A couple of years ago, I was sufficiently outraged by a proposed UK government scheme that I banged out an editorial rant and sent it off to The Guardian for the Comment Is Free section of their site. The piece was accepted and went live on Sunday at noon. Within seconds the user comments starting pouring in. Within minutes I was hyperventilating.
That’s how long it took me to figure out that with my full name on display and Google at their fingertips, the digital mob had access to my whole back story – from my nationality (Canadian) to my husband’s job (Tory politician) – and that it was all fair game.
Coming so close to the launch of Dilettante, my company’s classical music social network, this episode was a little unsettling. Feeling rather sore, I started to wonder about the uses and abuses of this putative UGC ‘revolution’, and what it meant for classical music. Is anyone entitled to a view? And just as importantly, who decides?
After all, at Dilettante we’d committed to throwing open the gates to the genre, welcoming new listeners and providing a platform for performers. How many times had I heard from friends that they were curious about classical music but had no idea where to start and were too afraid to ask? Ravel or Purcell, Debussy or Stravinsky, Kissin or Lang Lang? Help! These were bright people anxious to decode a sophisticated art from – and unlikely to look to Gramophone for assistance.
But would a site aimed at unravelling these mysteries just become a forum for anonymous ignoramuses and philistines? (And wasn’t this fear just a reflection of my own elitism, whereby everyone’s entitled to a view so long as it’s the same as mine?)
On the flip side of these anxieties lies another grim suspicion: namely, that the self-appointed classical gatekeepers seem to relish dressing up the genre in snobbish pretensions that obscures as much as they clarify. You might ask why they do this. In order to maintain its exclusive status, hence the credentials of this brittle fraternity. How else to explain the paradox of hand-wringing about declining CD sales and empty concert halls on the one hand, while simultaneously dismissing as ‘gimmicky’ anything that dares to make the classical music world more ‘accessible’, whether it’s classical music in clubs, Popstar To Opera Star or Classic FM?
This knee-jerk accusation of (gasp) populism is propped up by a series of Trojan Horses that are trotted out to remind us all what’s really special about classical.
First, there’s the fixation on lossless audio formats, which relies on an unquestioning faith that no other benefit – such as mobile listening – could unhinge aficionados’ attachment to perfect sound quality. And speaking of perfection, there’s the obsession with concert hall acoustics, which starts with a baseline of flawlessness and goes downhill from there. Of course, these are the same folks who find the concert hall itself a bottomless pit of aggravation, from those who cough during the performance to those who clap between movements.
If you hadn’t already figured out that this aural intolerance is actually a not-so-secret handshake signifying membership in a very exclusive club, you’d be forgiven for wondering why they bothered to leave the house.
The classical genre if ripe for demystifying – and this is where the blog rolls have come into their own. Definitely not populated by mindless yobs, the classical blogosphere has spawned a growing number of clever and occasionally irrelevant writers, from Think Denk to Opera Chic. Or how about Proper Discord whose recent “10 clichés of classical music journalism” which include assertions like “Twitter: not going to save classical music from anything”, had us all ironically tweeting with pleasure. In fact, a survey of this provocative blogger’s comments reveals not just a delight in debunking the genres smug fictions, but an urge to cut through the facile populism that obscures such basic questions as ‘is it any good?’.
Still, it must be said that to the uninitiated classical music can seem like a play without a plot: it’s sometimes challenging to engage with, and gentle guidance from a knowledgeable source can be the difference between getting it and not getting it. And let’s face it: while UGC might have made the notion of ‘authority’ seem rather old-fashioned, authority is often precisely what we are looking for, even if we give it another name. After all, UGC’s democratic spirit can’t change the fact that some bloggers are simply better than others, some people actually know what they’re talking about, and that learning how to listen to classical music can be pretty, well, life-enhancing.
The Music Void’s Chris McLellan spoke recently with Juliana Farha, Managing Director of London-based classical website Dilettante, which launched in 2008.
A trained journalist, Juliana Farha worked at Canada’s CBC Radio and Watch magazine in Toronto before joining the family business in the musical instruments sector.
After obtaining her Masters degree at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Juliana identified the Internet and social media as the ideal tools to support classical music and grow the audience for the genre. Dilettante is the embodiment of those ideas.
Hi Juliana. Thanks for meeting with The Music Void today. Can you provide our readers with a brief overview of Dilettante?
Certainly. Dilettante is a classical music hub with a community of musicians and listeners at its heart. On Dilettante you can buy music and concert tickets, read news and reviews, post your own concerts, join discussions and more. The site was conceived with two goals: first, to support musicians and music-making by providing a platform for their work and for the classical genre; and second, to grow the audience for classical music. Obviously, those goals are related since you support music-making by engaging new audiences.
The site was designed and built with these goals in mind. We’re not aiming to make classical music ‘cool’ or dumbing it down, but Dilettante’s fresh, lively tone is aimed at bringing a different sensibility – and even a different vocabulary – to classical music. At the same time, we felt that we wouldn’t be doing musicians much of a service by simply providing them with a new set of social media tools to profile themselves. We needed to create practical reasons why listeners would come to the site, hence value-adds such as our price comparison tool. On Dilettante you can check prices across four retailers, learn about works and artists, read user reviews and ‘expert’ comments, and so on.
What is the nature of the Dilettante business model?
The Dilettante business model leverages multiple revenue streams to support our community of musicians and listeners.
We generate income from three main sources:
1/ Advertising revenue; 2/ commissions from music sales across two specialist and two mass-market retailers, supported by reviews, discussions, celebrity playlists and other guidance; and 3/ from commissions from ticket sales in partnership with classical ticketing vendors
Dilettante is a micro-economy sustained by transactions that are a natural part of site activity. For instance, Facebook might not feel like an obvious place to buy a t-shirt, but a classical music community is an obvious place to buy a CD or concert tickets.
