Contemporary Music Exchange in Europe: Germany & Denmark

Grafik zum Workshop

This recap summarizes the workshop Contemporary Music Exchange in Europe: Germany & Denmark. The workshop series offers insights into the diverse landscape of contemporary music in Europe, presents concrete entry points and initial opportunities for transnational exchange, and highlights actors beyond the major festivals and venues.

 

Hosted by: 

Moderator: 
Les Vynogradov

Speakers:

  • Regin Petersen, Director of Art Music Denmark

  • Eva Zöllner, Project Coordinator at Podium Gegenwart

  • Lena Krause, Managing Director of FREO e.V., an advocacy group for independent ensembles and orchestras in Germany.  

 

1. Regin Petersen. Denmark: The independent scene and ecosystem for art music

Presentation:
Contemporary Music in Denmark – Presentation by Regin Petersen, Art Music Denmark

Q: I am a composer who has never worked with the Danish scene before, but would like to get commissions in Denmark and be performed at festivals and/or by the ensembles you have mentioned. Where should I start? Should I contact Art Music Denmark first or get in touch with the festivals/ensembles directly? 

A: Art Music Denmark is an entry point. You can contact us, and we can try to help you in the direction that suits you. But if you come without any real knowledge of the Danish music scene and without connections in Denmark in advance, it's really hard.

I recommend you come and visit us, attend the festivals, talk to me first, and then book a ticket to the Klang Festival or SPOR festival, for example. And then we can help you, introduce you to some of the other people there.

Of course, you can contact the festivals and ensembles directly. As for the ensembles, it's immensely important to understand what they are looking for. I'm counseling many musicians and composers about these things, and coming with a wish for a commission from Athelas, for example, is a very tough way to start. You need to visit them first. You need to understand what they are looking for and how you can help them achieve it. 

One of the things that I usually counsel is to never come alone, never come with solo stuff: “I am a composer, I want something from you.” That's not how it works. So I usually say, “Come with something else.” And that something else can be something on the side. If I approach Athelas as a composer and say, “Do you want to commission a piece by me?”, they will say no. But if you say, “I'm already talking to a German ensemble, and they would like to do a co-commission with you and have a double performance,” then you already have something special, you have something extra. And I think if you don't have this extra thing — network, funding, etc. — and you can't bring something else to the table, it's a very tough situation.

Q: Are there any local organizations in Denmark that you know of that host more informal meetups, such as improvisation sessions, electronic music, tool knowledge exchanges, etc.? 

A: These informal gatherings become quite popular in the Danish music scene. For example, the MINU Festival has tons of this stuff: workshops, networking, seminars, etc. All the great arrangers do this now.

Q: What is the financial situation with local music associations? Are they funded organizations that can offer a guaranteed fee, for example, to touring artists? 

A: Yes, they are. All the institutions and arrangers I mentioned here are professional arrangers. And in Denmark, professional arrangers will not work with you unless there is a good salary included.

Music organizations usually have a standard rate: one musician gets about 500 euros per gig. And then they can also help you apply for travel support to Denmark and similar things. It's a little bit of a negotiation, but the short answer is yes: if you work with them, they will get you some pay.

Q: Could you list prominent publishers that produce musical notation, educational music books, and related literature? 

A: Edition-S is a very good place to start. They have a whole series of educational materials focused on contemporary music, which I find interesting.

The biggest commercial publisher we have is Edition Wilhelm Hansen. It’s a very big international one. They publish all the big names like Hans Abrahamsen, Bent Sørensen, etc. And they also have a line of educational scores and related materials. 

Q: Is there interest in non-European contemporary works, including non-European composers or instruments from other musical cultures, in Denmark?

A: Yes, there is, and it's growing. What we used to call “crossover” — when folk musicians work with classical composers, for example — has become an integral part of contemporary music in Denmark today. Working with non-European composers and musicians has generated much greater interest in the last 10 years than before.

There is a venue in Copenhagen — Alice CPH — specializing in this kind of music. 

Q: Does any kind of private-public cooperation exist in Denmark in terms of funding for contemporary music? 

