 476 89 27 76 info@matrix-new-music.be

With the much appreciated participation of

Aifoon
Composers Factory Network
Toverveld Primary School
De Veerman
ISCM Flanders
Jeugd & Muziek
K&K Kulturmanagement und Kommunikation
LAbO IV (Champ d'Action, deSingel and Artesis)
Magda (Cultuureducatief netwerk Leuven & Vlaams-Brabant)
Musica
Province of Vlaams-Brabant
School of Arts Ghent
TRANSIT New Music Festival
Zonzo Compagnie

Maarten Beirens
Frederik Croene
Anneleen De Causmaecker
Richard McNicol
Kim Van den Brempt

Music

Late-summer music festivals in Flanders

carlo — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:56:53 +0000

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Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland and Pukkelpop have come and gone. But the festival season doesn't cool down just because the weather does!
Here, a list of 4 late-summer / early-autumn music festivals you haven't missed (yet).

Houza Palooza
WHEN 24-25 August
WHERE Bree
WHO Shameboy, Cassius, Dr. Lektroluv,...

http://www.houza-palooza.be/

Leffingeleuren
WHEN 14-15-16 September
WHERE Leffinge
WHO Triggerfinger, The Subways, Hong Kong Dong, Joss Stone, Black Box Revelation, Nneka, Beirut, Absynthe Minded, Staff Benda Bilili, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis,...

http://www.leffingeleurenfestival.be/

Feest in het Park
WHEN 23-24-25-26 August
WHERE Oudenaarde
WHO Dandy Warhols, Black Box Revelation, Arsenal, Trixie Whitley, School is Cool, Merdan Taplak, Kelis, Groove Armada,...

http://www.feestinhetpark.be/

Crammerock
WHEN 31 August - 1 September
WHERE Stekene
WHO School is Cool, Channel Zero, Arsenal, Lamb, White Lies, Ozark Henry, ...

http://crammerock.be/

More info:

http://www.facebook.com/flandersisafestival

Music

Flanders hosts World Music Days 2012

carlo — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:25:10 +0000

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The World Music Days are an international festival of contemporary music organized each year in a different country by one of the sections of ISCM (the International Society of Contemporary Music). As a network organisation, ISCM (www.iscm.org) aims to support and promote the creation, presentation and promotion of every aspect of contemporary music.

In 2012, Belgium will host this ‘world expo’ of contemporary music. From 25 October until 4 November 2012 this festival will for the first time be held in six cities in collaboration with the biggest contemporary music concert halls and cultural organisations in the country: Antwerp (deSingel), Bruges (Concertgebouw), Brussels (Flagey), Ghent (De Bijloke, Handelsbeurs), Leuven (TRANSIT Festival) and Mons (Le Manège). In total there are more than 25 Flemish, Walloon and Brussels-based cultural organisations collaborating.

The World Music Days in numbers …

33 concerts
5 sound installations
37 world premieres
73 Belgian premières
150 composers whose music will be performed

Come and discover new music!

More info on http://www.worldmusicdays2012.be/

Music

Three 'Chocs' for Flemish ensembles

carlo — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:46:28 +0000

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‘Chocs’ are the awards presented by the French music magazine Classica to the best new classical music CDs. This month no less than three of the eight Chocs are being awarded to Flemish ensembles: Bach Concentus, Huelgas Ensemble and Ex Tempore.

Ex Tempore, conducted by Florian Heyerick, specialises in unknown works by J.G. Goldberg, J.L. Bach and J.L. Krebs on the Ricercar label (RIC 317). Critic Roger Tellart: 'Florian Heyerick ajoute à l'attrait de la redécouverte de précieuses qualités d'interprétation dans des oeuvres de contemporains que le cantor fit exécuter à Leipzig. [...] C'est dire si le le présent album est chaleureusement recommandé, dont le pouvoir sensible sur l'auditeur demeure intact, après une comme après dix écoutes.'