As Dilettante has grown the site has become established as a credible and trusted brand for classical music, but one that is also refreshing, unstuffy and modern. And as a niche site, we offer advertisers access to a highly-targeted and well-educated audience. That’s one reason why we’ve secured advertising in a really tough market from record labels such as Chandos, EMI and Sony Classical.
In your opinion, is the classical genre fairly represented on the major online music stores?
Tough question! As I’ve said, we offer music through affiliate partnerships with four retailers, including two mass-market and two specialist shops. Music sales is a volume game, and digital content makes the long-tail model more viable since you’re no longer talking about shelf-space. In that sense, major music store sites have an advantage over high street shops.
Where the major retailers stumble, I think, is around practical issues such as metadata, and the lack of consistency from the labels themselves is a problem. You can find a needle in a haystack on Amazon, for instance, but you really need to know what you’re looking for. In fact, I buy a lot of discs through Amazon, but their classical search is appalling, and not made to handle the fact that a single work is recorded multiple times by different artists, so it’s not just Animal Collective playing Animal Collective.
Similarly, the major retailers can’t offer meaningful editorial context that a lot of new or casual classical listeners would find useful. Why buy this performance of The Nutcracker Suite and not that one? I love Bolero, but what else did Ravel write? Those holes provide a huge opportunity for value-adds such as a strong search function supported by editorial guidance. That’s the opportunity we’ve seized at Dilettante.
What is your social media strategy? Are you working with or through Facebook or Twitter, for example?
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are vital elements of our social media strategy. In fact, it’s difficult to operate in the digital space without using them in a meaningful and sustained way.
While Dilettante has significant social networking functionality, we consider ourselves to be part of the classical music community, not simply an interface for it. As such we have a distinct voice in the digital environment, and the way we communicate on Twitter is as much a part of our identity as the way we communicate on the Dilettante site.
On a purely practical level, both Twitter and Facebook have proved to be an invaluable way of creating buzz about what’s new on Dilettante, and projects we’re involved with. Of course, Twitter is a social space too, so we’ve developed Twitter relationships with lots of people and organisations in the classical world.
Needless to say, our next step is to implement an OpenID system, and that’s something we’re working on with our developers. We’re aiming to be fully connected.
In what ways does Dilletante support live classic concerts and sales?
First, it’s important to be clear that we don’t regard the Internet as some sort of parallel universe to the offline world, and we don’t want or expect classical music activity to move online. Classical music is all about the live experience, not just an activity musicians undertake to support a CD. Thanks to digital piracy and the decline in music purchasing, that’s becoming increasingly true in the pop world, but it’s always been true in classical.
We support live performance in a variety of ways. First – at its most basic – any Dilettante member can post their events on our events calendar, including links to tickets. Members can invite their Dilettante connections, and link their event back to their member profile so people can find out more about them – very useful if you’re a young ensemble, just starting out. That means a concert by an unknown chamber group can sit right next to a concert at the Royal Festival Hall, so the two get equal billing.
We do our utmost to support our members’ concerts, so we can feature their events on the site and in our monthly Music & Events newsletter. Of course, there are number of editorial options, too. If there’s a really innovative programme or a group doing really interesting work, we offer feature interviews or profiles on the site, along with celebrity playlists and other kinds of editorial promotion.
Also, we’re looking at ways we can support live performance more actively. For instance, in 2008 we co-produced a concert in a club in Brick Lane in East London. Last year, we launched our Digital Composer-in-Residence competition, which culminated in a live performance of the finalists’ submissions by the London Sinfonietta at Wilton’s Music Hall. And one element of the winner’s prize is a live concert next Autumn featuring a work that was composed during the year-long residency.
With an aging population in the West, one might expect a rise in the popularity of the classical genre. Is that true in your experience?
I think there are a few factors affecting the popularity of the classical genre. You’re right that an aging population might listen to more classical music. There’s also the success of stations like ClassicFM in the UK. Some people claim they dumb-down classical music, but they also demystify it and bring it to a wider audience. I don’t see a reason to be snobbish about that.
At the same time, we’ve seen the rise of a lot of young composers and musicians who don’t talk or think about ‘genre’ in such narrow terms, from someone like Nico Muhly, who seems to come out of the classical world but works across genres, to a classically trained musician like Jonny Greenwood who came to prominence as an alt-pop musician and now performs alongside John Adams in New York.
We see that in the UK, too. Look at Mira Calix or Anna Meredith. Is it electronica or classical? There’s lots of jargon floating around that reflects this shift – ‘music without borders’ from New Amsterdam records in Brooklyn, ‘alt-classical’ from Greg Sandow at Arts Journal, ‘post-classical’ from I don’t remember who! I think this phenomenon gives younger listeners a different point of access that might lead them to more ‘traditional’ classical music, some of which is pretty out there. I mean, the Goldberg Variations are a real trip (see 8 below).
Is the rising popularity of so-called ‘cross over’ artists like Andrea Bocelli and Kathryn Jenkins good news for the classical genre?
I’m not sure it’s good or bad news. To the extent that these artists’ CDs sell, I suppose they help sustain the business. Do they introduce new audiences to classical music, and will those audiences go on to buy more classical music? I don’t think there’s any evidence to support that view.
What recordings would you recommend to classical music novices to give them a sample of best from the genre?
There are many of course, but here’s a few of my favourites…
Quatuor Ebene – Debussy, Faure, Ravel String Quartets This disc picked up Gramophone’s Recording of the Year prize last year, and it’s a wonderful introduction to three great French composers and four dynamic young performers.
Daniel Hope – Air: A Baroque Journey I’ve seen Daniel Hope live several times, including with the now-defunct Beaux Arts Trio, and he’s a wonderful player. This disc is exactly what it sounds like – an engaging primer that’s a delight to listen to.
Simone Dinnerstein – Bach, Goldberg Variations Per above, the Goldberg Variations are a real trip, and Simone Dinnerstein’s performance is brilliant. Wear headphones, and listen loud.
