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How can we create a thriving future for classical and art music professionals over the next 10 years?
This question is being addressed at a futures world-building workshop, designed by the OCAD U-affiliated Super Ordinary Lab, led by the lab's Director and Associate Professor Suzanne Stein, at the international gathering Classical:NEXT.
“This workshop is part of the Pathwaves project and ongoing work to support musicians and art music professionals in understanding the diverse digital drivers of change that will impact their future,” explains Stein, who is a member of the Pathwaves team.
Classical:NEXT, which takes place from May 12 to 15 in Berlin, is the leading international classical music and art expo, conference and showcase that brings together over 1,400 artists, presenters, orchestras, labels, educators and press from 50 countries.
“Through collective futures thinking, designed to unearth new insights, we will engage participants in an empowering world-building exercise in keeping the Pathwaves project’s original mission at heart: empowering Canadian artists to make lifelong careers more possible and equitable,” says Stein who is co-facilitating the workshop with Patti Schmidt from Envision Management and Production.
The workshop follows the success of two similar immersive events, one at Montreal’s MUTEK Forum and at the Pop Symposium 2024. Both were also designed by the Super Ordinary Lab and produced with Envision Management and Production.
Stein says that by engaging with musicians and artists, strategies and actions can be developed to ensure that music communities and artists/musicians thrive in 10 years from now.
ABOUT PATHWAVES
The Pathwaves project is designed to empower artists to make lifelong careers more possible and equitable through digital literacy and futures thinking. Stein is a member of the project team, which includes Envision Management and Production as a producer with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
The initiative was created in 2020 as a response to the observation that musicians were not at the decision-making table as digital technologies were evolving, and subsequently, not benefiting equitably from the digital transformation of the industry.
Since that time, the project has produced a final report and horizon scan. The latter report provides an understanding of the digital drivers of change and trends – and the various shifts influencing the future of music in Canada and other markets around the world.
Photo caption: Participants at the 2024 Futures Worldbuilding Workshop held during the 2024 Mutek Forum.
Photo credit: Maryse Boyce.