A: Not really. We have many private foundations, and this is how the private sector works with us. The private sector gives some of its surplus to these foundations, and the foundations will make a strategy. And that strategy will be the strategy that we, as cultural institutions, will have to play into. Of course, there are exceptions. And it's something that's been talked about for the last 20 years: how can we make this kind of public-private partnership work? The truth is, it very seldom works in Denmark.

Q: Networking seems everything, just sending emails doesn't help. But is there a more generally accessible networking event where people from outside Denmark can pitch programs to relevant people? 

A: Yes and no. You should come to Copenhagen on the 11th of June; we have a network gathering during the KLANG festival with all kinds of international guests. And of course, we work with many delegates, pay for their travel, and they come, mingle, and get to know the Danish environment. All of you are very welcome to come. There are many opportunities like this, but the one during the KLANG festival is the best one for many of you. We do it every year, and it's a very good way to meet each other across international fields. It's very good to meet the Danish artists. 

As for the pitching, that is more difficult. There are some pitching opportunities in our environment, but they are very much focused on Danish artists. I don't know that it exists for people outside, unfortunately. 

Q: Is it possible to apply for funding even if you are not a resident of Denmark? Or do you always have to work with local musicians? Many institutions in Germany, for example, do not fund musicians unless they are residents.

A: I think the situation is almost the same here. And it might be even worse here than in Germany. But then again, if you want to have a concert in Denmark, you will have to work with a Danish institution — a church, a festival, etc. They will do the applications for you. So you cannot really apply yourself. But you have to work with some Danish institutions anyway, and they can help you.

There are exceptions to this: for example, Augustinus is a very large music foundation we have here, probably the biggest when it comes to contemporary music. You can apply for that one even if you're a non-Danish citizen. But they will not prioritize your application if it doesn't have some sort of imprint in the Danish music scene.

Q: I'm an artistic director of a concert series in Berlin. How can I get an invite to the KLANG networking event? 

A: Just send me an email and a link to your organization. We love to have lists of people. And of course, we don't know everybody. But we have lists of entities we review every year. And I would love to have a look at your organization as well.

 

2. Eva Zöllner. Contemporary Music in Germany

Presentation:
Contemporary Music in Germany – Presentation by Eva Zöllner, Deutscher Musikrat

Q: As a composer, how can one propose their work to the radio? 

A: If you just send an email with your stuff to the radio, it would probably not do anything. The best option is to attend festivals and meet people connected to the radio, and make contact there. But it's still very difficult because they receive hundreds of things a day.

Q: Is it normal that funding in Germany is given quite late to the organizations/festivals? In Belgium, we are quite used to planning concerts a year in advance. I feel that in Germany it is different.

A: That depends on where the money comes from. I know from several federal-state funders, like the Ministries of Culture in Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz, that they give the money really late, sometimes even after the thing has started. I've organized things where the approval for the funding came in after the event had taken place. So, that happens. 

It's not normal, though, because if you apply for state funding — for example, Musikfonds — usually you would apply a long time in advance, and you would know a long time in advance when it happens. But it’s true that German bureaucracy sometimes slows things down. 

Q: What are some themes or discourses that you notice are getting more funding recently? 

A: There is a tendency to bring contemporary music to rural areas in Germany and also to people who are not the audience that you normally have in contemporary music concerts. For example, the Musikfonds just launched a funding scheme for participatory projects and similar initiatives. It's a big issue because we have state money, and we have to reach as many people as we can with it. So, that's something that's finally getting the money it deserves. 

Other than that, there are a few new funding schemes that put special emphasis on artificial intelligence. These days, for example, there are funding schemes that seek projects that are inclusive for people with disabilities or that include trans-traditional music in the experimental field. 

Q: Speaking about rural areas, we understand that Berlin is still the biggest center for contemporary music in Germany. But are there any emerging regions, areas, or cities that are on the rise right now? 

A: I don't know if anything is on the rise, really, but there are some interesting things happening in regions where individual actors have a connection because they come from there, or they somehow ended up in that region, and they started something in a region that doesn't have infrastructure for this kind of music. For example, the Provinzlärm Festival in Eckernförde, near the Baltic Sea, has been running a contemporary music festival in a very small town for almost 20 years. They also have ties to the Nordic countries, inviting artists from there and from other Baltic Sea countries to perform at their festival.  