Alfred Brendel – Schubert Complete Impromptus D.899 & D.935 and Others As always, Brendel gets every note right and captures Schubert’s grace and majesty.
Nigel Kennedy – Bruch & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos Two brilliant works that are a must for any novice listener. I’m never sure which concerto I prefer, but I always go back to Nigel Kennedy’s performance.
Beaux Arts Trio – Piano Trio No 4 in E Minor ‘Dumky’ I love Dvorak and this is one of my all time favourites – if it doesn’t break your heart there’s something wrong with you.
Miguel del Aguila – Salon Buenos Aires I discovered this through a review by Frank Oteri at New Music Box. On the strength of one track, I bought it instantly, and can’t stop listening to it.
Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians I heard this live at the Royal Festival Hall last October – performed by the London Sinfonietta – and was totally blown away.
That’s a great list Juliana. Thanks for sharing that and all your thoughts on classical music and Dilettante today.
We're constantly hearing words of doom and gloom about the threat that the internet poses to the music world. It's become virtually synonymous with illegal downloading. You'd think that the sole intention of anyone with access to the web would be to close down well-meaning traditional media and starve musicians. But there's another way to look at the internet as far as classical music is concerned — it is the single biggest opportunity that has ever come into being.
The explosion of classical music activity online has been positively dizzying. As always, some initiatives succeed and others don't. Those that are sales-based can enjoy mixed fortunes. Some never get off the ground, but iTunes has been so successful that we take it for granted. And the start-ups continue. This spring's projected launch of a new company called iClassix promises more than just standard downloads to buy as the organisation is also making music films of its own. A select few sites, though, are already emerging as clear winners in the online race, through staying power, creativity, innovation or adaptability. The common ground among them shows where the customers' hunger is — and where it had probably been for some time until this heady decade threw open the doors.
First, the classical community has felt let down by the way music has been marginalised in the media — and it is angry. There's nothing as creative as anger. Classical music has been shoved aside into minority corners of TV, the largest record companies churn out crossover ad nauseam, and classical music on UK radio is confined to two stations, both equally patronising in totally different ways. But now musical practitioners can take matters into their own hands, and they have been rushing online to redress the balance. Cellist Robert Cohen, for instance, has started a series of podcasts at CohenPodTalks in which he is making available free his own in-depth chats with key thinkers of the arts world, such as Sir John Tusa. He told me that he has done this because he feels such discussions should be available on the radio, but they're not.
Cohen works with the ex-BBC presenter Tommy Pearson, who is now doing a roaring trade as independent film-maker for clients such as the London Symphony Orchestra and EMI. The short films they commission, he says, are "not promotional videos as such, but tools to help to engage the audience with the artist's insights and ideas". His aim, he adds, has always been "to supply the quality material that the broadcasters are no longer offering on TV". Today, most top British orchestras offer podcasts, if not videos, on their websites. The Berlin Philharmonic has gone further, developing a "digital concert hall" and selling tickets for it.
The trend is towards democratisation, informality and community-building, transforming the tone in which music enters discussions in daily life. Part of this is driven by Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, as well as a plethora of blogs that are pulling the discourse kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
Classical music in itself is not elitist, but the way it has been presented and written about in the past often has been. When I started my blog in 2004, the medium's early days, my idea was simply to write in an engaging, community-focused way that was readable, personal and gently irreverent, hoping it might draw in new audiences. Now there's Opera Chic, posting streetwise, sassy material in more than up-to-date lingo, often the first to break the big opera stories, not to mention the gossip. Alex Ross, currently blogging at Unquiet Thoughts for The New Yorker, became a musico-literary star through a beautifully written blog that cross-fertilised his award-winning book The Rest is Noise. Musicians, too, have struck blogging gold: try Joyce DiDonato's blog YankeeDiva, as effervescent as her singing, or the off-the-wall literary acrobatics of pianist Jeremy Denk at ThinkDenk.
The resulting sense of an open, inclusive community is hugely significant because classical music lovers can feel so isolated. Concert halls are not always friendly places and listening to recordings is often a solitary activity. Now we're hooking up. We share views on Facebook, or tweet to exchange frustrations, opinions and jokes. And there are practical concerns. Maybe you play an instrument and want to find chamber music partners. Maybe you're a composer — how on earth do you get your music heard? Or visiting a new city, how do you find out what's on?
The internet is answering the lot. To find a concert or opera, searching by composer, artist, date, location, etc, go to BachTrack, which will tell you in seconds, and has launched a mobile phone "app" to provide information on the move. Looking for like-minded musical people? Join MusBook — social networking, forums, job ads and more for the musically-oriented. Or do you want all the info about an artist in one place, with biographies, videos, interviews and downloads to buy? Plushmusic may have the solution.
Dilettante Music offers yet another concept, aiming both to support musical careers and attract new listeners. Its founder, Juliana Farha, explains: "Dilettante was conceived as a space where classical performers could find a platform and a voice. I was alarmed by how intimidating classical music can be for people who haven't been exposed to it. The snobbishness of some of its gatekeepers doesn't help, but as an avid listener I was convinced more people would listen if they could find a way in." She sought an approach "that doesn't dumb the music down or make it ‘cool', but which is both pleasurable in its style and irreverent in its tone so they'd be seduced".
But maybe most valuably, Dilettante has a foot in the real world, with initiatives like a classical club night in East London in July 2008, or a recent competition to find a Digital Composer-in-Residence project, culminating in a concert by the London Sinfonietta. As Farha points out, "The internet is a tool, not an objective."
Exactly. With online growth proceeding at such a pace, it's too easy to forget that music is best experienced as a live, practical experience. Next, perhaps paradoxically, the internet should tempt music lovers away from their computers into shared real-time, whether to concerts, discussion groups or beyond. Still, I've no doubt that the spirit of openness online is the most encouraging development to enter the musical world in decades. It puts the future into our own hands: let's make it bright.