The Huelgas ensemble, conducted by Paul Van Nevel, is praised for its CD dedicated to the polyphonist Jacob Clement, on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label. Jacob Clement is also known as Jacob Clemens Non Papa, a composer full of paradoxes who never went outside Flanders, unlike many of his contemporaries. Critic Guillaume Bunel: 'Paul Van Nevel dessine un magnifique portrait de Jacob Clement compositeur fascinant, énigmatique et bourré de paradoxes. [...]S'il est bien difficile d'imaginer que les joyaux présentés sur ce disque sont effectivement les oeuvres d'un 'yvroigne', la variété presque sidérante des techniques et des styles maîtrisés par Jacob Clement, et ses surprenantes audaces peuvent tout au moins laisser deviner un personnage fantasque, hors du commun.'

Third in line to be awarded a Choc is the CD ‘Symphonies by the Bach Sons’ by Bach Concentus, conducted by Ewald Demeyere. Critic Marc Vial:'Le Bach Concentus nous rappelle fort justement et avec talent que les oeuvres des fils de Bach méritent plus qu'un succès d'estime. [...] Ces cinq ouvrages ont souvent été enregistrés, mais rarement de façon aussi convaincante qu'ici. Fondé en 2007, le Bach Concentus utilise des instruments 'd'époque'. Il évite toute lourdeur et les traits trop appuyés, le phrasé et l'articulation sont ecceptionnels, surtout chez les Bach de Berlin et de Bückeburg. On ne saurait trouver mieux pour aborder ces musiques.'

More info:

http://www.huelgas.be/

http://www.bachconcentus.be/bc_e.html

http://extempore.yolasite.com/

Music

11th composition contest for young European film music composers

carlo — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:42:46 +0000

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Every year, the Ghent Film Festival offers young talent the chance to gain renown as film music composers. This year is the eleventh award ceremony and the fourth time the event covers the whole of Europe.
Candidates can follow in the footsteps of the barely 20-year-old Gabriel Heinrich, last year’s winner, and countless other important composers who attended previous festivals, such as Angelo Badalamenti, Dario Marianelli, Gustavo Santaolalla, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Maurice Jarre, Howard Shore, Alberto Iglesias, Elliot Goldenthal and many others.

Candidates must be under 36 and will be asked to compose music for the final scene of ‘The Big Combo’, a classic in the film-noir genre, directed by Joseph H. Lewis in 1955. The scene perfectly summarizes the spirit of a crime film made in the ‘50s.

Enrolment will be accepted via this link until 29 June 2012.The composition must be submitted by 10 August. A professional jury of people from the film and music worlds with international experience will judge the compositions. The Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by maestro Dirk Brossé, will perform the compositions of the three finalists at the 12th World Soundtrack Awards ceremony at ‘t Kuipke in Ghent on 20 October. Afterwards, the winner will be announced.

The rules for this composition competition can be found here.

Enrolment information: Valerie Dobbelaere (tel. +32 9 242 80 74 - valerie@filmfestival.be)

More info:

www.worldsoundtrackacademy.com

Music

Maarten Van Ingelgem wins European Award for Choral Composers

carlo — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:18:31 +0000

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Flemish composer Van Ingelgem wins the award for his work ‘1914’, written in memory of his grandfather who fought as a soldier in World War II. It was commissioned by the Molitva vocal ensemble.

The European Award for Choral Composers is the continuation of the ‘Golden Tuning Fork’ Award, organised by AGEC for many years, and was first organised by the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat in 2011-2012.

38 compositions were submitted to the competition by member organisations in 11 European countries, in 3 different categories. Other winners were Pierre Chépélov (a cappella choir) and Levente Gyöngyösi (with instruments).

The winning compositions will be performed in the festival Europa Cantat XVIII in Turin, Italy, between 27 July and 4 August 2012.

More info: www.europeanchoralassociation.org

Music

European Music Council appoints Stef Coninx as new chairman

carlo — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

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During the annual meeting of the European Music Council (EMC) from 19 till 22 April in Istanbul, Stef Coninx was appointed as new chairman of the Board of Directors. Coninx, director of Flanders Music Centre and already treasurer of the EMC Board since 2008, will fill the chairmanship for a maximum of two years.

The European Music Council, a regional group of the International Music Council (IMC), was founded in 1949 at the request of UNESCO. It is a non-profit organisation that focuses on the development and promotion of all music genres in Europe and a platform for national and European music organisations that are active in the area of education, music practice, creation, presentation and musical heritage.

EMC firmly believes that music and culture have an important role in the political and social development of a peaceful and integrated Europe. That is why EMC is a strong advocate for an adjusted framework on a local, a national and a European level for equal rights and opportunities for musicians and music professionals and for access to music.

