MCICM Newsletter March 2020
Welcome to the first newsletter from the Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music. The past few weeks have changed the way we lead our lives in unimaginable ways. One noticeable change is the move of our activities to the digital realm whenever possible. We have already seen glimpses of this new normal: the tenor singing on his balcony; neighbourhoods playing music together on their balconies; the many orchestras streaming concerts for audiences worldwide; choir practices being held online; musicians streaming home concerts.
In the realm of orchestral practice and classical music, there are also many questions that we must ask ourselves. How will orchestras become digital? What new music making formats will surface? What will this mean for musicians? How would collaboration among different institutes work? What technological needs will we have? How will we balance artistic ownership? How will the essence of classical music transcend?
During the next months we will hear a lot of talk about innovation with many orchestras and other artistic institutions experimenting in a variety of ways. We will follow closely and look forward to the next moment when we can meet and discuss.
Stay safe and healthy!
Peter Peters
Director MCICM
Symposium ‘Fail Better: Sharing Challenges and Learning in Classical Music Innovation’
After much deliberation, we have decided to postpone our symposium until March 2021. We feel that the current situation requires us to be more patient. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused and hope you will join us in 2021.
At the moment we are working on possible ways to share what would have been presented in our symposium with you. Please bookmark our website www.mcicm.nl for updates. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at mcicm-fasos@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
Research: Two Experiments Completed
Mahler am Tisch focused on the composer and informal local performance settings. In many of his symphonies and vocal music, the composer used folk music sometimes literally, sometimes edited. During Mahler am Tisch, three ensembles played adaptations of Mahler’s orchestral music as well as traditional folk music from Mahler’s time in two cafés in Maastricht. Read more.
For The People’s Salon a group of fifteen ‘Friends’ took on the responsibility of planning a special concert where stories in which classical music plays a leading role were exchanged. Stories of childhood memories, everyday experiences, happy moments, love and mourning accompanied music by Mozart, Schumann, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Bach, Ives and more. Read more.
Conservatorium Maastricht
The Conservatorium has been taking an active role in innovation through a wide rang of reforms and renewals, artistically, curricular and organisational. This extends beyond the support the Conservatorium has extended to MCICM. Some of the projects that best highlight this are the redevelopment of the curriculum for music theory in the classical department, innovation of opera teaching and training on a European level and the first edition of the Award for Innovation in Music. Read more.
Meet Johanna Kurth
Hello! I am Johanna Kurth and I am from… well, where am I actually from? I was born in Bamberg (Germany), I grew up in Malindi (Kenya), finished my school in Munich (Germany) and studied Culture and Media Education, a bachelor’s degree, in Ludwigsburg (Germany). Stays abroad brought me to Brookwood, Alabama (USA) during 11th grade and to Jyväskylä (Finland) for my Erasmus. So, let’s generally say: I’m from Germany but I love moving, travelling and staying abroad.
As a master’s student in the field of theatre- and orchestra management at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), my main focus is to be aware of the development in classical music and to make a contribution to it. Parallel to writing my master thesis at the moment, I am very happy to complete an internship at MCICM this spring. I will help with the pilot “database” reaching out to German orchestras.
Database Pilot
One of our aims is to provide a sharing space for orchestras, musicians, research centres, conservatories and other interested parties where learning experiences within the realm of innovation can be shared. The first round of research for this project will be to reach out to orchestras in the Netherlands and Germany asking them about their innovation practices. This can be in different areas such as artistic design, marketing, organisational structures, etc. We will analyse the information we receive and look into ways of archiving this into a formal database, as well as extending our research scope to other countries. Read more.
The Maastricht Centre for the Innovation of Classical Music is a collaboration between Maastricht University, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences and philharmonie zuidnederland, and receives public funding from the Province Limburg, the Netherlands. For more information visit www.mcicm.nl.