Upcoming interesting music conferences - open your diary

Here are a few upcoming interesting music conferences I gathered from RHUL golden pages.

Theatre Noise An international conference

The Central School of Speech and Drama

University of London

Theatre Noise An international conference

Wednesday 22 - Friday 24 April 2009

Keynote presenters include:
Professor Heiner Goebbels (composer and director, managing director of the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus Liebig University, Giessen) John Collins (artistic director of the New York-based theatre company Elevator Repair Service, formerly sound designer with The Wooster Group) Theatre Noise describes the acoustic environments and auditory phenomena of theatre and performance. It is concerned, then, with that which is heard. It addresses sound design and ‘undesigned’ noises, music for performance and performance that is both ‘musical’ and ‘unmusical’, voice production and vocal utterance (speaking, shouting, singing, muttering). It proposes that theatre is that which is heard as well as that which is watched – that the theatron is a listening place as well as a seeing place.

Theatre Noise considers aurality. It asks how hearing and listening shape our experience and perception of an event. It concentrates on theatre as a subjective perceptual encounter. It addresses ways in which the noise of theatre works on our senses, and how it positions us within a visceral sphere of acoustic energy.

Theatre Noise is also interested in the inherent noise of the materials of theatre and performance: the rasping of its voices, the sounds in its environment, the interfering consciousness of ‘aural’ corporeal presence within the noisy arena of theatre as a place.

While it proposes a characteristically aural model, Theatre Noise is not confined to the auditory. It describes any atmospheric or environmental distraction, any attention-grabbing dissonance, flaw or mistake, whether sensory or imagined. It might concern any piece of residue or interference that negatively defines theatre.

The conference features examples of innovative performance practices that work in and through sound, music, voice and noise. It explores, through keynotes and paper presentations, developments in thinking and practice in sound design; music; the voice; the notion and presence of noise – all with a bearing on theatre and performance. It develops ideas and principles by way of a series of workshops. Round tables address key issues in the field. Theatre Noise also features a playback room that includes compositions and other aural contributions.

Proposals are invited that address the themes of the conference. The precise meaning of the terms ‘Theatre’ and ‘Noise’ is open to interpretation by contributors. Contributions may, for example, address areas such as:

The noise theatre of the auditory environment
Acoustic ecology
The musicality of theatre
Non-linguistic voice
Sonic arrangements and/or imperfections that help create meaning
Aural encounters that constitute ‘place’
Noise as ‘other’ – the chaotic dark material that negatively defines music, theatre, art, sound design

Proposals are invited for the following (please specify):
20-minute paper presentation
1-hour or 2-hour workshop
3-day practitioner-residency with a work-in-progress outcome
Round table
Contribution to the playback room
Proposals should be 300 words in length, with a 150-word biography of the key presenter(s). Proposals should be submitted to the conference organisers at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by 5 December 2008.

MOZART IN PRAGUE Mozart Society of America and Society for Eighteenth-Century Music

Prauge is always a great place to visit…

9 - 13 June 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

The Mozart Society of America and the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music invite proposals for papers and presentations to be offered at our forthcoming conference in Prague, 9-13 June 2009. We wish to explore not only Mozart and his music in the Prague setting, but also the musical culture of Bohemia and neighboring territories during the long eighteenth century. Topics may include Mozart opera in Prague, music in Bohemian convents and monasteries, musical patronage in Central Europe, Mozart’s Czech contemporaries (composers, singers, instrumentalists, impresarios), the dissemination of Mozart’s music in Central Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and important 18th-century sources and collections in the region. We welcome new perspectives on these and other topics that engage the general themes of the conference and contribute to knowledge of a rich musical culture that Mozart found particularly congenial.

Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words about your proposed topic, along with an indication of equipment necessary for your presentation, to the Program Chair: Kathryn L. Libin, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Deadline for proposals: 1 December 2008

International Symposium on Performance Science

I wrote in the following link about several performance conferences. Here is another interesting one.

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON PERFORMANCE SCIENCE

ISPS 2009
Performing Excellence

15-18 December 2009
Auckland, New Zealand

Convened by:

National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries
The University of Auckland

Centre for Performance Science
Royal College of Music, London

www.performancescience.org

Following a highly successful inaugural conference in Portugal in 2007, the next International Symposium on Performance Science will take place at The University of Auckland on 15-18 December 2009.

Submissions are invited for unpublished papers, posters, and symposia on research from across the arts which explores the theme Performing Excellence.

The conference will bring together performers and researchers, artists and scientists, teachers and students for an interdisciplinary exchange. For this reason, specific research topics, fields of study, and methodological approaches have been left open intentionally. Those whose primary interests lie outside of the arts, but whose work nonetheless offers implications for the performing arts and/or for performing artists, are also encouraged to attend.