Europe as a driving force for music in Flanders
As service desk for the professional Flemish music sector, Flanders Music Centre (FMC) has been supporting the objectives of EMC for years. Music education, diversity, musical heritage,… are all themes that get substantial attention in the activities of FMC. Moreover, the membership of a European platform like EMC has a lot to offer in terms of know-how, networking, support and promotion of initiatives for a better participation in the music and cultural life.

The EMC conference in Istanbul was entitled ‘Building Bridges – Transcending Boundaries’. A number of projects and organisations from Flanders were included in the programme: Let’s Go Urban (professional urban training, http://www.letsgourban.be/), Vi.be (community site for bands and DJ’s, www.vibe.be) and MusMa (Music Masters on Air – Flanders Festival, http://www.musma.eu/) are only a few of the Flemish projects that were presented during the four day conference in Istanbul.

Music

Ghent celebrates International Jazz Day

carlo — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:40:53 +0000

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In November 2011, during the UNESCO General Conference, the international community proclaimed April 30 as "International Jazz Day". It’s the first major initiative led by recently appointed UNESCO goodwill ambassador Herbie Hancock.

The Day is intended to raise awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as an educational tool, and a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people.

On April 30, the Royal Conservatory/School of Arts Ghent and Flat Nine will take over the streets and nightlife of downtown Ghent. ‘TUNES a Jazz Night’, is their salute to jazz, the first UNESCO International Jazz Day. Downtown Ghent is the place to be: the unique combination of the many venues, clubs and pubs, festivals and the active and vivid jazz scene makes it the perfect location for this initiative.

Flat Nine and the Royal Conservatory/School of Arts Ghent are joining forces for this unique TUNES event. Weekly, Flat Nine, organizes jam sessions in downtown Ghent. Doing this, they create a platform for students, former students and teachers of the Royal Conservatory/School of Arts Ghent.

For this event, 3 routes were elaborated throughout downtown Ghent. But the audience has the opportunity, in the spirit of jazz, to improvise during their evening. The programme can be browsed at schoolofarts.be/tunes.

To learn more about TUNES, visit schoolofarts.be/tunes

To learn more about International Jazz Day, visit www.unesco.org

Music

Record Store Day gains a firm foothold in Flanders

carlo — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:08:30 +0000

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Since 2007, the third Saturday of April has been known as Record Store Day. It is the one day when all the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in various countries across the globe give special appearances and performances.

The idea of Record Store Day was conceived in the US five years ago. The fall in CD sales and competition with large store chains and online stores finished off more and more independent businesses. As a result, in some cities no more record stores are to be found. To give a powerful signal and help boost the independent sector, some music fans and music industry professionals took the initiative of launching a Record Store Day and helped it grow into an annual tradition in a short period of time.

On April 23 2012, hundreds of limited editions are being released and will only be available in the participating record stores. On the menu this year are exclusive releases by Bob Dylan, Black Keys, Gorillaz, James Brown, Metallica, Iggy Pop, White Stripes, Lee Hazlewood, Beach House and many others. Click here for a full list.

Last year, Flanders / Belgium participated on a large scale for the first time under the impulse of Music Mania in Ghent. Other participating record stores are to be found in Antwerp, Brussels, Hasselt, Leuven, Bruges, Ostend and elsewhere.

This year, the Flemish contribution is bigger than ever. The following vinyl releases have already been announced:

Drums Are For Parades - IMPERIVM (Picture Disc LP)
Mauro - Grown Savage (10'')
Triggerfinger - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy (10'')
Love Like Birds(10'')
Absynthe Minded - Space (12'' maxi)
Intergalactic Lovers - Feel For You (12'' maxi)
Tiny Legs Tim - One man blues(LP)
2 Many DJ's - As Heard On Radio Soulwax (LP)
The Hickey Underworld – The Hicky Underworld LP
The Hong Kong Dong – Sweet Sensations LP
Creature with the Atom Brain – The Birds Fly Low LP
Flying Horseman - Twist (2LP)
Milow: North & South LP
Black Cassette/ LPG (nl) (split 7'' single)
Oscar & The Wolf / Love Like Birds - The AB Sessions (split 7'' single)

Some of the participating stores have already announced several in-store concerts. For an updated programme, check www.recordstoreday.be

Music

Flanders Music Centre @ Classical:NEXT

carlo — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:35:34 +0000

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2012 will see the start-up of Classical:NEXT, a new international professional forum for classical and art music. Flanders Music Centre, the service desk for professional music in Flanders, will attend with a shared stand together with Wallonie Bruxelles Musique.

