The North American World Music Coalition has organized a preconference day of workshops/panels during the 2007 Arts Presenters conference:
Context and Connection: Much More than the Music
Friday January 19, 2007
9:00am – 12:30pm & 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Sutton Parlour Center/Hilton Hotel
(no registration required for world music professionals)
A series of thematic exchanges intended to spark interactive dialogue on some of the current issues facing the world music community and performing arts presenters. Sponsored by the North American World Music Coalition (NAWMC) with the Summer Festival Presenters Group (afternoon session only). Read on for exact schedule and session panelists and descriptions.
9:00am – 9:30am (Brown bag breakfast reception - bring your own coffee and roll)
Welcome, Ian Menzies/Board President, North American World Music Coalition
Introductory remarks, Presenting World Music in the Global Village: On Stage, On Air, and Beyond, Sean Barlow/Afropop Worldwide
9:30am – 10:55am
Building Community: From Local to Global
How are presenters doing more than presenting performances? How are NGO’s and community-based organizations using arts presenting as a tool for building social cohesion? We’ll look at some interesting models and creative approaches to using music as a platform for social change and community development on the local, regional, national, and global levels. While attendees are encouraged to share their own approaches to community-building, we will start the dialogue by hearing examples from the following:
Ismael Ahmed/Executive Director, Arab Community Center for Education & Social Services (ACCESS): Dearborn, MI
Nico Daswani/Program Director, Sacred Music Festival: Los Angeles, CA
Susan Koscis/Director of Communications, Search for Common Ground: Washington, DC
Zeyba Rahman/Producer, Jungli Billi Productions: New York, NY
Sabrina Sadeghi/author, World Music Festivals: Instrumentalizing the Arts for Peacebuilding and Diplomacy: Brooklyn, NY
Kyoko Yoshida/Director, US-Japan Cultural Trade Network (CTN) of Arts Midwest: San Francisco, CA
Facilitated by Marco Werman/Producer and Journalist, Public Radio International's The World
10:55am – 11:05am Break
11:05am – 12:30pm
Digital Explosion and Live Performance: Strategies for Linking World Music Tours, Records, and Fans in the New Economy
When the popularity of illegal downloads emerged a few years ago, there were articles about the end of the music industry. Yet music has not only survived, it has thrived with the emergence of download sharing, free blogs, and social networking sites, though the financial model is still not clear. Many asked "What will the new model be?" The answer is there is no single model. We must all pursue several paths simultaneously to reach increasingly dispersed niche audiences. This open discussion brings together world music presenters, agents, artists, and record labels about how they are using new technologies to reach their audiences and fans in new ways.
Facilitated by Dmitri Vietze/rock paper scissors publicity: Bloomington, IN
12:30pm – 4:00pm Other conference activity
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Setting Cultural Context: Maximizing Opportunities for Community Awareness (with the Summer Festival Presenters)
Does providing cultural context make a difference? This session for presenters, agents, managers, artists, scholars and others will explore the issues involved in setting cultural context. What are the resources available to your community, how do you identify them, are there models out there that might serve as guidelines and stimulate new activity in this arena? Join us as we brainstorm ways to think out of the box in setting cultural context. Together we can explore ways to further enrich the lives of our communities, audiences and our selves.
Sarah Morelli/Assistant Professor in Ethnomusicology, Lamont School of Music/University of Denver: Denver, CO
Andy Palacio/Garifuna Musician: Belize
Baraka Sele/Assistant Vice-President for Programming, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC): Newark, NJ
Michael Stone/Executive Director, Program in Latin American Studies, Princeton University: Princeton, NJ
Facilitated by Rachel Cooper/Director, Cultural Programs and Performing, Asia Society: New York, NY
