music theatre in flanders - Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen
music theatre in flanders - Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen
music theatre in flanders - Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen
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<strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong> seriously has to take his own contribution seriously<br />
as well.<br />
Flanders offers a lot of opportunities to composers who would<br />
like to work for the <strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong>. It is good to see that contemporary<br />
artists are not merely conf<strong>in</strong>ed to or that they take resort to<br />
small-scale work (or are ‘put away’ there), but that they reach an<br />
<strong>in</strong>ternational level, also <strong>in</strong> opera. I would def<strong>in</strong>itely like to plea for<br />
a landscape <strong>in</strong> which large-scale opera ánd smaller-scale <strong>music</strong><br />
<strong>theatre</strong> projects can exist side by side, preserve their own identity<br />
and rema<strong>in</strong> free from too much ‘<strong>in</strong>stitutionaliz<strong>in</strong>g’. ‘Hard to standardize’<br />
also means: abundance of colour and variation!<br />
petra Vermote is a composer of concert <strong>music</strong> as well as <strong>music</strong><br />
for <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary projects and <strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong>. Between 2004<br />
and 2008, she was vice president of the <strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong> advisory<br />
committee and of the ad hoc committee commissioned creations<br />
(commissioned composition).<br />
What is the significance of today’s drama and <strong>music</strong> education<br />
for tomorrow’s <strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong>? Does <strong>music</strong> education respond<br />
sufficiently to <strong>music</strong> <strong>theatre</strong> performance practice? Is there<br />
enough room for <strong>music</strong>al issues <strong>in</strong> drama education? Do we have<br />
to build bridges?<br />
As a lecturer to both word and <strong>music</strong> students I have experienced<br />
that for many of them, there is a deep gap. There is,<br />
undeniably, an <strong>in</strong>tr<strong>in</strong>sic natural difference between how both articulations<br />
are experienced, but these differences can perfectly be<br />
bridged, if, at least, noses are made to po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>in</strong> the same direction,<br />
and that does not happen automatically. The sooner children and<br />
youngsters are tra<strong>in</strong>ed dur<strong>in</strong>g the education process, the better.<br />
And fortunately there are red herr<strong>in</strong>gs that are will<strong>in</strong>g to do it.<br />
reAlITy<br />
The supposed gap<br />
Mart<strong>in</strong> Valcke<br />
Word or drama students have chosen their tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g because of<br />
a passionate, mostly <strong>in</strong>tuitive, fasc<strong>in</strong>ation for word and drama.<br />
Very often, they are equally <strong>in</strong>fatuated by <strong>music</strong>, but their <strong>music</strong>al<br />
knowledge and skills are very limited. They will, logically, focus<br />
on a small segment <strong>in</strong> <strong>music</strong> production, <strong>music</strong> <strong>in</strong> which text<br />
and drama play an important role – chanson, rock or pop <strong>music</strong>,<br />
<strong>music</strong>als.... Their rational knowledge and <strong>in</strong>terpretation of <strong>music</strong>,<br />
however – <strong>music</strong> theory, formal analysis, <strong>music</strong> history – is usually<br />
poor <strong>in</strong>deed. So, when they comb<strong>in</strong>e word and <strong>music</strong>, <strong>music</strong><br />
will, <strong>in</strong>evitably, play a merely secondary, illustrative role – entirely<br />
as <strong>in</strong> our commercial society.<br />
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