Principles of Music Composing: Aspects of Communication

Lithuanian Composers’ Union
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre

22nd International conference of music theory

November 16-18, 2022. Vilnius, Lithuania.

Individualization of compositional principles and the emergence of pluralistic conceptual ecologies in the global stage of contemporary music, inevitably leads to communicative challenges. It seems that now, more than ever, the musical discourse is segregated into many different communicative spaces—sociocultural “bubbles” where internalized intellectual tools determine a particular collective way of understanding (see: Berger & Luckmann “Social Construction of Reality”, 1966). Various communicative intentions lead to a variety of different technical means of expression, and vice-versa—a miscellany of technical means and mediums of expression inspire different things and ways for composers to communicate.

The multifaceted nature of the subject requires us to approach it from carefully selected angles, which include, but are not limited to: sociocultural context of the composer and/or composition; the conceptual idea and/or purpose of the composition; the intended venue; implementation of technology; interpretation by the performer; reception by the audience; etc. The unveiling of possible new alternatives for the development of national music is highly welcome and desirable, as the new communication possibilities of M. K. Čiurlionis' music remain among the priorities of this annual conference. Topicality of this conference is reflected in the following subthemes:

1. Communication and the musical realm (how broadly do we define communication; what is it that music does not or cannot communicate; what is it that we cannot communicate about music, and why; etc.).

2. Musical communication as an integral part of a composition / composing principle / compositional paradigm (theoretical, interdisciplinary insights).

3. Potential aspects of musical communication: theoretical and practical issues (characteristics of a composition in relation to the concert venue; performer’s interpretation and its role in the process of musical communication; interactive engagement with the audience; implementation of new technologies, interdisciplinary solutions in musical communication, etc. ).

4. Individual creative process and communicative spaces (self-reflections by the composers; insights on practical implementation of communication strategies; sociocultural genesis of the work, etc.).

5. Collisions of different communicative spaces in contemporary music (tradition vs novelty, situation of the concert music tradition, new tendencies of communication, etc.).

6. Contemporary communicative stimuli for cultivation of National music.

7. Reimagination of concert venues within and beyond the musical domain (artificial acoustic properties as a means of communication; non-standard placement of musicians / audience; employing the visual; concerts in virtual space, etc.).

Paper proposals (abstract and a short biography) should be sent by email: pmc.lmta@gmail.com . The abstract must not exceed 500 words. The duration of the full presentation is limited to 20–25 minutes.

The language of the conference is English. The conference embraces the hybrid format. Therefore, both in person and online presentations are accepted.

The deadline for proposal submissions is September 09, 2022. Proposals will be reviewed by the members of the scholarly committee and all applicants will be notified of the outcome.

The participation fee is 30 Euros* (for selected participants only).

Selected papers of the conference will be published in the annual peer journal ‘Principles of Music Composing’.

if you are not able to pay the participation fee, please contact us via e-mail for a waiver

Scholarly committee of the conference:

Prof. Dr. Pavel PUŞCAŞ (Music Academy Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Prof. Miloš Zatkalik (University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia)

Prof. Roger Redgate (Goldsmiths, University of London, England)

Dr. Bert Van Herck (New England Conservatory of Music, USA)

Dr. Jānis Petraškevičs (Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Latvia)

Dr. Martin Vishnick (United Kingdom)

Prof. Dr. Rimantas Janeliauskas (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Prof. Dr. Antanas Kučinskas (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Prof. Dr. Mārtiņš Viļums (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Assoc. prof. Dr. Marius Baranauskas (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Coordinators of the conference:

Dr. Andrius Maslekovas,

Assoc. prof. Dr. Marius Baranauskas