NJ.com - The Star Ledger 10 November 09 Ronni Reich
Jersey composer bests international competitors for coveted digital residency
Composer David T. Little of Weehawken has been named the digital composer-in-residence at DilettanteMusic.com, an online classical music hub, following its global competition that began in June. Little was chosen as a finalist after submitting works and being judged by an international panel representing five cities in America and Britain, whose members included composers Nico Muhly and Anna Meredith.
Little was selected from among three finalists (the others being Canadian composer Aaron Gervais and Taiwanese composer Chaiyu) by an audience vote. Fans voted based on works of each composer recorded by the London Sinfonietta and uploaded, and the competition culminated in an event at Wilton’s Music Hall in London, during which the composers’ music was played alongside works that influenced each of them.
As composer-in-residence, Little will interact with Dilettante members with a “Composer’s Corner,” promoted and directly linked from the site’s homepage, a podcast series, online master classes, and forum discussions. The year-long residency will conclude with a live performance of his work, at a date and venue to be announced.
Little’s winning composition was “1986” for string quartet, based on the tune “My Grandfather’s Clock,” which Little played in a fife and drum corps while growing up in New Jersey.
Digital composer-in-residence winner announced: American composer awarded first prize
The winner of a competition to become the world’s first digital composer-in-residence has been announced. American composer David T Little was awarded first prize for his string quartet 1986, after winning a public vote run by the classical music website www.DilettanteMusic.com.
The London Sinfonietta gave performances of the works by the three finalists at a concert in the Wilton Music Hall in London, hosted by presenter and conductor Charles Hazlewood. Little successfully beat fellow finalists Aaron Gervais and Chiayu to scoop £1,000 and a year-long-digital residency on the website.
Little’s winning quartet is based on the tune ‘My Grandfather’s Clock'. ‘I have my own connections to this song,’ he says, ‘which I must have played hundreds, if not thousands of times as a boy playing in a fife and drum corps in New Jersey.’
Thoughts On a Train 10 November 2009 Dick Strawser
Digital Composer-in-Residence Has Mid-State Ties Given the opportunities digital and internet technologies can afford those of us involved in music today, I was glad to see this London-based group, Dilettante Music, held a competition to find a composer-in-residence. Composers submitted works and people were asked to vote on who should win, after listening to sound-files of their pieces.
And I'm delighted and proud to tell you that David T. Little, a graduate of my alma mater, Susquehanna University (of a considerably more recent vintage), where he studied composition with Pat Long, has been voted the winner. His music is really cool: check it out (see below).
Though this was officially announced several days ago, I finally received confirmation from Dilettante's web-site (well, not everything moves at warp-speed, yet). Here's the information they sent out:David T. Little is our Digital Composer-in-Residence
With hundreds of entries from twenty-three different countries, five judges selected three finalists for the world's first Digital Composer-in-Residence competition. Then it was down to you, and last Thursday live at Wilton's Music Hall in London we announced New York-based David T. Little as the winner of our Digital Composer-in-Residence competition.
David's already been making headlines on NewMusicBox and Arts Journal, and also check out our own Musical Uprising, featuring a video of his winning piece at Wilton's.
For one year David will occupy our new Composer's Corner where you can find out what he's up to, discover the music he likes and upcoming events where you can hear his work. David will keep a regular blog, and we'll also bring you podcasts, music and more.
"I'm very honoured to have just been chosen as the first Digital Composer-in-Residence and I plan to be an active and engaged member of this ever-growing international community. I look forward to working with Dilettante to help make this innovative program a success in its first year, and to helping bring great music--not only my own, but also that of my many wonderful colleagues--to as many music-lovers as possible.”
David T. Little Wins DilettanteMusic.com's Digital Composer-In-Residence Competition
New Jersey-born composer/percussionist David T. Little has been named the winner in the inaugural Digital Composer-in-Residence competition launched by the London-based DilettanteMusic.com. The competition culminated on November 5 at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time with a concert event at London's Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest surviving music hall in the world, where the London Sinfonietta, under the direction of Charles Hazlewood, performed a program curated by Little and the two other finalists—Canadian composer Aaron Gervais and Taiwanese composer Chiayu—which featured their own contest entries alongside works that influenced them. This event has officially launched David T. Little's year-long residency during which he will be able to further interact with Dilettante members with a "Composer’s Corner," promoted and directly linked from the site homepage, a podcast series, online master-classes, and forum discussions. The residency will conclude with a live performance of a newly commissioned work, at a date and venue to be announced. For more details on the earlier stages of the competition, please see the earlier news item posted here.
Real Clear Arts 5 November 2009 Judith H. Dobrzynski
And The Digital Composer-in-Residence Is...
David T. Little, the New York City-based composer and percussionist, has won DilettanteMusic.com's digital composer-in-residence contest -- by a huge margin, gaining more than half the votes.
This contest, as I mentioned the other day, was judged first by experts and then by the voting public, who could listen to Little's music, and that of the other two contenders, Aaron Gervais from Edmonton, Canada, and Chiayu from Taiwan, on the DilettanteMusic.com website.
Little's entry was called 1986, was written for a string quartet, and, as he described it:
"is based on the tune "My Grandfather's Clock." 'I have my own connections to this song, which I must have played hundreds, if not thousands of times as a boy playing in a fife and drum corps in New Jersey.' 1986 calls on this experience, making use of the snare drum part that he played. The "tune" returns throughout the piece in different incarnations - from silly to serious - giving the listener a sense of a hazy, but fond, memory."
Little, who holds a degree in percussion performance, a Masters in Composition and a Master of Fine Arts degree, is studying for a Ph.D. at Princeton.
His victory was announced at a concert Thursday night at Wilton's Music Hall (above) in London, where the London Sinfonietta performed a program curated by the three finalists featuring their contest entries alongside works that influenced them. Little chose the second movement of Charles Ives' Trio, for violin, violoncello & piano, S. 86 (K. 2B17), "TSIAJ ("This scherzo is a joke")" as the work that influenced him.
