Actualités musicales

Perspectives on Musical Improvisation II

Call for Papers

9-12 septembre, Oxford

Faculty of Music, University of Oxford

Following the success of the first Perspectives on Musical Improvisation (PoMI) conference in Oxford in September 2012, a second conference (PoMI II) will take place in Oxford on 9th – 12th September 2014. As with the 2012 event, this conference will address the many faces of improvisation from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. While retaining the same broad and inclusive approach as for PoMI I, the organisers are keen to encourage submissions that will contribute to one or more of the following themes:

• Improvisation and the social: in what ways does improvisation organise collective musical experience?
• Improvisation as a term: is it still useful, does it need refining or qualifying and how might productive distinctions in improvisational practice be identified and conceptualised?
• Improvisation and value: how do cultural values and beliefs shape improvisational practices? What claims are made for the benefits and drawbacks, possibilities and limitations of improvisation?
• Analysing improvisation: (how) can improvisation be analysed in ways appropriate to its particular modalities?

Consisting only of plenary sessions, over the course of four days, the conference will include papers, panel discussions, poster presentations and musical performances.

Call for papers

Proposals of 300 words are invited for papers of 25 minutes; and of 200 words for posters. Proposals must be sent as a Word attachment to pomisubmission at music.ox.ac.uk, should clearly indicate whether they are for a paper or poster, and must include the following: title, author(s), affiliation(s), email address for contact. The deadline for proposals is 17th January 2014. Decisions on proposals will be communicated in early March.

The conference is part of the research programme of the AHRC-funded Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice (CMPCP) and is organised by Eric Clarke, Mark Doffman, David Maw, and Emily Payne.

Beyond black tie and bubbly: rescuing opera from stereotypes

9 septembre 2014, Oxford

https://obertobrookes.com/conference-2014/
Conference venue: Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Deadline 9 May 2014

Discourse surrounding opera today is concerned with its ‘difficult' position within society: the media often present it as an ‘elitist' pursuit for the snooty rich, who dress up to enjoy fat ladies singing loudly in opulent surroundings.

This conference, organised by the OBERTO opera research unit at Oxford Brookes University, aims to unpick and examine critically the idea of opera as a socially exclusive and intellectually forbidding genre. We aim to consider ways in which opera might be presented in more interesting ways to contemporary audiences and hope to bring together scholars, singers, directors, opera house personnel, journalists and opera goers in fruitful debate. We therefore invite papers addressing topics including (but by no means limited to):

• The historical roots of operatic ‘elitism': where, when, why and how did the concept of elite achievement become so freighted with negative connotations in an operatic context?
• Attitudes to opera beyond the UK
• Accessibility and outreach: damned if you do, and damned if you don't?
• Not for ‘the likes of us'? Reassessing opera's audiences
• Opera journalism, social media and PR
• The X-Factor factor: ‘authentic' amateurism vs. professionalism
• Crossover: hindrance or help?
• Do attempts to address so-called ‘elitism' serve only to perpetuate the idea?
• Proposals of up to 250 words for 20 minute papers should be submitted to Dr Alexandra Wilson (alexandra.wilson at brookes.ac.uk) by Friday 9th May.

Revue de presse musicale

(France musique) François Leleux nommé chef invité de l'Orchestre de chambre de Norvège

(Les Échos) Informatique et musique, un beau mariage

(Le Figaro) La relève de la garde pop

(La Républiqe) Des anciens salariés de Milonga vont relancer une école de musique