The first forum will take place from Wednesday, 30 May to Saturday, 2 June 2012. The Flanders Music Centre and Wallonie Bruxelles Musique stand will offer visitors a picture of classical music in Flanders and Wallonia and provide and opportunity to network and to share information. Flanders Investment & Trade Berlin is in charge of co-organizing the networking event.

Classical:NEXT is initiated by CLASS, the association for classical independent labels in Germany, produced by WOMEX, the leading expo for world music, and supported by Munich City Council's Department of Arts and Culture.

This new forum aims to establish an event that will address head on the challenges facing the international classical and art music community, both in its entirety and in its various sectors. Classical:NEXT will also serve to promote new talent, new creative ideas and future-oriented business practices.

The structure of Classical:NEXT consists of 4 sections - showcases, conference, music expo and IMZ film screenings. Showcases are where artists and productions can be presented in a series of short concerts or video screenings, offering artistic directors, concert bookers, journalists and the like a unique opportunity to gather an overview of artistic activity in a very short time. The conference section is set up to offer presentations, seminars, think tanks, mentoring, matchmaking and other formats to help delegates keep up with changes, trends and innovations. The expo exhibits the work of labels, publishers, agents, festivals, associations and others, and serves as a meeting point for all delegates.

More info

www.classicalnext.com

Music

Belgium Booms @ SXSW 2012

carlo — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:00:00 +0000

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The SXSW Music and Media Conference showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. This year's edition will introduce 4 of Belgium's top rated artists. Milow, Balthazar, Baloji and Netsky will no doubt leave and indelible mark on this year's festival.

Milow, a singer/songwriter is one of Europe's most successful and hard working artists. Milow is anchored at the #9 spot of Musicmedia. His music fuses folk music with acoustic pop elements. His cover version of 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology" charted in 14 countries for over 340 weeks. The video, since its viral release, has been viewed more than 50 million times, resulting in sales of more than 650,000 CD's and 1.5 million singles.

Balthazar's 2010 self produced debut CD "Applause" won "Best Album" award at the MIA's (Belgium's Music Industry Award) in 2011. The band members, while very young in age, have drawn musical comparisons to Arctic Monkeys with a wink to The Streets and Gorillaz. Balthazar have been touring throughout Europe and North America, and are currently making their way to SXSW in Austin, TX, via New York City where they will perform at Pianos on Saturday March 10th and at that Glasslands Gallery (in Brooklyn) on March 12th. They recently signed a deal with PIAS Records for the release of their second CD, expected for later this year.

Baloji is the 3rd Belgian artists to attend SXSX this year. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Belgium, Baloji has been a force in the Belgian Hip-Hop scene for almost two decades. Voted MTV 'Iggy' artist of the week in January 2011 Baloji's style combines a futuristic African sound post hip-hop sound with a musical elements from rock, rap and electronic music. His CD "Kinshasa Succursale", just released in North America, includes remixes with guest appearances by Brooklyn-transplanted Ghanaian rapper Blitz The Ambassador and Brooklynite Theophilus London. The R&B flavored track "Nazonki Ndako Pt.1", with Detroit's Amp Fiddler, was inspired by Baloji's voyage back home to visit his mother he had not seen for 25 years.

Last but not least at SXSW is Belgium's leading Drum&Bass star Netsky. Though still only 23 years of age, Netsky (birth name: Boris Daenen) has rapidly become one of the leading artists at London's legendary Hospital Records. With his 2010 self-titled debut album, Netsky was awarded 'Best Newcomer Producer' at the 2010 'Drum&Bass Arena Awards' and was invited to remix artists like Swedish House Maffia, Miike Snow, Jessie J and Pendulum. With a huge fan base and celebrity status in his home country, Netsky's star just keeps on rising. What's more there are more big things in the pipeline, including a new album underway, meaning 2012 is looking to be another golden year for Belgium's premium D+B export.

More info
www.belgiumbooms.be
www.sxsw.com

Music