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New Media, New Technologies and the Future of the Arts

Summary

New media and technologies are profoundly changing the way we create, disseminate and receive art. Electronic, digital and networked creative processes are rapidly finding their place alongside traditional production methods, and new delivery systems are similarly changing the way art reaches the public. Understanding these new media and technologies will be essential for anyone wanting to participate in today’s rapidly evolving cultural conversations. By exploring these developments, we expect to stimulate a conversation that can lead to future planning, answering the question, “What must MU do today to prepare the campus and – more broadly – Missourians for the art of tomorrow?”

To begin answering these questions, Mizzou Advantage funded a project led by School of Journalism professor Andrea Heiss that explores the digital age of art.

Outcomes

On October 18 and 19, 2012, the University of Missouri will host an interdisciplinary symposium and festival, “Music and New Media at the Crossroads,” an exploration of the profound ways in which new media and technologies are changing the way we create, disseminate, receive, and comment about music.  This Mizzou Advantage event is presented by the School of Music and School of Journalism, in partnership with the University Concert Series and featured four main events, including:

  • Influential composer Tod Machover, head of the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future group and his keynote presentation, speaking about and illustrating his unique, multimedia operatic compositions.
  • Virtuoso cellist, Matt Haimovitz, a tireless touring and recording artist and musical pioneer, in a solo recital.
  • A panel discussion, “New Media and the Future of Classical Music,” featuring long-time music journalists Tim Page (Pulitzer Prize winner, formerly of the Washington Post, now a faculty member at the University of Southern California) and Greg Sandow (blogger and freelance critic for the Wall Street Journal and other publications, faculty member at the Juilliard School), as well as Tod Machover, Matt Haimovitz, and members of eighth blackbird.
  • Multiple Grammy Award-winning sextet, eighth blackbird, in a return to Columbia for a program combining acoustic and electronic works.

The festival/symposium co-directors, Andrea Heiss (School of Journalism) and Robert Shay (School of Music) said that this series of programs appealed to students, faculty, and community members with wide-ranging interests in music and new media. Shay said, “We are truly fortunate to have this opportunity to bring together several of the leading practitioners and thinkers who deal regularly with new music, new media, and the future of the field.” “The presence of such respected music journalists,” Heiss added, “also will contribute to the vitality of the festival.”

Related Iniative(s):
Media of the Future

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