But my post only contains one URL… ? Anyway, glad to see it went through eventually.

paul, the Sundance model sounds great; it’s a new world though, taking the non-localized web community and turning it into a movable feast for interaction between all the community members and interested parties. As far as I know, nobody has ever really made this type of artistic webspace->realspace jump, if so, I’d love to hear how they did it – without localization.

paul, thanks for reminding me (us) about the coolness involved with pre/post concert meeting and the synergies that are exposed thereby. That has to be a part of this process that will be stimulated! Ivan and Mell, for sure, a recurring program would be cool. A programmatic tour. … Second performances are another worthy goal of the process, either by the same group or another group.

the previous post should read “on one hand this could be a new music version of the sundance institute”

This all sounds great — much of it is roughly similar to what we did for our Pulse hit at Roulette… all the money goes to the performers, decide the instrumentation in advance and everyone writes for the same set of players, release a podcast interview with each composer before the concert (using audio recorded at rehearsal), record the concert. This is a good system.

Two things you didn’t mention:

1) I hope that the composers will be encouraged to get invovled in the rehearsals. This may also help alleviate concerns about playability — if a composer is well-prepared and knows their music well, they may be able to help the ensemble overcome some of the initial difficulties. (This assumes the composer knows how to contribute to a rehearsal without being a total douche, I know, but hey — everyone here is a good-natured, well-adjusted, sociable individual, right?)

2) To address the concerns about the players having too much on their plate, perhaps you could (A) include two ensembles per concert, one for the before-intermission pieces, and one for after? At least then you’d have the intermission to do the changeover. Or, (B) make the pool of players available for the concert larger — say 10 players total — but have the composers write for some subset of that. Let’s say the pool includes a string quartet, piano, percussion, and four winds — one composer might write a piece for viola, percussion, and oboe; another might write for the winds alone, etc.

I’m not sure if this is a stated goal, but I can see the concert as a way to help
musicians get connected and start new ensembles. I think many of us have observed groups created through the connections created playing in a festival ensemble. the provided dinner or small honorarium was enough to separate the new music enthusiasts from those looking for just another gig.

I see this going two ways;

on one hand I could be a new music version of the Sundance Institute, to bring together young/newer composers and performers interested in new music. The main difference is instead of bringing everybody together in one location let the concerts happen where there is a groundswell of interest.

on the other hand if the stated goal of these concerts is to promote “the best the S21″ community, I suggest the full monty, everybody gets paid, with one or two concerts that are produced and promoted more like a film festival.

besides giving exposure to composers, i think the real opportunities are for composers and performers to meet and create connections that lead to more groups and more performances beyond these concerts.

paul

I don’t know what I can do to assist, but I’ll be lurking here quietly until further instruction.

Steve: I agree that the next step should be a baby-step, as a forum for working out potential difficulties.

It would be great for the performers if they could give the same programme in several different venues (ie a ‘mini-tour’). I like the idea of a McConcert, as long as the fries are organic.

I also hate these types of smorgasbord concerts. It’s one reason I think this ‘miniature’ approach is weak. The increased time scale and good curation should improve that hopefully.

One thing about the package idea that Steve is alluding to, I think it’s power is that it keeps inertia from taking hold when a road block happens. It’s a ‘model’ that hopefully will inform all of the the little concert decisions that have to be made so that we get it all, concert, CD, podcast, community-building, enhancing S21′s rep as a one stop new music endeavor.

The alternative, frankly, is that we have little pieces all over the place that sometimes work and sometimes don’t. I suspect having a package idea will make it much easier to raise $$$ too.