According to the press release, Little
"now faces a year full of interactivity not only with the fans that voted for him, but with all Dilettante members including fellow musicians and composers. Unprecedented opportunities to connect with Little include "Composer's Corner", promoted and directly linked from the site homepage, a podcast series, online master classes, and forum discussions. His residency will conclude with a live performance of his newly-commissioned work, at a date and venue to be announced."
World's first digital composer-in-residence: Competition winner to be announced at London Sinfonietta concert
The battle to become the world’s first digital composer-in-residence reaches its climax tomorrow evening, when the three finalists’ works are performed by members of the London Sinfonietta.
Composers Aaron Gervais, Chiayu and David T Little are all competing for the chance to win a year-long digital residency on DilettanteMusic.com, the website behind the competition, and £1000. Over the next year the winning composer will be involved in online masterclasses, a composer’s blog, podcasts, and forum discussions. And, at the end of the year, there’ll be a concert premiere of one of the winner's new works.
A panel of judges, including composers Jennifer Higdon, Anna Meredith and Nico Muly, whittled down hundreds of entries to just three, Gervais's Sensational Revolution in Medicine for soprano and speaking pianist, Chiayu's Zhi for violin and piano and David T Little's 1986 for string quartet were then recorded by the London Sinfonietta, and were published on DilettanteMusic.com.
Since 20 October visitors to the website have been voting for their favourite; voting ends at midnight tonight. The winner will be announced at Wilton’s Music Hall, London on 5 November, at a concert hosted by conductor and presenter Charles Hazlewood.
The excellent classical music website Dilettante has launched a world-wide competition to find a composer-in-residence.
What does it mean to be a 'composer-in-residence'? Once upon a time it meant sitting in some splendid palace as the guest of a Lord, tinkling at a harpsichord while a flunky brought you a refreshing sorbet. That was Handel's situation in Rome in 1707 when he was composing cantatas for the Marquess Francesco Ruspoli at the Bonelli Palace in Rome.
It's a bit different nowadays. A 'composer-in-residence' for an orchestra will have to sign a proper contract, obliging him/her to produce a big piece or two per year, while juggling lots of other commitments to supplement the far-from-munificent fee. It also involves chatting to the audience, who will probably have a lingering fascination for 'genius' and want to see what a real live composer actually looks like.
So no more sorbets and lording it in villas – a mug of instant coffee and a Rich Tea in the orchestral CEO’s office is about as fancy as it gets. Composers have to get out there and show they're ordinary people, with mortgages and favourite foods and a fondness for daytime TV - but nevertheless with this mysterious and magical talent for hearing sounds in their heads. That excellent classical music website Dilettante.com is about to take the process of democratisation one step further, by appointing its own 'composer-in-residence'.
The aim, they say, is to redefine the composer-in-residence for the digital age. He or she will win a modest prize of £1000, and a year-long residency on the website, allowing them to engage with web-site members through a Composer’s Corner blog, a podcast series, online forums, and masterclasses. It will culminate in 2010 a live event with a performance of a new work.
But first the composer has to be found, and to do that Dilettante has launched a world-wide competition, open to all composers everywhere. A short-list of three works has already been chosen, and you can hear all three on the web-site and place a vote for your preferred candidate. Or better, hear them live at the London Sinfonietta’s concert next week, when each piece will be played alongside a contemporary classic that inspired it.
Composition competitions are risky, in the same way piano or violin competitions are risky. The safe, technically polished candidate that offends no-one often ends up on top. But the choice of ‘classic’ pieces from the three composers is encouraging. Two are by great modernist iconoclasts, Charles Ives and Gyorgy Ligeti. The third is by Jonathan Harvey, a composer of lofty spiritual inclinations realized in a tough-minded and musically subtle way. What they have in common is daring; let’s hope the three new pieces have it too.
The Dilettante Digital Composer-in-Residence Concert takes place at Wilton’s Music Hall London on November 5th. Tickets from www.wegottickets.com
Arts Journal - Real Clear Arts 2 November 09 Judith H. Dobrzynski
Prizes Everywhere! Your Chance to Influence Classical Music
I must be getting known for writing about prizes, both positively and negatively (to cite just two posts). I just learned of another new contest -- in music, this time.
And it's your chance to influence the course of classical music. DilettanteMusic.com -- which is a U.K.-based online "global hub for classical music" -- is allowing the public to choose its first digital composer-in-residence.
I haven't explored the Dilettante Music website -- or its business model -- as much as I'd like; but the public input deadline is close, so I'm writing now.
Part of the site's mission seems to be to provide a forum for listening to unsigned musicians, and to provide a way to buy music online. The contest was announced in June, when the website said it would choose a lucky composer:
The winner will receive the Digital Composer-In-Residence Award worth £1000, and a year-long 'digital residency' on the Dilettante website, including a 'composer's corner' blog on the homepage and a podcast series. They will lead online masterclasses and take part in forum discussions with Dilettante members. The residency will conclude with a live event, which will include a newly commissioned work.
The finalists, from the U.S., Canada and Taiwan, were announced on Oct. 20, and now you can listen to their music online and vote -- up until Nov. 4, which is just two days away.
The finalists are Aaron Gervais (left), from Edmonton Canada; Chiayu (below, right), from Taiwan (currently residing in Durham, NC); and David T. Little (below, left), from New York.
You can listen to their entries, read their bios, and vote here.
The prize seems a tad skimpy to me, and a bit of a gimmick just to promote the new website -- on the other hand, it's encouraging that DilettanteMusic.com has engaged judges, for the first phase, like Nico Muhly and Michael Christie.
The competition will culminate November 5 at 7pm with a concert event at London's Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest surviving music hall in the world, where the London Sinfonietta will perform a program curated by all three finalists, featuring their own contest entries alongside works that influenced them.The event will be hosted by the dynamic English conductor Charles Hazlewood.
