"Connecting Art Music and Communities - an emerging educational programme"

Stein Olav Henrichsen og Geir Harald Knutsen, Norge
"Connecting Art Music and Communities - an emerging educational programme"

Foredraget var av Stein Olav Henrichsen, Kunstnerisk leder ved BIT 20 ensemble og Geir Harald Knutsen, også ved BIT 20 ensemble. Foredraget var ikke undervisende på samme måte som de andre under Bimuc, men mer opplysende om hva, hvor og hvordan BIT 20 ensemble opererer. De hadde også med seg noen elever fra Steinerskolen for å demonstrere hva de drev med.

Bit 20 er et musikkstyrt ensemble som har holdt på i flere år. Formålet er å fremme utøvelsen av norsk og internasjonal kunstmusikk. I 10 år har de nå arbeidet med å koble kunstmusikken og forskjellige skoler og instanser.

Fremgangsmåten er å først ta kontakt med skolene og opprette en dialog om prosjektet. Så blir det sendt ut veiledere som forteller om prosjektet og planlegger med lærerne. Så blir det gjerne sendt ut litt informasjon om det emnet som det skal jobbes med. Videre blir elevene delt opp i små grupper som gjerne jobber med en liten del av et stykke. Til slutt setter de sammen alle de små gruppene og fremfører en konsert/forestilling osv.

Anders og Åsmund

"Music and education in relation to the sorrounding society, artists, musicians and cultures"

Jan Ferms foredrag.
Jan Ferm var ein artig svenske som kom frå ein skule i nord Sverige. Foredraget hadde han valgt å kalla for musikk og utdannelse i relasjon til samfunn, utøvere, musikere og kulturer.
Mottoet han jobba under var at barn lærer vaksne å undervise.
Han ville at barn fritt fram skulle få komponera sin eigen musikk, og at læraren ikkje blanda seg så mykje inn med dette arbeidet, men heller var der og nærmast observerte. Han argumenterte med at det er viktig å ta barns ynskjer seriøst, og at me ikkje alltid tek barn seriøst når det kjem til musikk og komponering i musikk. Han fortalte at barna fekk benytta seg av cubase, eit data/sequencer program som er svært populært. Dette er ganske vanskeleg, avdi det er så mange moglegheitar. Erfaringa har vist at borna klarar seg svært bra som unge komponistar, dei er kreative og tenkjer ofte på ein genuin måte.

Anders og Åsmund

Concert at the Grieg Academy "The Musical Gate to India"

On thursday we had the pleasure of getting a great performance in traditional indian music. The concert was a part of rikskonsertene, produced by Hallgeir Frydenlund. These concerts have been taking place at some secondary schools around Norway. There were three artists, each with a superb skill in playing their instrument. Sunanda Sharma on vocals and Tanpura, Bahauddin Dagar on Surbahar and Shri Mithilesh Kumar Jha on Tablas. Before the concert started Hallgeir Frydenlund told us to open up our hearts and feel, which is very true in this type of music.

The Tanpura was constantly buzzing in the background during the whole show. Sunanda Sharma had an electronic box which is called an electric tanpura which gave a color to the tone. Behauddin opened the show with a long Surbahar session that was a really good starter. After a couple of minutes the audience was relaxed and grasped by the Indian trance-like feeling that the instrument gave. As the surbahar was gliding through the room some tabla was also joining in. And what sounded like an improvisation became a magnificent tune in the end.

Next up was a solo performance by the tabla player Shri Mithilesh Kumar Jha. He showed us the vast possibilities this instrument has. He took us around and inside the instrument playing in all tempo’s and rhythm’s. I personally was amazed over this man and what his two hands were capable of doing. But it’s not over til the (fat) lady sings.

The last act in this concert was a traditional Indian song that had origin in an old religious tale of two lovers. I almost hoped to cry during this song. Sunanda Sharma showed us the extremely emotional tone of the Indian vocal tradition. The song was very beautiful and gave me goose bumps all over.

All in all, great show!

By Ivar Eriksen

”Womex- a catalyst for a better understanding of innovation and tradition in music industries and in music education”, Director Christoph Borkowsky

At this presentation we got to learn what WOMEX is. It is not a musical festival as some might think. WOMEX stands for World Music Expo, and is a community and place to meet for people engaged with world music, be it performers, record companies, distributors, directors of music festivals or educators. It started in Berlin in 1994 with around 200 delegates, and many critics thought it would be a one time event, as it was non- commercial with 90% of the budget coming from registration fees. The critics were proved wrong, though, and today the number of delegates has increased to 2500. Yet, it is still a small budget event.

There are three departments of WOMEX. The first is The Conference, where speakers present interesting, educational and sometimes controversial topics. This year, for instance, there will be a delegate presenting the music scene in Iran and another presenting the Norwegian heavy metal scene. The second department is The Trade Fair, where delegates present their music at separate stands. The third is the Showcases, where between 30 and 40 artists, known and unknown, present their music through live performances. The number of showcases will probably not increase much more due to the need of keeping WOMEX small enough for the delegates to be able to see and discuss the same showcases. There is also a film market for music documentaries, awards and a radio WOMEX studio broadcasting live.

World music is nearly impossible to define. It includes all genres from classical to rock and pop to folk music. What seperates it from other “musics” is that it crosses musical and geographical borders much more than other genres. World music is therefore closely connected with globalization. World music artists are often economically and/ or politically motivated and have an oral music education instead of an academic music education. Still, WOMEX is trying to get more educators to the event in order to spread world music through teachers.

WOMEX is dominated by world music from Europe and is therefore trying to attract more delegates from Africa and Asia. In order to include delegates on other continents that can not afford to travel to Europe, WOMEX has established regional platforms for poor countries.

The aim of WOMEX is to innovate diversity of music. People from the hardcore music industry are therefore not represented in order to avoid the artists and their music becoming commercialized. Apart from that, all are welcome, including artists of rebel music or music in support of political powers.

By Jon Inge Lomeland