Keynote speakers:

Deidre Anderson
Chief Executive Officer of U@MQ,
Macquarie University (Australia)

Sylvie Fortin
Director of the Dance Health and Performance Center,
University of Québec at Montreal (Canada)

K. Anders Ericsson
Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology,
Florida State University (USA)

Lord Robert Winston
Professor of Science and Society,
Imperial College London (UK)

Submissions:

Submissions are invited for

- Spoken papers
- Poster presentations
- Symposia, workshops, demonstrations

Detailed instructions for submissions are available via the conference website, www.performancescience.org. Submissions should be made electronically to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by 1 April 2009.

Graduate award paper:

The conference Organizers and Scientific Committee are keen to encourage the attendance of students, as well as established researchers and practitioners. Therefore, the ISPS 2009 Graduate Award will be offered to one graduate student to present a 30-minute keynote paper at the conference. The award will include all conference fees and accommodation.

Information on how to submit a proposal for the Graduate Award is available at the conference website. (Unsuccessful award submissions will be processed automatically as regular conference submissions.)

Review process:

Each submission will be reviewed anonymously by the Scientific Committee according to its originality, importance, clarity, and interdisciplinarity. Corresponding authors will be notified by email of the Committee’s decision by 15 May 2009.

Conference publication:

Accepted paper, poster, and symposia submissions will be published as 6-page papers in the Proceedings of ISPS 2009 (complete with ISBN), available in hardcopy at the conference and subsequently downloadable via the conference website. Details of the procedure and format for submitting published papers will be provided when authors receive notification of acceptance. Final papers for publication will be due on 1 September 2009.

Important dates:

1 March 2009    Online registration opens
1 April 2009       Submission deadline for papers, posters, and symposia
15 May 2009     Notification of submission decision
31 July 2009      End of early registration
1 Sept 2009       Deadline for final papers for the Proceedings of ISPS 2009
15 Dec 2009      Start of ISPS 2009

Additional information on the conference programme, venue, and registration costs is available on the conference website, www.performancescience.org.

The official language of the conference is English.

Dr Aaron Williamon
Head of CPS

Centre for Performance Science
Royal College of Music
Prince Consort Road
London SW7 2BS
United Kingdom

Tel +44 (0)20 7591 4348
Fax +44 (0)20 7591 4381
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web www.cps.rcm.ac.uk

Related posts:

Review: five upcoming conferences on performance

Review of the IMS conference 2008: what there is and what there is not to read in Hebrew in Music

Conference: The dramaturgy of sound in the music of Luigi Nono

Van Leer conference on Zionism and Lebensphilosophie

Information about music conferences (1)

The problem

One of the things that make me sad about the Israeli music scene (including musicologists, composers, performer and critics) is the problem of miscommunication and isolation. People are working alone and find it hard to make mutual projects and co-operations. I felt it strongly in the Music department in the Bar-Ilan University as well as in the Israeli Musicological Society. In both places one can find talents on different levels. Yet, the ability to create something together was usually sabotaged by fear.

In the Bar-Ilan Music department there was no conversation on how one should educate the students. This was left (presumably) to very few people. In any case no conclusions of such discussions were communicated to the teachers or students. In the Israeli Musicological society there was some discussion on how to promote Israeli musicology and music, yet this was usually sabotaged by few noise people, others who promised and did nothing and others who simply gave up. It seems that everyday troubles and the fear from one another paralyze any mutual action and cooperation.

Schoenberg and Stravinsky

I have no idea whether this is a problem which occurs only in Israel (I have little to compare with). History seems to indicate that one can find the problem also in other places and periods. The most famous and perhaps the saddest case is that of Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Peter Yates wrote in a letter dated 17 May 1952: ‘Nowdays artists work in closed boxes… Our artistic life is typified by Stravinsky, who lived here more than fifteen years without ever meeting Schoenberg in public or private, but now attends performance of the old man’s work like a devotee.’ (Quoted in Dorothy Crawford, Evenings On and Off the Roof (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), p. 127). Only after Schoenberg died, Stravinsky allowed himself to be influence by Schoenberg’s music in a more open way than in the past. Now it is understandable that this happened. Schoenberg wrote a piece titled Three satires that was partly against Stravinsky. He also wrote and talked against him in various occasions. Also Stravinsky attacked Schoenberg. Yet could they not find a way to go beyond this nonsense and communicate with each other during those years that they were practically neighbors?

The future

In the age of Social web sites, it seems sad that one can connect with people on the other side of the world, yet find it hard to communicate with their neighbors. If there is any chance that Israeli classical music (including composition, musicology and performance) will become less provincial, than it will be by overcoming fear and mistrust, and by starting to work together.     

