Rostrum+ Brings Together

                                                                          

 

 

The University of Arts was founded in 1957 as an association of four art faculties: Faculty of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts, Faculty of Applied Arts and Faculty of Drama. Today, UAB comprises 2.700 students, more than 470 professors and 65 study programmes in diverse arts disciplines, both on graduate and postgraduate level. Recently launched practice based PhD programmes in arts make UAB an exceptional HE institution in the Region. With the aim to be recognized as a staging ground for new ideas, UAB has a significant influence on the cultural and social sphere. UAB is developing new ways of focusing and directing arts education, unifying artistic and theoretical research and providing a platform for projects that are too broad or complex to be dealt by a single academic discipline. UAB is strongly committed to European cooperation, and now offers some of the best-supported European study programmes: UNESCO Chair Cultural Policy and Management and International Performance Research.

The Faculty of Music of the University of Arts will include Rostrum+ compositions in its academic programme (composition class and instrumental classes), organise video conferences for its students with chosen composers, stage 3 live performances of the selected works locally to be recorded on video and uploaded to the project website. Every year, it will also submit recordings of compositions by its students to the 60 radio producers gathered at the Listen sessions of the Rostrum+ project, hosted by project partners in Tallinn, Wroclaw and Palermo. In cooperation with BOZAR, it will prepare and present a public performance of Rostrum works by a student ensemble of the Faculty of Music to take place at BOZAR in spring 2017. The Faculty of Music will contribute to communication of Rostrum+ activities and dissemination of project outcomes.

 

 

Birmingham Conservatoire is a founding member of Conservatoires UK, and is recognised as one of the most forward-thinking and innovative of conservatoires. Internationally renowned for its teaching, research and performance of music, students are trained to professional standards in solo performance, composition, chamber music, orchestral playing and jazz. In its 2010 review, the European Association of Conservatoires panel chair described us as “setting a benchmark to which others might aspire”. Many of our graduates develop bespoke portfolio careers, combining performance with teaching, education and outreach work. In addition to solo and ensemble performances, they populate UK and European orchestras (such as the CBSO, Halle, LPO and LSO) and opera companies, as well as playing an active role in diverse, sometimes challenging, community outreach projects. Birmingham Conservatoire has become a fundamental part of life in our city, and our concerts receive ‘rave reviews’.

The Conservatoire of the Birmingham City University will include Rostrum+ compositions in its academic programme (composition class and instrumental classes), organise video conferences for its students with chosen composers, stage 3 live performances of the selected works locally to be recorded on video and uploaded to the project website. Every year, it will also submit recordings of compositions by its students to the 60 radio producers gathered at the Listen sessions of the Rostrum+ project, hosted by project partners in Tallinn, Wroclaw and Palermo. In cooperation with BOZAR, it will prepare and present a public performance of Rostrum works by a student ensemble of the Faculty of Music to take place at BOZAR in spring 2016. The Conservatoire will also contribute to communication of Rostrum+ activities and dissemination of project outcomes.

 

The Centre for Fine Arts is the arts centre par excellence in the cultural landscape of Belgium – a meeting place for different Belgian communities, for the international population and for the European Community. The Centre offers an unequalled infrastructure for developing artistic programmes involving different disciplines. The building itself forms an extraordinary part of Belgium’s architectural heritage with almost 4000 m² of exhibition space, a concert hall with 2100 seats, a theatre for 480, two smaller theatres, three spaces for multimedia projects and an arts centre with more than 1M visitors/year. The Centre is a platform where cultural Europe, both its cultural heritage and current-day art forms, can be manifested in its full diversity to an international audience. By highlighting links between culture, education and scientific research the Centre wants to place greater emphasis on its intermediation role in European topics, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.

The Palais des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels will host one performance per year of student ensembles from the three partner conservatoires with a Rostrum+ related repertoire. The choice of compositions and development of performances will be steered by the Music Director of BOZAR, through an initial one-day workshop and continued monitoring throughout the academic year. Thus, BOZAR’s Music Director will visit each partner conservatoire to work with the students and academic staff to develop a compelling programme that conceptually links these different works from different periods, with an eye to the BOZAR audience. The performances at BOZAR will feature pre-, in- between and after-concert talks with musicians, music specialists and/or composers, led by a moderator identified by BOZAR. These concerts will be recorded and streamed on the Rostrum+ website.

 

Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini is an institution of higher musical education that covers all specialisations (from Early Music to New Technologies). Over the years, our institution has maintained a considerable number of enrolled students (around 1,800) and our percentage of graduated students has now surpassed the previsions for the year 2020 expected by the European Commission. Our students are motivated because our educational activities reward excellence and the staff cares about each student. Great attention is also paid to the promotion of new composers and contemporary classical music. We regularly organize live performances of students compositions, some of which have been awarded national and international prizes in the fields of contemporary music and composition. Each year we participate at “Orestiadi di Gibellina”, an international festival of contemporary music.