I do like the voting process in this contest: let the experts choose the finalists in a first round, and then let the people have their say.
And we'll find out the answer very soon, at the concert on Thursday.
Dilettante's Digital Composer-in-Residence Countdown...
Our friends at the terrifyingly innovative and organised Dilettante Music are getting ready for their big night at Wilton's on Thursday at which they'll announce the winner of their competition for a digital composer-in-residence. Still time to vote for your favourite (follow that link).
The standard issue with music on the internet concerns downloads, paying for them or not, file-sharing etc, but the whole online medium is still at a stage where it will evolve as the most creative people in its world choose it to. The great thing about this competition is that it harnesses the Internet's capabilities to offer real opportunity for gifted young composers, and is globally accessible.
I sent a few questions about the contest to one of its judges, composer Nico Muhly.
JD: What makes Dilettante's competition different from other competitions?
NM: I love the online element, first of all. I remember being a teenager applying and competing in these desperate, grim mail-based competitions. This is so much easier!
JD: What has made the strongest impression on you, looking through all the entries?
NM: I loved actually seeing how good people are now at notating their ideas. Even the strangest things were notated as simply and convincingly as the most straightforward ideas.
JD: How did you pick the shortlist? What qualities stood out for you in each of the top three?
NM: For me, it was a question of how well the composer set out to achieve their goals. I sort of discarded the mission statements; composers are the worst at describing their own music! Instead, I like to think of the beginning of a piece as a sort of mission statement or first foot out the door: from there, how well does it make its journey? does it stop off for an inappropriate detour? Does it get where it's going?
JD: The results are very international. What was the spread of entries from different countries like? Do you think that the Internet is making music even more international than before?
NM: Yes, without a question. I love hearing from people in Mexico, Thailand, Japan. The idea that I can listen to a 16 year old composer's music from Singapore in my hotel room in London is obscenely exciting to me.
JD: What do you hope that the Dilettante digital composer-in-residence scheme will do for its winner?
NM: I hope that winning Dilletante will allow the online music community to discover a new voice. It's less about the winner than about other people!
Three North American-based Composers are Finalists in Digital Competition
Composer/percussionist David T. Little (b. 1978, New Jersey) is among the three finalists in the inaugural Digital Composer-in-Residence competition launched by the London-based DilettanteMusic.com. The other finalists are Canadian composer Aaron Gervais (b. 1980), who received his master's from UCSD, and Taiwanese composer Chiayu (b. 1975) who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Duke University.Beginning in June, Dilettante invited composers from around the world to submit their works online, to be judged by an international panel, representing five cities in the United States and Great Britain. The judges included a conductor, a music director, and an educator as well as fellow composers, among them Nico Muhly and former BBC Scottish Symphony composer-in-residence Anna Meredith.
Now, these finalists must compete for votes from a worldwide audience of fans, who have until November 4 at 12 a.m. Eastern to help select a winner. Voting began at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on October 20 when Dilettante posted audio files for each of the finalists' works, in performances specially recorded for the site by the London Sinfonietta, in order for its online audience to listen and vote. The files are posted to dilettantemusic.com/digital-composer-vote.
The competition will culminate November 5 at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time with a concert event at London's Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest surviving music hall in the world, where the London Sinfonietta, under the direction of Charles Hazlewood, will perform a program curated by all three finalists, featuring their own contest entries alongside works that influenced them. The Digital Composer-in-Residence winner will also be announced at this event, thus laun
ching a year-long residency in which the winning composer-in-residence will be able to further interact with Dilettante members with a "Composer’s Corner," promoted and directly linked from the site homepage, a podcast series, online master-classes, and forum discussions. The winning composer's residency will conclude with a live performance of a newly commissioned work, at a date and venue to be announced. (—Condensed from the press release)
THIS JUST IN (November 5, 2009): David T. Little has been named the winner of the Digital Composer-in-Residence competition
Your chance to vote for the winner of the world's first Digital Composer-in-Residence Competition
Leading online classical music hub Dilettante has announced the three finalists for it's Digital Composer-in-Residence
The search for Dilettante's 'digital composer' in residence, which began back in June and has elicited hundreds of entries, culminated this week with the unveiling of the three composers' works; Aaron Gervais' Sensational Revolution in Medicine, Chiayu's Zhi and David T Little's 1986.
From today, listeners can hear the three pieces as podcasts on the Dilettante website. Listeners are then asked to vote for a winner.
Voting ends at midnight on 4 November, and the winner will be announced the following evening at a concert at Wilton's Music Hall, London, where the three finalists' pieces will be performed by Charles Hazlewood and the London Sinfonietta.
The concert will also feature music by Ligeti, Charles Ives and Jonathan Harvey.
The competition is the first of its kind and is very much in line with Dilettante's philosophy of opening up classical music beyond its traditional confines.
Dilettante, which was set up back in January 2008, acts as a sort of social networking site specifically for musicians. Its aim is to build a community based around classical music. As with sites such as Facebook and Twitter, users are able to interact with one another - but the emphasis here is more on offering a space for musicians to reach their audience and on providing an opportunity for them to showcase their music.
Canada's Aaron Gervais a finalist in virtual composer-in-residence competition
Toronto ex-pat Juliana Farha had an ambitious dream to create a virtual meeting place for young performers, composers, their fans, and adventurous Internet surfers.
Three years of tireless toil by the London, England-based founder and her creative team are bearing fruit as Dilettante Music appears to be coming into its own, transferring its virtual activities into real world results.
The latest marquee effort is a competition to name a composer-in-residence. The organization announced three finalists today --including Edmonton-based Aaron Gervais. The other two are American David T. Little and Chiayu Hsu from Taiwan.
The winners are scheduled to be announced at a live concert at Wilton's Music Hall -- a historical treasure in Tower Hamlets -- on Nov. 5.
