EMS 09 - Heritage and future

The EMS conference is organised yearly through the initiative of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network, an international team which aims to encourage the better understanding of electroacoustic music in terms of its genesis, its evolution, its current manifestations and its impact.

Areas related to the study of electroacoustic music range from the musicological to more interdisciplinary approaches, from studies concerning the impact of technology on musical creativity to the investigation of the ubiquitous nature of electroacoustic sounds today.

Presenting EMS 09 and Main Theme

Heritage and future

During recent years the electroacoustic community has been celebrating different dates related to the birth of electroacoustic music. Such moments are often a time for analysis and reflection, which is very important for a better understanding of our past, and allows us to review our present and to think about our future.

It also make us wonder: how do we imagine the future of electroacoustic music? And at the same time, what do we wish for the future of electroacoustic music?

At this point, many other questions arise, all of them connected to the same root: what is the role of musical education in this path? To what extent is our heritage significant in terms of our seeking to extend our sound-music boundaries or, instead, to what extent does this heritage generate barriers which limit our imagination?

Are we looking to develop a self-sustained electroacoustic art or do we think that electroacoustic music would be best integrated with other disciplines in the future?

Will technical developments limit our future steps or have we reached a stage of maturity which allows us to seek in the technology that which we need?

Is it possible to think about new languages (or derived new ones), starting from what is already known today as electroacoustic music?

[more info via ems-network.org]