The Conservatorio V. Bellini will include Rostrum+ compositions in its academic programme (composition class and instrumental class), organise video conferences for its students with chosen composers, stage 3 live performances of selected works locally to be recorded on video and uploaded to the project website. The conservatory will also host Rostrum+ activities in Palermo in May 2017. In this role, it will handle the logistics of the Listen and Lab sessions and identify an Italian composer for interview with 60 radio producers from some 30 countries from Europe and beyond. The conservatory will secure the collaboration of local music organisations and allow its students to attend Rostrum+ activities. Every year, it will also submit recordings of compositions by its students to the 60 radio producers at the Listen sessions of Rostrum+. In cooperation with BOZAR, it will prepare and present a public performance of Rostrum+ works by a student ensemble at BOZAR in Spring 2018.

 

The European Music Council (EMC) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of all kinds of music in Europe. It is a network for representatives of both national music councils and European networks involved in the fields of music education, creation, performance and heritage. It was founded in 1972 as the European regional group of the International Music Council (IMC), and has been registered under German law as an independent association since March 2003. The EMC contributes to a better mutual understanding amongst people and their different cultures, and promotes the right for their musical cultures to coexist. Therefore, it provides exceptional value to its members through knowledge building; creating networking opportunities; and supporting and enhancing the visibility of initiatives that help sustain people’s participation in music and cultural life. With its Youth Committee, the EMC strongly supports youth participation.

In the frame of the 2016 European Forum on Music (EFM), which it will co-host with the Nat’l Forum of Music in Wroclaw, and which is scheduled to purposely overlap with that year’s edition of the Rostrum, the European Music Council will organise some Rostrum+ activities. This will allow for a synergy to be created, bringing together the participants and audiences of both events: A live concert performed by the student ensemble from the Wroclaw Academy of Music in the National Forum of Music will reach a wider audience of both music professionals and general public. Furthermore, there will be a new panel of the EFM which will be dedicated to a Rostrum+ related theme; EMC will see to its content and logistical organisation and its appropriate integration into the overall EFM programme. As the largest network of music organisations in Europe, the EMC will be involved in communication activities and in the dissemination of project results.EMC will not contribute financially to the project.

Eesti Rahvusringhääling (Estonian Public Broadcasting, ERR), a legal person in public law, is a legal successor of Eesti Televisioon and Eesti Raadio. ERR is member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Klassikaraadio department of ERR is the largest audience of all continuously operating cultural media-channels in Estonia. Starting in 1995, Klassikaraadio’s daily program initially consisted of six hours of classical music. In late 1998 Klassikaraadio began broadcasting round the clock, and since December 2003 our transmissions can be received on the FM waveband all over Estonia. Klassikaraadio’s present schedule features cultural programs and news as well as a wide spectrum of quality music – from West-European classics to folk, jazz, world music and a separate series dedicated to progressive rock. Estonian music constitutes 20% of our programme. Klassikaraadio’s audience has been stable for over ten years.

Estonian Public Broadcasting will host Rostrum+ activities in Tallinn in May 2015. In this role, it will handle the logistics of the Listen and Lab sessions, identify an Estonian composer for an interview, and co-organise with the IMC a workshop on social media and new technologies in the radio environment for 30 radio producers from some 30 countries. ERR will also secure the collaboration of local music organisations and bring students from the Estonian Academy for Music and Theatre to the Rostrum+ activities in Tallinn. During the project period, ERR will participate in three Listen and Showcase sessions and broadcast contemporary music works presented at these sessions to its audience. As a specialised media partner of the project, ERR will have an active role in the promotion of project activities and project outcomes through broadcasts. A press conference for radio journalists in May 2015 will be a select occasion for the public launch of the project.

Founded in 1925, Polish Radio is the largest public radio in Poland. Polish Radio broadcasts on 4 national channels (Channel I, Channel II, Channel III and Channel IV) reaching the entire nation. It has also an external service broadcasting in 6 foreign languages. Apart from the news, Polish Radio broadcasts original music programmes, journalistic and popular scientific programmes as well as ones on education, health, entertainment and religion. Polish Radio’s programming also offers radio plays and commentaries which win prestigious awards in Poland and abroad.
On October 1 2013, Polish Radio launched the digital broadcasting services (DAB+).