Other than that, there are a lot of things happening in Brandenburg lately, which is because people in Berlin don't find their spaces in Berlin, so they move out, and Brandenburg is around the corner. There is the Klanglandschaften festival, which is happening in the beautiful landscape of Brandenburg. There is Paretzer Field Music, organized by flutist Sabine Vogel, who is making picnic concerts in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Brandenburg. There's the Rathenower Tage für Neue Musik, which is also an interesting festival that really works with the people who live in that place.

And there's FEST:Spiele Oberschwaben, which has recently launched a new festival in a small town in Upper Swabia. I myself run a concert series in Westerwald, which is a really boring region between Frankfurt and Cologne. But it is very interesting to see how these people react to this kind of music, which is not what they normally deal with, but they are still curious. And I think it's also fair to make this music available to people who don't live in metropolitan areas. 

So, there are a lot of things going on. And if you want to come to Germany for a gig, do not only look at Berlin. Of course, Berlin is really cool, and there's a lot going on there. But it's worth looking at the smaller places because these people are also really grateful for good music performances.

 

3. Lena Krause. Introducing FREO e.V.

Q: Eva, when she mentioned FREO, said that you have already changed the music landscape in Germany since you were founded. How?

A: I can give an example. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we received significant recognition from the political field. There was really a possibility to address issues in the political, music, and cultural sectors. And we had a funding program called NEUSTART KULTUR to support culture and artists during this time. And we lobbied for nearly a year to get a program, especially for independent music ensembles. And we've been successful. And in the end, we had a funding program worth 35 million euros, and 379 independent music ensembles received funding from it. And it was a very special program because it was not a typical project funding. It was quite open. You could decide what you needed money for in this difficult time.

And it didn't focus only on the present, but also on what comes next. What can be possible after Corona? What do you need to prepare now to be better prepared in the future when all things are going back to normal? And this was quite an important moment for us because it was nearly the first time we really had that feeling, and we could also see, with this program, that the policymakers realized there is a whole set of organizations that need a different kind of funding and help. So this was one of the very big things we did.

We are also trying to close the knowledge gaps about the ensembles. So, we did a study about the independent music ensemble scene in Germany. It's the first of its kind, where we really asked the basic questions nobody knows about ensembles. How are you working? How many members do you have? When have you been funded? How are you making your decisions? Who is doing which work? Who is paid for which work? And who is not paid for which work? What are your biggest struggles in the next few years, etc.? 445 independent ensembles from Germany took part in the study. So we have numbers and data we can use to go to policymakers.

Link to FREO-FORUM https://freo-forum.de/

 

4. General Discussion

Q: How has Denmark become a driving force in multimedia, interdisciplinary music-making in such a short time? Is that because of the actors, like the musicians, the composers, who started changing something from the grassroots? Or was it because the funding structures changed? 

Regin: There are many explanations, but I think one of them is actually Germany. Many artists are going to Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and other German cities to study. I should also mention Simon Steen-Andersen, because his influence on the Danish scene was really big.

Another explanation is that music and life were much more segregated in Denmark than they are now. I think it's changing everywhere, but in Denmark it's changed really fast. When I was studying composition 25 years ago, we were studying one specific kind of composition. But now the curiosity is all over the board; people are mixing everything, getting inspiration from watching Netflix series, politics, dancing, rock music, and absolutely everything. And that also represents how people live their lives. 

Q: In many countries, the funding is better suited for independent ensembles than in Germany, because we have this focus on projects. How is it in Denmark? Is it mainly project funding as well? 

Regin: Yes, it's more or less the same as in Germany. But overall, there is probably a little bit more money. Denmark is one of the few countries that hasn’t cut cultural spending in the last few years. The reason for this is a very large pharmaceutical company that produces diabetes medicines. That company raised a massive amount of money over the last 10 years, and thanks to that, Danish GDP did not change.

That said, if you ask the independent scene here, they would love to have something like FREO. Many festivals, ensembles, independent artists, and venues live on a project basis only. Let's talk about bringing a FREO network to Denmark as well. The Danish ensemble scene isn’t very well organized. 

