News In Brief 10/2/02
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Finding the right in rights
Representatives from 63 countries were on hand for the CISAC 2002 World Congress held in London last week. CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers), its members, and other interested parties met to discuss “how creators and users can work together to ensure that artistic works—the strategic assets of the 21st Century knowledge economy—are used legitimately and properly valued.” A number of resolutions concerning author rights and royalty payments in the developing digital environment were adopted. Reportedly more users, broadcasters, and digital rights management companies were present than ever before, signaling the ever-rising importance of Web-based issues to all involved.
British songwriter Guy Fletcher, capturing the tone of much of the weeks proceedings, noted, “The digital environment may pose a massive threat, but digital dissemination is a huge opportunity too. It will put power back in the hands of creators.”
Extensive information and reports from the conference have been archived on the CISAC site.
A little something for the cryptographer in all of us
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New York composer Steven R. Gerber will help commemorate Voice of America‘s 60th year of radio broadcasting with a newly commissioned piece titled Fanfare for the Voice of A-M-E-R-I-C-A. Gerber has devised a unique system for incorporating patriotic elements into the score. He explains that the work “takes its title from one of the three motives on which the piece is based, the letters A-M-E-R-I-C-A (omitting the letter I) in which M represents Mi or E, R represents Re or D, and C is both C natural and C sharp. Other motives in the piece are U-S-A (U represents Ut, which is C in French, and S stands for E flat in German) and the first few notes of ‘Yankee Doodle,’ which has been VOA’s theme song since it’s inception.”
Composers get on the job training
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Carlos Carrillo has been named the American Composers Orchestra‘s Van Lier Composer Fellow for 2002. The fellowship aims to provide season-long professional development to emerging composers. Carrillo will participate in a variety of performance, education, and outreach activities, while receiving mentoring from ACO’s artistic and administrative staff and musicians. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Carrillo holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania. His composition teachers include Tania León, Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Rouse, Jacob Druckman, Martin Bresnick, Roberto Sierra, George Crumb, James Primosch, Jay Reise, and Steve Mackey.
Eight composers have been selected to participate in the Minnesota Orchestra‘s second annual Composer Institute this October. In addition to working rehearsals of each of the composers’ pieces, over 25 seminars will be offered on topics such as public speaking and business essentials for composers and advanced instrumental workshops with orchestra members. The participating composers are: Todd Coleman (Ohio), Christopher Dietz (New York), Lu Pei (originally from China, now living in Indiana), Russell Platt (New York), Erich Stem (Virginia), Nathan Stumpff (Maine), Orianna Webb (Connecticut), and Michael Twomey (Texas). Composer Aaron Jay Kernis, the Minnesota Orchestra’s new music advisor, will serve as a mentor to participants.