As co-host of Rostrum+ activities in Wroclaw in May 2016, Polish Radio will handle the technical logistics of the Listen and Lab sessions, and co-organise with the IMC one workshop on the interaction between radio presenters and listeners for 30 radio professionals from some 30 countries in the field of contemporary music and public broadcasting. Polish Radio will also secure the collaboration of local music organisations, bring students from the Academy of Music in Wroclaw to the Listen sessions and facilitate their live concert. During the project period, Polish Radio will participate in three Listen and Showcase listening sessions and broadcast contemporary music works presented at these session to its audience. As specialised media partner of the project, it will have an active role in the promotion of project activities and of the project outcomes through broadcasts. Polish Radio will co-organise with IMC the press conference to present mid-term results of the project.

 

The National Forum of Music is located in a new landmark building subsidised by the European Regional Development Fund, the first large investment project in the field of culture that has been approved by the European Commission. The NFM is the result of a merger of two cultural institutions: the Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic and the International Festival Wratislavia Cantans. The NFM is an artistic institution operated jointly as a cultural institution by the Municipality of Wrocław, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and Lower Silesia Province. The National Forum of Music’s mandate is to conduct cultural actions promoting culture and music, facilitating the development of musical culture, fulfilling social needs and aspirations, and representing Polish culture both in Poland and abroad.

Rostrum+ activities in May 2016 will take place at the National Forum of Music, which will handle the logistics of the activities but also offer artistic direction for music events based on the activities. The choice of venue is relevant, as the National Forum of Music is located in the very centre of the city, thus benefitting from a natural visitor flow. Special attention will therefore be paid to the installation of the Rostrum+ Lab at a prominent spot of the building. The National Forum of Music will work with IMC and EMC on creating a synergy between Rostrum+ activities and the 2016 edition of the European Forum on Music, which will overlap for a few days. For example, a Rostrum+ relevant session will be integrated into the programme of the European Forum on Music. NFM will make sure that the live concert performed by the student ensemble from the Wroclaw Academy of Music in its building will effectively reach a wider audience of both music professionals and general public.

The International Music Council (IMC), founded in 1949 by UNESCO, is the world’s largest network of organisations and institutions working in the field of music. IMC promotes access to music for all and the value of music in the lives of all peoples. Through its members and their networks, IMC has access to over 1000 organisations in some 150 countries and to 200 million persons eager to develop and share knowledge and experience on diverse aspects of musical life. An international NGO, IMC enjoys an official partnership with UNESCO. IMC programmes contribute to the development and strengthening of friendly working relations between all the musical cultures of the world on the basis of their absolute equality, mutual respect and appreciation. IMC champions the provision of opportunities for every child and adult to exercise rights to learn musical languages and to listen to, understand, perform, create and express themselves through music.

The International Music Council will take the lead in the project, with a dedicated coordinator based in the IMC office in Paris responsible for the administrative and financial management of the project. A strong partnership is key to a successful project: the IMC will therefore guarantee a smooth flow of information between the partners, making sure that each is kept up-to-date on all developments. With the support of its project partners, the IMC will monitor and evaluate the project on an ongoing basis, and steer its direction. It will coordinate the promotion of the project, the project website and dissemination of the project results, and following the end of the project, will guarantee its legacy. It will in particular co-organise the Listen sessions, including the showcases, as well as the Lab, professional development and student development activities. It will be in charge of producing the Rostrum+ CD compilation.

 

Sveriges Radio is a non-commercial, independent public service radio broadcaster. The main Rostrum+ partner within Swedish Radio will be P2 – Classical music and ethnic languages. P2 is one of the four main radio channels operated by Sweden’s national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio (SR). It broadcasts music (principally classical music and jazz) and also carries educational programming as well as programmes in minority languages. The music played on P2 is mostly classical in the broadest sense (from the earliest known compositions to 20th-century and contemporary works), but also features jazz, folk and world music. We are part of the European Broadcasting Union and for many years have taken active part in the International Rostrum of Composers by presenting new Swedish composers. We are also committed to the creation of new music as we regularly collaborate with composers, ensembles and festivals all over Europe.

During the project period, Swedish Radio will participate in three Listen and Showcase listening sessions hosted by project partners in Tallinn, Wroclaw and Palermo. It will broadcast contemporary music works presented at these sessions to its national audience. Every year, in cooperation with the IMC, Swedish Radio will commission a work to a composer from the “Under 30” category of the Listen sessions. The composer will be invited to Sweden twice, once for an introductory 2-day workshop with the ensemble, and later, for 1 week to work with an ensemble in preparation for a recording and radio broadcast. The work will also be performed live at the Sound of Stockholm festival, with which Swedish Radio has a long-standing partnership. As specialised media partner of the project, Swedish Radio will have an active role in the promotion of project activities and of the project outcomes through broadcasts.