Lena: It was the same in Germany 10 years ago. Creating this network wasn’t easy because all these ensembles are competitors. They are going to the same festivals, and they want the same funding. But there was this moment 10 years ago when the ensembles changed generations, when the funding members were about to leave. And suddenly the ensembles were thinking, “How are things with the social security of our ensemble members? Why don't we have this one voice to talk at conferences about the issues we have as a scene?” And especially for the older and larger ensembles, it was not so easy to become part of a network, because if you want to be part of one, you also have to give something. You have to share something, knowledge, etc. You can't just take it. Otherwise, it's not working.

So, this was quite a journey, but right now we are in a much better place, where the ensembles in FREO have learned that they are stronger when they share, get together, and bring their knowledge together, and they get stronger as a result. 

Q: Due to cuts to cultural and social services, particularly in Berlin, efforts are currently being made to raise awareness among the public and, above all, among politicians. For example, Berlin ist Kultur is also very active in this regard. Are you also involved in this cause, and what are you doing to save it? 

Lena: We are involved in this cause. We became a member of the Berlin Music Council to be better involved in everything that is happening. We are also writing directly to the politicians. We are looking to get meetings with them, and we raise awareness while being very critical and clear about what will happen if this funding is cut. It's not easy, and maybe something not so easy to see from the outside. It's a lot of work, a lot of talking all the time, and it's getting more difficult when there are elections, and people change. The cultural politicians you were networking with and building knowledge with over the years are suddenly gone. There are new people who, most of the time, have no idea how our cultural system functions or what it needs. So you start at the beginning. 

So, this is what we are doing to save it. 

Regin: It's a bit different in the case of Art Music Denmark. We are currently involved in the conversation about basic income for artists. You may know what's going on in the rest of Europe, but there is a movement right now for basic income. And the reason for that is that even though our culture funds didn't deflate, we can see the number of applicants for working grants, for production grants, is rising. I don't know what the percentage is this year, but a lot of people are applying because the pool of artists is growing.  

Q: What did FREO’s investigation into the ensembles enable you to do afterward? Did it give you some power to convince politicians? 

Lena: It gave us some power to get invited to meetings where politicians are talking about, or want to learn how, the cultural field and the ensembles are doing. And that's a very good result of this study.

It's also getting quoted quite a lot because people are using it. In particular, we have found that in many ensembles, the musicians do a lot of work in the management field — project management, financial management, applications, all the touring, publicity — for free. They are doing it unpaid because of the prevalence of project funding versus structural funding.

Regin: I’m very fortunate to be in an institution where I don't have to find the money. But I have been thinking more and more about how we can kill bureaucracy. This is one thing that is becoming increasingly burdensome for the free scene. Maybe you're a composer, maybe you're a freelancer, maybe you work in this field, maybe you don't earn any money, but at least you love what you do. But how do you argue that you don't earn any money, but you also have to do pricing, and your work must be lucrative? So, I had this idea that if we could kill bureaucracy, maybe we could get billions and billions just out of it.

Is it the same in Germany? 

Lena: I think we should make a campaign out of it, “Kill Bureaucracy.” I think it's a very good title, but also maybe not. It's a major issue in Germany right now because our federal government is focused on reducing bureaucracy. And that's also why we jumped on this topic. We have some ideas for reducing bureaucracy, especially in funding, and we have brought them to the politicians. If everything's working out now, we will have a big event in autumn with government officials specifically discussing reducing bureaucracy in the cultural sector. So right now, it's a good opportunity to raise awareness of the cultural sector's needs in the fight against bureaucracy.

Regin: In Denmark, the government has cut down a lot on administration. But they did it in the wrong way: last year, the cultural ministry just had to fire a bunch of people. There was no organization for how we could then change and do things differently, only shrinking down the administration. And placing the burden on the applicants — the artists. 

So when I talk about killing bureaucracy, I mean killing it at the right level. I'm here for the artist and for the scene. And it's the burden down there I need to look at. And very often, the politicians don't know anything about the artist. Even the mid-level of the ministry, who actually know the artist, don't get it. They don't understand them. “Why can't I ask for all this annoying stuff? You know, I have my job. I'm here eight hours a day to annoy you by writing this email.” But the musician on the other end doesn't get paid to spend eight hours replying to these emails.

Let's start the bureaucratic revolution.