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Forum 2010 Preview

CNMN’s fourth nation­al new music Forum enti­tled Part­ner­ing Diver­si­ty will be held on Fri­day and Sat­ur­day, Jan­u­ary 8th and 9th, 2010 in the Sir James Dunn The­atre, Hal­i­fax, Nova Sco­tia. Spe­cial open­ing con­cert — Thurs­day, Jan. 7 — 8 pm — Sym­pho­ny Nova Scotia.

This tru­ly extra­or­di­nary Forum cen­ters on the theme of cre­ative music diver­si­ty and how the var­i­ous streams of con­tem­po­rary / cre­ative music meet and diverge. From through com­posed music, to elec­troa­coustics, to free jazz, to world music, this Forum seeks to bring togeth­er as many cre­ative music spe­cial­ists as pos­si­ble (includ­ing musi­cians, pro­duc­ers, edu­ca­tors, com­posers, jour­nal­ists, fans and more!) in order to begin a dia­logue con­cern­ing the chal­lenges and tri­umphs of per­for­mance and dissemination.

Inter­na­tion­al speakers/panelists include composer/improviser George Lewis (USA), composer/conductor Joël Bons (The Nether­lands) and conductor/producer Matthew Greenall (UK), each spe­cial­iz­ing in diverse musi­cal back­grounds from Jazz / Exper­i­men­tal music to the Inter­cul­tur­al Orches­tra to New Music Pro­mo­tion and Production.

New this year is a dis­cus­sion for­mat called Duos. We are putting 2 new music spe­cial­ists togeth­er to dis­cuss a range of top­ics such as “Approach­es and per­spec­tives on Elec­tro acoustic music and diver­si­ty” or “Build­ing nation­al and diverse sup­port for new con­cert music” or “Inter­cul­tur­al Orches­tras — how they work: his­to­ry and prac­tice”. The duos are giv­en free reign to open­ly dis­cuss their expe­ri­ences and chal­lenges with each top­ic fol­lowed by ques­tions and debates (hope­ful­ly heat­ed!) through audi­ence participation.

Round tables are also part of the mix with plen­ty of time for ques­tions and flesh­ing out of the themes. At this Forum we are con­cerned that everyone’s voice and opin­ion is heard. Plen­ty of time for pub­lic dis­course will be allot­ted! You will also meet fel­low cre­ative musi­cian enthu­si­asts from across Cana­da as well as an array of inter­na­tion­al cre­ative music spe­cial­ists. This, of course, pro­motes musi­cal dis­course along with plen­ty of oppor­tu­ni­ties to network.

The Forum also offers 2 nights of cre­ative music per­for­mance co-pro­duced by the CNMN and Upstream Music Asso­ci­a­tion. Thurs­day evening, Jan­u­ary 7th, Sym­pho­ny Nova Sco­tia starts off the con­fer­ence with a per­for­mance of con­tem­po­rary cre­ative music. On Jan­u­ary 8th, Upstream Music Asso­ci­a­tion presents the best of East Coast cre­ative new music talent.

Forum 2010 seeks to ensure that as many diverse forms of cre­ative music are rec­og­nized and giv­en a voice. We are inter­est­ed in bring­ing togeth­er musi­cians, com­posers, pro­duc­ers, pre­sen­ters, record­ing engi­neers and all oth­ers who seek to expand the bound­aries of cre­ative musi­cal expres­sion and give them a voice in our ever-chang­ing world. Come be part of our search to bet­ter under­stand and pro­mote the many musi­cal forms our mem­bers cre­ate and per­form across Canada.

— Jan­ice Jack­son, Steer­ing Com­mit­tee Chair, CNMN Forum 2010