Do you know about the STIM scholarship? This year's scholarship application opens on August 11. Read more STIM's website!
News
Phonogram support
The application for the Cultural Council grant Music publishing (phonograms) is open between on August 9 and September 6. Info and application found here.
Project support Pronto
Search Gothenburg City's Pronto project support between on August 10 and August 31! You can apply for the Pronto project support for cultural projects three to four times a year, and you can apply for a maximum of SEK 40. Read more here.
Curious about the new Gothenburg Art Ensemble?
On August 19 and 20, Gothenburg Art Ensemble has its premiere at Atalante in Gothenburg! The ensemble is a newly started big band that plays newly written modern jazz and improvisational music colored by rock, pop and art music. The initiators are the musicians, composers and MCV members Malin Wättring & William Soovik. This duo has been playing together for a long time and got an idea to start a project where they gave vent to their common interest in composing and arranging new music for larger ensembles.
We have taken the opportunity to ask William some questions!
Hi William,
How exciting about your new project! You must have described your compositions in the project according to the motto: "My songs are fucking long and sometimes sound a bit like some kind of low-budget superhero movie music, with solos."
How wonderful! Which superhero inspires you the most?
— To be honest, I have a bad impression of all superheroes and find it difficult to keep up with all the twists and turns that are taken in all the new films and series. An unpretentious answer would be that a favorite is clearly a character from South Park called Captain Hindsight. During a lab experiment, he was bitten by a retroactive spider, whereupon he gains the ability to see in retrospect how various disasters and accidents could have been prevented. (Hindsight = Hindsight) Pretty pointless and something of an underdog in the superhero world, to say the least. He touches something in me! A more pretentious answer would probably be that the music from the first Superman film (by John WIlliams) is extremely fat. Classic retro superhero music! But above all, I am enormously inspired by all the superheroes I find among friends and colleagues, loved ones, who go on and do their thing, through and through, year after year. It makes me want to keep tinkering with what I do and indulge all my strange whims and impulses even though it's often tiring and exhausting (but also deeply satisfying).
— To be honest, I have a bad impression of all superheroes and find it difficult to keep up with all the twists and turns that are taken in all the new films and series. An unpretentious answer would be that a favorite is clearly a character from South Park called Captain Hindsight. During a lab experiment, he was bitten by a retroactive spider, whereupon he gains the ability to see in retrospect how various disasters and accidents could have been prevented. (Hindsight = Hindsight) Pretty pointless and something of an underdog in the superhero world, to say the least. He touches something in me! A more pretentious answer would probably be that the music from the first Superman film (by John WIlliams) is extremely fat. Classic retro superhero music! But above all, I am enormously inspired by all the superheroes I find among friends and colleagues, loved ones, who go on and do their thing, through and through, year after year. It makes me want to keep tinkering with what I do and indulge all my strange whims and impulses even though it's often tiring and exhausting (but also deeply satisfying).
How have you been inspired overall for your mammoth ensemble concept?
— Me and Malin, together with other friends and colleagues, have been talking about this idea for many years. We have always liked the concept of large ensembles but felt frustrated that the format is so difficult to access. It gets very expensive very quickly and very messy when so many people are involved, plus the existing ties are often quite inflexible. It is a fixed term and fixed members that apply, and if you have other ideas, you have to look elsewhere. Now this premiere round of GAE will certainly be with a "traditional big band setup", but it could just as well have been 4 drum sets, 14 recorders and three people with computers, if we had known about it. An ensemble that we often mention as inspiration is the Norwegian Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. This is an orchestra with an artistic director who several times a year invites composers who get to write music and choose the setting for the orchestra. The music is often cross-genre and the band changes from project to project. With the Gothenburg Art Ensemble, we hope to be able to get a corresponding ball rolling here on the Swedish west coast.
How do you keep the premiere nerves in check, really?
— For my own part, I don't know if I do it... This project is the culmination of the most intense year of my life so far, so I haven't had time to get so nervous so far. I finished writing the last notes only about half an hour ago. When I count in the first rope on Monday, both legs and arms will turn to jelly and the heart rate will go up to 200. I have written for bigger bands before but am always super nervous when something is to be played. There are so many great musicians playing and I've put so much time and energy into this. Also, all I've heard so far are ugly midi versions of all the songs. I really want it to work but won't know for sure until I hear it on the ropes. It's definitely a bit edgy!! I'm very grateful that we get several rep days together before showtime, so maybe the worst has time to drop! Having said that, I am extremely excited, happy and grateful that we can implement this and it will be so much fun to finally get off the ground with this project. Many thanks to Konstnärsnämnden, VGR and GAC (Gothenburg Artist Center) who help us launch this project!
Get your ticket here.
Registration for EXPO: SCENENKONST 2023 is now open!
EXPO: STAGE ART is an offer day where touring public performing arts from independent producers, county theaters and the National Theater are presented. During the offer day, touring public performing arts from independent producers, county theaters and the National Theater will be presented. The audience / participants mainly consist of non-profit national theater associations but also municipal officials, rural community associations and other organizers of professional performing arts.
Do you have a program you want to apply with? More info and a link to the registration can be found here.
The challenges of the future for organizers in Västra Götaland
Save the date! July 8-9 in Vänersborg invites VG Live and several organizations to a meeting for live organizers in Västra Götaland - with lectures, panels and talks about the challenges of the future. It will be about marketing, price increases after the pandemic and much more!
Registration is made until 28 June. More info and registration here.
Christina Kjellsson gives a summer course in songwriting
MCV member and songwriter Christina Kjellsson is holding a course at the Women's Folk High School this summer! During this course, you and others will test the song craft practices in playful ways - writing, singing, composing, experimenting with different expressions and building your own song.
Info and registration are available here.
