Great news ThereminWorld readers!
Moog Music just announced Ether Music 2008. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for more details.
Here's the announcement:
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As a celebration of the vibrant Theremin community, Moog Music will again sponsor an International Theremin Festival – “Ether Music 2008”. This event will feature workshops and concerts, factory tours and much, much more.
An exciting component of the weekend will be an original composition contest, with the winner performing their composition for theremin at one of the nightly concerts.
The festival will feature special appearances by Lydia Kavina, Pamelia Kurstin, Shueh-li Ong and many more top artists.
April 24-27th 2008 are the scheduled dates for this extraordinary festival.
Be sure to mark them on your calendar!
More details will be coming soon...
All of this takes place in beautiful Asheville, NC, home of Moog Music and a top US tour destination with a lively art and music scene. When you come, be sure to schedule in extra time to visit the world-famous Biltmore House and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
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Now, as I have a little experience in such things, I'm going to tell you how you can help to embiggen the fantasticness of it.
From an organisers point of view, the most useful thing in the world is feedback, plenty of it, and the sooner the better. Let them know if you're up for it at the earliest opportunity. Let them know if you wanted to go but can't and tell them why. Let them know what excites you the most - the concerts? the workshops? the factory tour? something else? the "and much, much more" - what would you hope that to include? If you tell them soon enough, maybe they can include it. Maybe you've been to a festival before and there was something that didn't work - maybe they could avoid it if they are forewarned.
If there's one thing better than attending a fest, it's participating! If you have services to offer, offer them - the worst that can happen is they will politely decline, and everyone will have a warm fuzzy feeling - you for having offered a good deed, and Moog for knowing that people are really keen. And at best you can do your bit to make a great thing greater.
And if there's another thing better than a fest, it's a bigger fest! So spread the word. Give it some free publicity! Ask moog for a banner ad you can drop on your myspace site. Blog about it. Mention it in conversations. Whatever you can do.
And support it even if you can't go! Because each fest makes the next more likely, and maybe you'll get to the next one. And even if that's not a possibility, it's doing something good for thereminists, and that earns you a place in theremin heaven!
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In other news - April? Does this mean cheaper flights?
Also, what an opportunity to give them feedback regarding the passing of the ePro, and the features you would like to see in a successor. Or perhaps... no, one really shouldn't speculate, but is it conceivable that they have something up their sleeve? Hmm. Probably best not to think about that. Just idle daydreaming.
I'm hoping I can go this time and wear a big "We needa Pro" sign as well as immerse myself in my first theremin festival.
It does help us all, like your Hands Off event, and Ernesto's workshop in Mexico DF, it builds community, audience, and inspires us (I'd imagine from what HO attendees reported) to new levels in our own playing.
I'm down with embiggen the fantasticness of the event. Post on the Forum... yeah I know it's not as active as ours here but they do watch it.
We'll do our best here at TW to keep everyone up to date.
If this festival were structured similarly to electro-music or the Y2K Loopfests then I'd be more interested. To spend over $1000 (in travel, food, lodging, and festival fee) to hear a concert or two and tour the Moog factory makes little sense to me.
While the folks at Moog Music are well-intentioned, they keep announcing theremin festivals that never happen and don't ask or poll folks in the theremin community about what would attract them to a festival. For example, they apparently booked the same performers they have had before rather than holding auditions.
My suggestion if you want to go: pencil in the dates and don't buy your airline tickets yet.
So what was the structure for electro-music etc.?
Is there evidence that Moog's announcement is not vaporware? They have not published a venue, a roster of performers, fees, the contents of workshops, etc. To my mind such announcements discourage a possible grass roots effort to create a theremin festival.
Would Hands Off 2007 happened had Moog Music announced a UK Ethermusic fest for 2007?
btw -- I have emailed them at various times since 2006 regarding Ethermusic. Perhaps others have emailed them. I will admit I am a bit frustrated with the issue.
It would SEEM to be an indication that Moog Music intends to continue their relationship with theremin enthusiasts in the future. One would hope that it also means they do intend to offer a professional model theremin of some type in the not too distant future, but obviously there is no reason to believe they will at this time.
Their apparent reluctance to support their past theremin products also gives one an uneasy feeling. For customers to be expected to repeatedly pay expensive shipping and repair costs on an already expensive instrument is not good for customer relations. A small company producing a limited number of specialized instruments cannot afford to alienate their customer base.
After EM 2005, I gave everyone here and elsewhere regular reminders about the announced event planned for 2006. I also wrote Moog Music to encourage them to make an official announcement early and to provide more concrete information sooner, but I clearly had little impact.
After EM 2006 fell through, I wrote again suggesting the same and suggested a yearly event might not be practical, as would featuring the same performers one year after another. Not that I would have ANY issue seeing the same performers again myself, but it could reduce the overall response.
The problem is that, at that time, how many truly proficient theremin players were there in the world willing to travel that far and perform? If the thereminist is part of a group, that would complicate the issue. But, that is not to say that no one else would be permitted to perform. In 2005, there was an "open mic" night where ANYONE could get up on stage and perform. Unfortunately, there was only one brave volunteer.
I wish Moog Music well, and I hope to be able to support their business in the future, but when and to what extent remains to be seen.
You make some excellent points.
An "Open mic" session is not the same as a serious, prepared performance. I seek out situations where I can present my work in a good light. An open mic session falls short.