I'm a fan of Gervais' lighthearted approach to new music -- a field dominated by too many knitted brows.
The website will have more to listen to next week, as it prepares podcasts with the London Sinfonietta. But there's already a lot of background posted, including clips of Gervais' creations. Go explore on the main site istelf, which freely crosses national boundaries.
The idea of a composer-in-residence goes back a long way. Although the modern tradition of artistic residence in this country can be traced back to the founding of Yaddo in upstate New York around 1900, the concept isn't new, even if the term is somewhat recent.
Joseph Haydn, who worked as a court musician for a great part of his life for the Esterházy family on their remote Hungarian estate, could be considered a kind of composer-in-residence. He did, after all, have to write a lot of music there.
Bach served many masters. He was a court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst in Weimar, then became court organist and concertmaster at the ducal court in Weimar, then was director of music for Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen and finally in 1723 became director of music at the churches in Leipzig, and cantor of the school of St. Thomas's Lutheran Church. Writing was a part of these positions.
Now these were relatively paying jobs, and were far more demanding than what composers may face today during a residency, but still, these were working positions that guaranteed some financial security.
They were also a way of ensuring that one's music was heard.
For composers in residence today it's the same thing: acceptance and dissemination. When a symphony orchestra chooses a composer for residency, it pretty much guarantees that the composer's work – newly written during the residency or already existing – will be performed. In November, for example, the Chicago Symphony will offer Twice Through the Heart, a dramatic scene for mezzo-soprano and ensemble by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Mead Composer-in-Residence Mark-Anthony Turnage. Later in the season, the symphony will offer the works of another of its recent resident composers, Osvaldo Golijov.
This season, the New York Philharmonic institutes a composer-in-residence program, courtesy of a $10 million gift from financier Henry Kravis. Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg will become the first Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, a two-year post that begins this week with the world premiere of Lindberg's Expo at the Philharmonic's opening night concert, under the baton of new music director Alan Gilbert.
These residences present real opportunities and encouragement for composers to create new work, and for audiences to be introduced to it. Yet the number of people who actually get to hear the new work is relatively small.
But there's a new digital composer-in-residence program that has been tailored to the YouTube generation and an international digital age.
Dilettante (www.dilettantemusic.com), which bills itself as an online classical music hub on which organizations and musicians can connect with audiences, is offering what it calls the Digital Composer-in-Residence Project.
It's a contest (but then, aren't most residencies?). Submissions were due early this month. The catch was that each composition couldn't be longer than eight minutes, or scored for more than eight musicians.
The judges who will choose the finalist are a wide-ranging group. They include American composer Jennifer Higdon; Jonathan Nott, principal conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker; Andrew Burke, chief executive of the London Sinfonietta; Michael Christie: music director of the Phoenix Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Colorado Music Festival; British composer Anna Meredith, who works in both acoustic and electronic media; and composer Nico Muhly, whose work was featured in the movie The Reader.
This judges will choose three finalists, whose works will be recorded by the London Sinfonietta and posted on the Dilettante site. Then, between Oct. 15 and Nov. 5, visitors to the site can listen and vote on the winner.
All three finalists will program a special concert with their own entries, and other musical works that influenced them, on Nov. 5, when the winner will be announced. The Dilettante site will offer the concert via webcast and on its YouTube channel.
The winning composer will receive a £1,000 award (about $1,650) and a year-long digital residency on the Dilettante website. This includes a blog spot on the site and a podcast series. There will also be online master classes and discussions with members of the site. The residency will conclude with a live event in 2010, which will include a performance of a new work.
It's an interesting idea that gives a potentially wide audience to new music. And it's long way from working at the whim of an aristocratic Hungarian family.
Dilettante Hosts Digital Composer-in-Residence Competition, Partners with NewAm
New Amsterdam is pleased to be collaborating (across the Pond) with the exciting music networking community, Dilettante Music. In a featured article, they present us as a “pro-artist label…conceived as an antidote to the music industry's tendency to pigeon-hole music and the people who make and listen to it.” They also cover our latest Undiscovered Islands series. Read about it here.
Dilettante Music will also be hosting a Digital Composer in Residence Competition this summer, uniting online and offline music. In their words: ‘The project was inspired by the desire to push the boundaries of contemporary and classical music, while uniting the worlds of on- and offline music performance, and – as ever – to support music-making in all its forms.’ Composers from around the world can submit their work for the opportunity to be the first virtual ‘composer-in-residence’ on the Dilettante site, complete with a dedicated ‘composer’s corner’ that provides the winner with a sustained platform and profile. There’s also a cash prize and a concert featuring a new work, which will be presented at the end of the residency. Among the judges is Nico Muhly, one of New Amsterdam’s own beloved collaborators. Find out more about the competition here.
Dilettantemusic.com - Call for Digital Composer-in-Residence
DilettanteMusic.com, the web's global classical music hub, has announced the launch of its Digital Composer-in-Residence competition, which makes DilettanteMusic.com the web's first social network to commission and present original content from its community. The competition launches alongside the site's brand new intuitive searching and shopping features. A Unique Competition Uniting Online and Offline Music Composers from around the world are invited to submit their work for the opportunity to be the first Digital Composer-In-Residence on DilettanteMusic.com. The competition culminates with a live concert on November 5th at London's Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest surviving music hall in the world. All three finalists will have the opportunity to program a portion of the concert, complementing their competition submission with music that influences them. This way, the competition juxtaposes new and old music, contextualizing sometimes-daunting contemporary works within the classical tradition that inspires them. The winner will be revealed at the concert, and the event will be webcast on the Dilettante site, and on the Dilettante YouTube channel. The winner will receive the Digital Composer-In-Residence Award worth £1000, and a year-long 'digital residency' on the Dilettante website, including a 'composer's corner' blog on the homepage and a podcast series. They will lead online masterclasses and take part in forum discussions with Dilettante members. The residency will conclude with a live event, which will include a newly commissioned work.
