I arrived this afternoon from Amsterdam, on the same plane as the musicians. Actually I got to sit with one of the members of the jury for the whole flight and chat. It was very illuminating. But most of all, this last week has been amazing in every sense of the word. I got to talk to 2 of the 3 members of the jury, the third one being the conductor of the NEM, Lorraine and I got to meet again one of the composers of Forum 2004, who came from Paris to attend the new forum. We chatted a long time and I was relieved to know that he mostly agreed with the analysis that I had made of the Forum and most importantly, of his position as a young composer in Paris (I had sent all the composers involved in my first “fieldwork” a copy of my analysis of their “discourse” on music). So this was the “feedback” moment. We had a great time talking about his experience with the forum and what he sees as differences and similarities with this year’s forum. We also got to fill in some holes in my previous “enquete” and chat about things we had not talked about in the last Forum.

Me relationship with the musicians and with the composers has continued to flourish, beyond what I could have ever aspired to. After the gala concert which took place saturday evening, the pianist in the ensemble thanked me for attending all of the activities in the Forum and for doing the “causeries” with the composers at such short notice. Then, just before I left, the 4 composers, Marko, Karola, Ezequiel and Geof, surprised me with a “thank you” gift. I was stunned, and profoundly touched by their gesture, when it was me who ought to thank them for having been so open to my questions and so welcoming.

I admit I returned home on a high that no legal marijuana could come close to giving me. After two intensive, exhausting weeks, I feel that I gave it my best and have learned, and recieved more than I could have ever hoped for.

It was one of the best experiences of my life.

Here a few pictures of the composers and I in the last two evenings of the event. One is of the musicians on the peer outside the Musiekgebouw. I was having coffee in the building’s café when I saw them all standing outside. I knocked on the glass until they noticed me and they paused for a picture.

One is from the gala concert after all the musical works had been performed. Marko’s piece, entitled, ” chambres des ténèbres /tombeau de Claude Vivier” recieved a distinction and will be reperformed in April in Montreal.

One is of all of us with Guilherme Carvalho, from the 2004 Forum, one is one of the rehearsals with one of the jury (John Rea) looking on and following the score, and one is with the composers during a break from rehearsal with John Rea, composer and member of the jury.

The questions I leave this experience with is this: what does an experience like this say about the way we think of time spent in the field: what are the advantages and disadvantages of an intensive field experience versus a more extensive experience over a longer period? Last but not least: what does it say about the relationship between “researcher” and “informant” in the age of technology, mutual expertise and globalization?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Yara

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As first weeks go, in the field, this has been a very intensive, almost overwhelming experience. I realized yesterday that I have already more hours of interviews recorded in this week alone than I had in the entire month I spent with the composers in Forum du NEM 2004. Ofcourse, one explanation is that, unlike the last time, I’ve been spending the entire day, every day with the composers, from morning around 10 am till sometimes 10 pm in the evening. The richest conversations happen during supper after a long day at the Muziekgebouw, where we chat casually, while always recording about everything from politics to music. As interviewing technique and ethnographic situations go, I’m more convinced than ever that the best way to dialogue is through simple conversation and not through the “interview” format. Atleast in this context it is. Also, chatting and debating together allows for a break from the “researcher”/ informant dichotomy. The forum is composed of different events: analysis master-classes with the composers, open rehearsels, and “causeries” where an interviewer usually interviews the composer in public. This year, they apparently had trouble finding an interviewer, so they asked me if I would be interested. All of that happened very last minute, actually only an hour before the first causerie with Geof, the Canadian composer, was about to take place. I was very happy that they would think of asking me. For me, it meant that I had gained their confidence, but I didn’t anticipate at all the effect that it would have on the way I usually inerview the composers and talk with them.

I have to say it was a very difficult experience for me and very uncomfortable. There we were chatting together yet exposed to the public. It felt violating and I wasn’t able to dialogue with Geof as I usually would. It was in a strange way a reversal of roles, where suddenly the public was the “observateur-participant” and both Geof and I were the “informants”. We were also being photographed and recorded which also was very “invading” for me personnally. Geof seemed also very nervous (probably because I was too). What is really ironic in all of that was that we had just had the exact same conversation right before the “official interview” and we just could not recreate the easy natural dialogue we had had while drinking a cup of coffee. The difference is quite “flagrant” when you listen to both interviews one after the other.

Another funny reversal of roles took place later on during the evening when I went to the hotel to interview Karola individually about her music. Geof decided to join us later during the interview. I had asked Karola to bring me some of her sketches. As the interview ended, Geof, with a little bit of a tease, said, “I would like to see your sketches sometime!” (sketches of the interviews), so I laughed and I explained a bit about how I organized my interviews and how I thought the dynamics in his forum were different from the last forum. And then I explained how I was probably going to analyse what I learned here, talking about the link between music and identity. At that point, Karola asked “are you recording this?” I said “no”. So Geof turned the recorder on me and they recorded me, explaining my thesis to them.

That was a wonderful experience, it felt liberating to show all my cards and they appreciated it. It was also a lot less stressful and invading than when I had to interview Geof in public.

Yara

Chers tous,

J’ai jusqu’à présent évité d’envoyer ou poster des photos identifiant les
compositeurs, par simple précaution, bien qu’ils m’aient donné leur
consentement, mais après avoir reconfirmé de nouveau avec eux leur accord
de poster des photos plus explicites et identifiables, je peux enfin vous
envoyer des photos plus intéressantes.

