New Music Edmonton 2020-21 season – The No Normal
New Music Edmonton’s 2020 – 21 season is coming soon, and we’re declaring that the new normal is no normal at all!
It’s been over 6 months since our concert and outreach activities were so suddenly brought to a halt and everything we thought we knew about a new music season changed. Like our many partners in the arts, we have spent much of this time finding a way forward. There’s been lots to do and think about and to learn, and we are nearly ready to launch an exciting and innovative season. Our main goal remains what it has always been: to support the work of creative musicians and sound artists and to bring our audiences the most exciting and innovative new music and sonic art we can.
This year will be very different from what was normal: welcome to The No Normal, New Music Edmonton’s entirely digital 2020-21 season, and an entirely new way of thinking about what a season might look and sound like.
NME 2020-21: The No Normal is keeping the emphasis on new works by the widest variety of artists representing the spectrum of sonic art practices. Over the summer we commissioned 15 new creations by a diverse group of artists. That there is a combination of audio pieces, classical compositions and audio visual works tells only part of the story of this creative explosion, and in the coming weeks we’ll be offering lots more information about the new pieces and the artists making them. The season will also include feature performances by electronic, classical and multi-disciplinary creatives. The schedule of who we present is still to be finalized, but it’s going to be a wonderful series of offerings with artists from Edmonton and elsewhere.
Unlike a standard concert season, NME 2020-21: The No Normal will literally be brought to you via your favourite online devices and comprising a rolling, modular series of recurring components instead of a series of single live events. At the core of everything will be a brand new, overdue, venue for us: a bi-monthly, 2-hour podcast! Recordings of new pieces, interviews, documentaries and sonic experimentations within the podcast medium itself will all feature. Also by way of new venues (and also overdue), will be the adoption of online platforms for disseminating some of the amazing work we’ll be presenting, with our pages offering a home for, and open access to, audio and audio-visual recordings.
One of our last, and saddest public announcements, was the cancellation of our Now Hear This Festival last March. We’re making up for it by having two installments of the festival this year – one in November, and one in March. Each of them will offer opportunities to listen to newly recorded creations, enjoy outreach activities, and watch live-streamed or live-to-recording performances. Throughout the season, via the new podcast, our online platforms and stand-alone online events, NME will be “dropping” recordings of specially commissioned work and offering bonus features such as guest artist playlists and interviews. We’re also looking forward to re-engaging with some of our partners from the past, and working with some new colleagues.
Finally, watch for especially unique programming to happen during the December solstice, March equinox and June solstice.
Are you an artist involved in innovative new classical and or electronic music, improvisation or sonic experimentation? If so, watch for our open calls, as New Music Edmonton continues its tradition of opening up our programming to submissions from Edmonton and around the world.
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