I too, wish Moog Music well. They make quality instruments and the Epro is an awesome theremin. Music festivals can be a tremendously positive experience where everyone's contribution is valued. I don't think the Ethermusic organizers really "get" this, however.
More dynamic events tend to come about not because a company decided to make money by organizing it, but because some person who loves the subject matter put their heart and soul into making a festival happen. That's why, for example, corporate-run science fiction conventions usually suck, while fan run science fiction conventions are usually a blast.
Moog has been particularly inscrutible lately, between dropping the epro, refusing to give out tech details that would allow evox and epro owners to have their instruments repaired locally, and now announcing a new theremin festival with few to no details. I imagine it must be very difficult for them as a company to get back on their feet, try to design new products, and move forward without their founder. Without his charismatic personality as their public face, they are probably having a difficult time learning to communicate effectively with their customers.
I too wish Moog Music well, I hope they'll get their act together and be successful, and I hope that Ether Music 2008 will be a big hit and fun for all, and I hope I'll be able to be there. We'll just have to wait and see, on all fronts.
But... I really don't hold with the "companies can't do fests" theory - I've been to some excellent events organised by companies with a commercial interest.
Really it comes down to individuals. The question is - have they appointed someone who actually [i]can[/i] organise a p*ss-up in a brewery - which should be easy enough when you own the darn brewery!
I mean - if an unemployed Brit with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and no budget can do it...
As was the case of the company I worked for, it was difficult to try to help only to be forced to stand there and watch the ship go down.
I'm not saying that is in the cards for Moog...only that it is a typical pattern. Many people (potential customers) offered opinions and advice during the planning phase of the E-Pro, only to be ignored for the most part.
I believe the Ether Music "festivals" are simply a marketing tool for Moog Music. Nothing wrong with that. But, if it is only looked at at such, it doesn't necessarily produce the desired results among the participants.
Luckily, most people tend to make the best of any situation, and a little social lubricant often helps (for those so inclined).
Electro-music was three days of concerts, jam sessions, and seminars for all manner of electronic music, video, and performance art that utilizes electronics.
The festival was promoted by the local media and was open to the public. The attendance at this annual festival has rapidly grown from year to year.
You can find out more about these festivals at http://gregwaltzer.com/em/em.html
The emphasis of this festival is on community. It is not a contest nor a "venue" for headliners. It is a chance to create and attend performances, to meet people, and to share knowledge and ideas.
The support that I received was amazing and I left with many new ideas, knowledge, and encouragment to continue on my artistic path.
My set at electro-music consisted of all original music and two premiere works. I was given ample setup and warmup time, and felt that they were as committed to a quality result as I was.
A good performance is the result of many things. Besides one's own preparation, good support from others -- the sound people, the festival organizers, etc... is vital for a great performance. This kind of support was extended to me and every other performer at electro-music. I hope to attend again in 2008.
I'm trying to keep hope, I realize it takes more than a big name and a factory tour to entice a large number of thereminists, most of whom have limited time or money for such things.
But it would be so great for some of us to meet there, if it all worked out.
I agree with you that a company can throw a good convention, or indeed a good party. To clarify my earlier remarks, it's my opinion that companies are at a disadvantage regarding doing a good job at throwing a convention or party because the company mindset is "make money", not "have fun". This is the same as why companies tend to be impersonal and give lousy customer service relative to mom & pop shops. However, there are always exceptions, to both cases.
For example, Moog Music. For years it was run by its founder, and it consequently had a reputation for being a company that was focused on the artist, what they need, and how to best provide it to them... because *he* was focused on the artist, what they need, and how to best provide it to them.
I just think that if a company is going to throw a convention, they need more feedback than an enthusiast, because at least an enthusiast goes into the project with the right mindset.
I guess I don't know much. But, it seems to me like you'll are somewhat worried about the likely death of a good old friend: Moog Music.
I suggest you'll go, if the conflab thingy is cancelled, then just say a prayer for that old friend: Bob Moog. God bless him!
Good Luck!
teslatheremin
Back in 2005 (If I can recall) I was going to go to Moog's Festival. Finally I didn't but after "Hands off 2007" in UK, the only thing I can say for sure is "when is next one at London?". Next time I won't miss it, but I cannot say the same about Ether Music in US.
Commercial brands can make a good festival, and a brand like Moog can go into Mass Media more easily, but sometimes I wonder If they really spend a minute reading theremin forums and our opinions about their theremin products and everything involving it: design, price, selling points, service...
A contest into somewhere like Theremin World (where their target public really are, not just at their webpage) with a survey including questions, something like "Tell us what would you appreciate most in a theremin convention and have a chance to win a theremin", would be easy to implement. That would have been more safe for everyone including the company, neither promising nor risking themselves more than the prize, but showing themselves more friendly and fun-oriented ;).
(If you see a survey in a future like this from Moog, remember who told them first :P )
Unfortunately, when I hit the post button, to my horror Theremin World had either crashed or was down for "servicing" and all of my work vanished into the ether.
So, instead of taking that risk again, I'll just say this.
While Ether Music is a more focused event than one such as Electro-Music, it is still a fun event. There were plenty of things to see, hear, and do, both at the venue and in Asheville.
While the theremin was the focus of the event, it was certainly not the ONLY topic of conversation.
For anyone who would like a much more in-depth review, I dug this up from the archives.
Ether Music 2005 (http://www.thereminw...)