ManyMusics conference, Montevideo

A two days conference October 16 - 17 on the ManyMusics Action Programme (MMAP) was held within the frames of the IMC General Assembly 2003 in Montevideo, Uruguay, October 12 - 19 2003.
The meeting was hosted by the IMC national committee in Uruguay, Consejo General de la Música del Uruguay.

Summary from the ManyMusics conference - Montevideo October 2003

Recommendations from the ManyMusics conference to the IMC General Assembly

Introduction speech to the ManyMusics conference by mr. Einar Solbu, chair of the MMAP Steering Committee

Individual papers presented in the ManyMusics conference

Agenda for the ManyMusics conference

Position papers for the three programme areas to be discussed at the MMAP conference:

Position paper - Music production (July 2003)
Position paper - Music education (August 2003)
Position paper - International policies (August 2003)

Paper presentations in the ManyMusics conference

Call for papers (June 2003)

Invitation / preliminary programme to IMC members for the General Assembly 2003 and the MMAP conference

MMAP - ManyMusics - an IMC Action Programme

The ManyMusics Conference in Montevideo, October 2003

A summary

The ManyMusics conference was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, October 16th and 17th, in the frameworks of the International Music Council (IMC) 2003 General Assembly.

Aims

The main aim of the conference was to make IMC members aware of issues related to musical diversity, and encourage the membership to commit itself to actions to sustain and enhance musical diversity locally and globally. A further aim was to establish a base for continued focus on musical diversity ­ both in IMC as an important player on the international arena, and within each member organisation.

The conference took the findings of the MMAP Steering Committee as its point of departure.

Programme

Chaired by the head of the MMAP Steering Committee, Einar Solbu, the conference took place over two entire days.

The opening speech was held by Kifah Fakhouri, President of the International Music Council (IMC).

Keynotes were presented by Malena Kuss, Professor of Music Emeritus, University of North Texas, Denton, USA and General Editor of "The Universe of Music: a History", and by Gonzalo Carámbula, Director of the Cultural Department of the Municipality of Montevideo, Uruguay.

A Message from Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) and former president of Senegal, was read to the conference.

Einar Solbu gave an introduction to the conference programme and the working group sessions.

Some sixty representatives from national music councils world-wide and major international and regional music organisations, discussed, in three groups, various issues related to musical diversity and the major challenges the world is facing in order for communities and nations to obtain full freedom in music and music education. The group sessions were conducted by the coordinators within each programme area:

Musical diversity in Music Education - John Drummond (New Zealand)

Musical diversity in Music Production - Ramon P Santos (Philippines)

International issues related to Musical Diversity - Richard Letts (Australia)

The three coordinators presented the results of the research and investigation carried out as part of the MMAP, phase 1.

Through 11 papers presented by IMC members and external contacts the conference was introduced to experience, best practices, cultural policies and projects from 10 countries, all related to musical diversity.

The papers had been selected by a screening committee consisting of the three coordinators and experts in the field from the host country, Uruguay.

In a final plenary session the working groups presented a series of statements and recommendations that later was presented to the IMC General Assembly.

Results

The conference clearly confirmed the importance of focussing on musical diversity in the world. It also reflected a strong commitment among the IMC membership to engage in actions to sustain and enhance musical diversity locally as well as internationally.

The conference expressed unanimously that IMC should engage courageously in musical diversity issues, and speak out clearly to decision-makers on the international level.

The statements and recommendations document was unanimously approved by the IMC General Assembly,

Furthermore, the conference reinforced the importance of improving mutual understanding and respect for the dignity of all musics and practitioners of music. It was stated that musical diversity will not happen unless resources be provided for all musics to be heard, and until it is recognised that music should be taught by those who have the professional expertise in each particular music as a culture owner.

Great concern was expressed with regard to the impact of trade agreements on culture. It was known to the conference that the UNESCO General Conference just a few days earlier had decided the elaboration of an International Convention on Cultural Diversity. It was recommended that IMC support this work by entering into association with other organisations already engaged in making such a legal instrument an effective tool for enabling all countries to retain the right to decide upon their cultural policy.

The Montevideo conference also recommended that all IMC members place ManyMusics on their agendas. All were encouraged to define one specific activity to focus upon in the coming biennium, and to provide examples of successful projects in the MMAP area. The National Music Councils were particularly encouraged to provide opportunities for practitioners of different musics to gather to share ideas and practices.

The ManyMusics Action Programme and the Montevideo conference have provided a structured and solid base from which further initiatives and actions can grow.

Thanks

The conference organisers wish to thank Tania Siver from the Music Council of Uruguay, and her team, for an outstanding assistance to the successful implementation of the conference. Also, we wish to thank Francisco Susena and his team for excellent paper translations and equally good simultaneous translations during the conference.