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Bremen 2012 Early Music Platform Refreshing Authenticity: Innovation and the challenge to convention in the teaching, research and performance of Early Music 1 AEC Pop and Jazz Platform! Lille 2012 The AEC would like to express deep gratitude to the Hochschule für Künste Bremen for hosting and co-organizing the EMP Meeting 2012. The AEC team would also like to express special thanks to the members of the EMP preparatory working group for their tremendous support in organizing the platform programme. AEC Early Music Platform Bremen 2012 1 Table of Contents EMP Working Group ................................................................................................................................ 3 Conference Team .................................................................................................................................... 4 Refreshing Authenticity ........................................................................................................................... 5 Reflections on the Theme ....................................................................................................................... 6 Programme ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Musical Programme .............................................................................................................................. 13 Biographies and Abstracts of Speakers ................................................................................................. 14 Speakers Panel Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 19 Practical Information ............................................................................................................................. 21 Relevant Addresses ........................................................................................................................... 21 Hotels ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Travel information ............................................................................................................................. 22 Computer Facilities ............................................................................................................................ 22 Restaurants........................................................................................................................................ 25 Information fee payment EMP 2012 Bremen ................................................................................... 26 AEC Early Music Platform Bremen 2012 2 EMP Working Group Peter Nelson Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen Greta Haenen Hochschule für Künste Bremen Francis Biggi Haute École de Musique de Genève Johannes Boer Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag Erik van Nevel Lemmensinstituut, Leuven Terrell Stone Conservatorio di Musica "A. Pedrollo", Vicenza Thomas Drescher Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel Yves Rechsteiner CNSMD de Lyon AEC Early Music Platform Bremen 2012 3 Conference Team Jeremy Cox Association Européenne des Chief Executive Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC) Sara Primiterra Events Manager Annelotte Kolstee Project Coordinator Maarten Aarse Student Intern Anne Rademakers Student Intern Hochschule für Künste Bremen Manfred Cordes Director Thomas Albert Early Music Department Greta Haenen Early Music Department Anna-Julia Perini Project Assistant AEC Early Music Platform Bremen 2012 4 Refreshing Authenticity Innovation and the challenge to convention in the teaching, research and performance of early music. The early music movement, as its name implies, was about more than performing a certain, previously neglected, repertoire; it denoted a whole fresh approach to thinking about music: how to find repertoire in the first place, how to perform it, on which instruments, to whom and in what kinds of surroundings. As commentators have remarked, there was something modern, counter-culture and almost subversive about the way that a generation of performers and music-lovers embraced sounds, instruments and genres and venues that seemed fresh and vital in comparison with mainstream classical repertoire and its performance practices. Since those days, early music has entered the mainstream, not least in its adoption into the curricula of many music academies, and the influence of its thinking has spread to the repertoires of other eras in the form of the principle of historically-informed performance. Some might argue that this has become a dominant principle of our modern-day attitude to most classical music. But inevitably, this merging with the establishment has blunted the radical edge of the early music ethos in some respects: early music has acquired its own dogmas and conventions; its once youthful audience is beginning to grey along with that for classical music generally; recent generations of students seem less eager to blaze a trail of their own and more expectant of being initiated into a stable orthodoxy concerning the music in which they have chosen to specialize. This fourth meeting of the AEC Early Music Platform, in Bremen in April 2012, seeks to pose the question as to whether, without sacrificing the considerable gains made, early music – and, in particular, early music teaching in conservatoires – might not be able to re-kindle something of its earlier zest for innovation and its relentless curiosity to look beneath and beyond received wisdom. The platform will examine this issue under four main themes: How can cutting-edge musicology be fed more broadly, consistently and imaginatively into practical teaching and performance (and how can practical insights more consistently inform the thinking of cutting-edge musicology)? How can we guard against the thirst for new knowledge and musical insight hardening into just another layer of dogma? How, as teachers, can we transmit knowledge within a spirit of free thought (should our students be imitating or challenging us)? In what distinctive ways might early music draw new, younger audiences into the rich musical experiences that it has to offer? The organizers are looking for examples of how conservatoire early music departments, teachers and students have taken practical steps to address these issues. The aim is to share novel practice, compare approaches and deepen our collective understanding of what is happening in the field of early music across the conservatoires of Europe. As well as a presentation from a distinguished keynote speaker, the Platform will feature four sessions devoted to each of the themes outlined above. Proposals are invited for presentations under these headings; for the third category, these are especially sought from student presenters. Around these formal sessions, there will be plentiful opportunities to discuss ideas, network and socialize with colleagues and friends. AEC Early Music Platform Bremen 2012 5 Reflections on the Theme 1- Integrating Musicology and Practice/How can Musicology Refresh Practice 2- Idealism, pragmatism and integrity in the search of personal authenticity 3- Teaching freedom All three subjects cover fundamental aspects of what is basically the same question. In other words, a reflection on performers’ independence, on their right (and their duty) to make subjective decisions that openly and honestly reflect their own artistic choices and their individual relationship to the musical material and its historical and aesthetic framework, accepting the fact that arbitrary decisions are a fundamental and necessary part of the creative process. The relationship between musicology and performing early repertoires has become, fortunately, a kind of dialectical dialogue where, exactly as is the relationship between faith and science, there will always be two visions that remain, at least partially, irreconcilable. At the same time, there is a constant and on-going exchange between the two. Given that there will always be differences, it is important that the energy that comes from this “agreement to disagree” should be harnessed in a way beneficial to both parties. Indeed, ideally, in this constant exchange, musicology should “refresh” performance practice, while performance, in turn, gives new impetus to musicology - asking questions that would otherwise not be broached, constantly inventing new techniques and strategies for studying repertoires, eras, and styles. In any case, idealism, pragmatism and integrity are compulsory elements of any study, analysis or interpretation with claims to legitimacy. Indeed, deontological integrity should drive both performer and scholar to admit imperfections and to constantly question the results of their efforts. When a musician is asked to impart their acquired knowledge, the awareness of this subjectivity becomes an essential element of the student-teacher relationship. Transferring the concept of freedom is one of the most important tasks of a teacher, indeed, the delicate balance of their professional scruples and the student’s right to choose from whom to learn and how is one of the most important fulcrums of the didactic process. Acceptance of responsibility means admitting that one’s individual interpretation - even if constructed around convictions that come from serious study and reflection – is still the result of

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