Related posts

Music University on the web

Some thoughts on the Israel Musicological Society’s website

Review of the IMS conference 2008: what there is and what there is not to read in Hebrew in Music

Listening to performance of Pierrot lunaire and Sprechstimme in the Music Beit Midrash of Mazkeret Batya

The Music Beit-Midrash met last Tuesday for the first time. In the following you will find a brief report of the meeting which might be useful for those who wish to listen again to some of the music, read more (see some of the links below), or comment on the music or the meeting (in the form below). Note that the last link in this post leads to interesting related videos.

The first meeting was dedicated to Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire. I introduced the aims of the meetings and started it by giving a short review of Schoenberg’s life, musical contributions, and relation to Judaism. Since the meeting was mainly on Pierrot lunaire, I felt that we should listen also to Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4, in order to receive a perspective of Schoenberg’s musical development. We listened to a modern performance of Schoenberg from the last few years, and to the historical recording with Schoenberg conducting the piece (see the first recording in the page). The people who took place in the meeting noticed that Schoenberg’s conducting is much slower than that of the other recording. It was fascinating to see the reactions of the people who listened. Some of the people commented that Schoenberg’s conducting seems more confident. My impression is that people are very sensitive to what they hear even if they do not have any musical education. I mentioned some of the historical and cultural reasons of why Schoenberg’s conducting is slower.

The next part of the meeting was about Pierrot lunaire. We listened to four performances. The first one was quite brutal and the last one was (as one of the people present remarked) ‘anemic’. It seemed that people were quite shocked from the music. Yet I think that they were simultaneously interested in the fact that these performances are so different. We discussed the performance indications for the vocal technique titled Sprechstimme and we moved on to discuss the ‘problem’ that there are multiple categories for deciding which performance is better.

Some argued that they just want to enjoy the music. Others claimed that the composer communicates something with the music and they want to understand it. Therefore, a performance that communicates the ‘message’ better is superior. Others wondered how can one define what is the ‘original’ demand to perform this music. An interesting dicussion developed concerning the various value that one can promote in performance. For example: faithfullness to the score, faithfullness to the atmoshphere the composer intended, and expressing the individual interpretation and insight of the performer.

I suggested that the idea of communication is not without problems and that the performer must make decisions that involve their own identity and values. I think (and hope) that most people enjoyed this first session. You can click here to see 8 video performances of Pierrot lunaire.  This could give you an idea of the verity of interpretaions that one can hear in recorded (video and audio) performance of the piece.

For those who did not participate in the first session, please note that you are very welcome to join at any stage. There is no need for any prior knowledge in music, and the sessions are not built one on the other.

Participate and comment

If you took part in the meeting please comment on this post in the form below. Did you enjoy the session? Any thoughts or suggestion?

Related posts

Pierrot lunaire, Sprechstimme in video performance

Schoenberg’s Sprechstimme vocal technique was extremely influential on many composers. It has invited not only a large variety of performative interpretations, but also very different responses by listeners. The origin of this technique has been traced to Engelbert Humperdinck in his 1897 melodrama Königskinder, as well as to the "old" Austrian theater speaking, yet Schoenberg’s Sprechstimme is a fresh and new conception. It has been described as posing "an enduring and perhaps insoluble interpretive enigma for the performer."[1] Both Darius Milhaud and Pierre Boulez, who conducted the piece, described it as creating "insoluble problems."[2] If you wish to read more about the history of Sprechstimme you are welcome to read my article ‘The Test Pressings of Schoenberg Conducting Pierrot lunaire: Sprechstimme Reconsidered’, Music Theory Online (MTO), 12/1 (February 2006). Pierrot lunaire is one of the most performed pieces by Schoenberg (even Bjork performed Pierrot lunaire!).

Here are several examples of performance of Sprechstimme that might give you an idea about the variety and differences between the performances:

The first historical recording of the Piece is by Schoenberg’s conduting, Erika Stiedry-von Wagner, Sprechstimme; Rudolf Kolisch, violin; Stefan Auber, cello; Eduard Steuermann, piano; Leonard Posella, flute & piccolo; Kalman Bloch, clarinet & bass clarinet. For more information about Stiedry’s Sprechstimme see my article with Matthias Pasdzierny, ‘Sprechstimme Reconsidered Once Again: "… though Mrs. Stiedry is never in pitch"’, Music Theory Online (MTO), 13/2 (June 2007). Note that this is a studio performance. There is a very big difference between Schoenberg’s studio and live performance of Pierrot lunaire. You can listen to all of this historical recording here.