Je vous envoie donc une photo du Muziekgebouw de loin et une des quatre
compositeurs dans un restaurant indien où nous avons passé un bon moment à
discuter de musique et identité. J’ai pu aujourd’hui organisé un
calendrier d’entrevues individuels avec chacun des compositeurs. Pour
aller au delà du discours SUR la musique et pour parler de discours
musical comme tel, j’ai demandé aux compositeurs d’apporter leurs
brouillons et partitions, et si possible des enregistrements à partir de
leurs logiciels de notation de leurs créations et nous allons faire
l’entrevue en prennant ces documents comme point de référence. J’ai pu le
faire aujourd’hui avec Ezequiel, le compositeur argentin, et vous ne
pouvez imaginer la richesse de la discussion. Il m’a beaucoup appris sur
le processus de création musicale et surtout sur sa façon d’approcher une
nouvelle pièce et de la construire.

Dans une tradition musicale très dépendante de l’écriture, j’ai compris
que la partition était incontournable et qu,il fallait l’inclure comme
“informateur” dans l’entretien ethnomusicologique. Ce qui rend la
conversation encore plus intéressante, c’est la présence du NEM, dont les
répétitions des créations tous les jours permet aussi d’examiner des
questions d’interprétation et de performance.

Je n’entrerai pas dans les détails des discussions (ce sera pour la
thèse!) mais je vous laisse au moins avec quelques photos. (une photo avec
la compositrice allemande, Karola, discutant de sa pièce avec Lorraine
Vaillancourt durant une répétition, une de Geof, le compositeur canadien
écoutant sa pièce sur scène durant une répétition et une de Marco, le
compositeur serbe, durant un master-class d’analyse de son oeuvre, et une
de Ezequiel, avec des brouillons de sa partitions suite à notre entretien
(Je voulais le photographier lisant la partition, mais il était trop
conscient de la caméra. J’ai eu droit à un magnifique sourire).

À bientôt!

Yara

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Just got back from my first day at the Forum. As first days go, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Having ethnographed the 2004 edition of the Forum, most of the musicians recognized me and couldn’t believe that I had actually followed them all the way from Montreal just to hear them practice! That was a big ice-breaker with the musicians being clearly appreciative of the you enter. Behind the bars are lights that are designed to change the whole mood of the hall, which is an indication that visuality has finally broken through the glass cieling of pure sound ideology. Ah yeah, and the whole building is set on the edge of a wide port. The exterior is all glass which gives the impression that the water is IN the building.

As I talked to the musicians, I realized that they were really impressed with the place, it seemed that they were in their fairytale music hall, and couldn’t stop raving about the acoustics.

As for the composers, I had a nice bite with them over lunch and talked about different ideologies in music conservatories, and between the schools of electroacoustic music and instrumental music. Didn’t record … I decided to keep the “technology” out of the way until I establish a real rapport. All though I did record over three hours of repetitions with the ipod discreetly placed under the conductor in order to hear his comments on the piece. He seemd to be very comfortable with it.

So over all it was a pretty successful and impressive day. Just got back to catch up on some much needed sleep and make some phone calls … until I realized my low budget hotel doesn’t have a phone line in my room. Oh well! It was free wireless internet so who needs phones?

BTW Thanks Pascal for the links to the NEM!

Here is the link to the Muziekgebouw where the event is taking place and I’ll be uploading some pics right away:
http://www.muziekgebouw.nl/uk/gebouw_detail.asp?id=3

Yara

Ok, So I made to my charming budget hotel in the middle of Amsterdam after taking the train and then the Tramway, dragging my baggage behind me. It used to be a monastère which gives the building some real historic charm. It’s a perfect low budget hotel, basic but friendly, and very homely, with cool pierced nose owners that were nice enough to tell me where to get cheap and good lunches, and buy hemp clothes.

I’m sure I’ve earned a couple of bloody tourist looks here and there, especially after I dragged my bag right into the tiny tram carts, but I have to say, the atmosphere of the city is wonderful. It’s not the city of legal prostitution and legal drugs for nothing. It is also Rembrandt’s 400th anniversary so wherever you go you see Rembrandt staring at you with his Renaissance clair-obscure glare. I bought a three day ticket for the trams but I’m seriously considering renting a bike and just taking advantage of the canals and narrow streets. The weather is chilly but has that springy feel in it and the streets are filled with bikers and walkers. It makes you feel alive.

The Forum du NEM, which is the competition/event I’m researching starts today. Even though I haven’t slept yet, I’m probably going directly there as soon as I have my 5 euro toast and jam breakfast (expensive is the word I’m looking for here). I’m a little nervous as first days always are. This time there are 4 composers I’ll be trying to interview about music, identity, postcolonialism and all that stuff anthropologists are so fond of these days.

An update will be coming to you soon, probably tonight!

Yara<—4363fd2c1fe28a5708bcbc8300c25fab—>

Was listening to a podcast reading of the first chapter in the French edition of Nicholas Cook’s Music. A Very Short Introduction.
Didn’t read the book but it sounds rather clear and thoughtful. It does refer to events in the recent history of music which are close to Critical World’s mission.

La Semaine d’actions contre le racisme – www.inforacisme.com
Good music, good cause.
Alpha Blondy, Groundation, Chango Family, Karavan Kaya, Kaliroots, Laura Robles, Guemilere, 7 doigts de la main, Manouche, Oztara, La Mine de Rien, Dibondoko, Bombolesse, Zuruba, Syncop, Opposum, Garbanzo, Kaolectif…<—d284fe23bce005fd1a73fb1e02824f93—>

The Upgrade! Montréal » Mars 08: REMIX : VOIX DE FEMMES AUTOCHTONES / VOICES OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN

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UPGRADE MONTREAL
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MERCREDI, le 08 mars 2006 / WEDNESDAY, March 8th, 2006
Société des arts technologiques (SAT) – 1195 St. Laurent