By opening the competition to a global audience and hosting a virtual residency, Dilettante is redefining the concept of a composer-in-residence for the Digital Age to provide the winning composer with a sustained platform and profile. Composers can submit their work until September 1st, 2009, when an international panel of judges including Anna Meredith and Michael Christie will select three finalists. Then, embracing Web 2.0 principles that put-decision making in the hands of the community, Dilettante will post podcasts of the finalists' works on the Dilettante site where users can choose the winner by voting for their favorite work. The winner will be announced at a live concert on November 5th and the year-long residency will begin. For complete information, visit the website below.
1 Sep 2009
International Association of Music Information Centres 25 June 2009
The launch of the first Digital Composer-in-Residence competition
Open to any member of the community, this exciting competition makes Dilettante the first social network to commission and present work from its own members. With a prize that includes a year-long 'virtual residency' on the Dilettante site, the competition offers the winning composer a sustained platform and profile for their work. It also offers listeners the opportunity to choose the winner, by voting for one of three finalists' pieces on the Dilettante website.
How it works:
Composers must submit their scores and audio files by 1st September 09. These will go to our international panel of judges, who include the dynamic young composers Anna Meredith and Nico Muhly, the American conductor Michael Christie, and Andrew Burke, the Chief Executive of the London Sinfonietta. The judges will select three finalists.
Then we'll create podcasts of those finalists' works and post them on the Dilettante site, where visitors can choose the winner by voting for their favourite piece.
Finally, on 5th November 09 we'll present all three finalists' works at a concert at London's Wilton's Music Hall, the world's oldest surviving music hall, where the winner will be announced and the virtual residency will begin.
You can find more information about the Digital Composer-in-Residence competition, including how to submit a score, on our Digital Composer-in-Residence page.
Dilettante is a classical music hub, which works as a kind of social networking site connecting musicians and listeners around the world. However, unlike Facebook, this is not somewhere to go to share the mundane details of the day, but rather a place to build a community around a shared love of classical music.
THE IDEA
Set up by Canadian journalist and businesswoman Juliana Farha in January 2008, Dilettante's tag line is "lead the classical uprising." The site aims to open classical music up beyond its traditional elite confines on Radio 3 and the London concert halls. This is an exploratory space, using Web 2.0 technology to enable fans and musicians to interact with one another. Although it is clearly a part of the user-generated content revolution, the focus here is more on offering a showcase to musicians, providing an online space where they can allow their music to speak directly to listeners and reach new audiences. Farha offers an opportunity for musicians to develop and publicise their careers, as well as giving aficionados a digital home.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
A lot of effort has been put into the design of the site. Dilettante has a confident glossy elegance. Unlike many sites which deter involvement with unimaginative visuals, staid content and an absence of purpose, Dilettante invites you in.
There's lots to do here. Members can post blogs, profiles and photos, upload their own performances, befriend other users, join groups, write reviews, highlight their teaching and composing skills, and add event listings for professional or amateur concerts. You can also buy CDs and downloads from the site's partners, DG Webshop, ArkivMusic, iTunes and Amazon. There is recorded and live music to enjoy and Dilettante Radio allows users to create their own playlists. There are also webcasts of performances. Video tutorials, set to music by performer members, tell you what the site has to offer and how it can be used and shows how friendly and welcoming a site this is.
The site boasts a superb search engine, which leads you to the most comprehensive information on the net, breaking down the search hits into useful categories such as "artist", "works", "events" and "discussions."
THE NAME
There's nothing amateurish about this site. In fact, the site draws attention to alternative meanings of the word 'dilettante'. From the Latin 'delectare,' meaning 'to delight', the noun denoting "a lover of an art or science, esp. of a fine art." Despite the many fusty jeremiads over the corruption of values that digital technology is supposed to represent, Dilettante demonstrates that the internet might one day be all about sax and violins.
DilettanteMusic.com seeks digital Composer-in-Residence
DilettanteMusic.com, the web’s global classical music hub, has announced the launch of its Digital Composer-in-Residence competition, which makes DilettanteMusic.com the web’s first social network to commission and present original content from its community.
The competition launches alongside the site’s brand new intuitive searching and shopping features.
A Unique Competition Uniting Online and Offline Music
Composers from around the world are invited to submit their work for the opportunity to be the first Digital Composer-In-Residence on DilettanteMusic.com. By opening the competition to a global audience and hosting a virtual residency, Dilettante is redefining the concept of a composer-in-residence for the Digital Age to provide the winning composer with a sustained platform and profile.
Composers can submit their work until 1 September 2009, when an international panel of judges including Anna Meredith and Michael Christie will select three finalists. Then, embracing Web 2.0 principles that put-decision making in the hands of the community, Dilettante will post podcasts of the finalists’ works on the Dilettante site where users can choose the winner by voting for their favourite work. The winner will be announced at a live concert on 5th November, 2009 and the year-long residency will begin.
“The Digital Composer in Residence competition is the first extension of our online community into the world of commissioning and concert programming”, said Juliana Farha, Founder, DilettanteMusic.com. “At Dilettante, we’re interested in showcasing content our online community creates while providing an innovative outlet for classical and contemporary classical music”.
Dilettante Live: New Compositions and Works that Inspired them
The competition culminates with a live concert on 5th November, 2009 at London’s Wilton’s Music Hall, the oldest surviving music hall in the world. All three finalists will have the opportunity to programme a portion of the concert, complementing their competition submission with music that influences them. This way, the competition juxtaposes new and old music, contextualising sometimes-daunting contemporary works within the classical tradition that inspires them.
The winner will be revealed at the concert, and the event will be webcast on the Dilettante site, and on the Dilettante YouTube channel.
The Prize
The winner will receive the Digital Composer-In-Residence Award worth £1000, and a year-long ‘digital residency’ on the Dilettante website, including a ‘composer’s corner’ blog on the homepage and a podcast series. They will lead online masterclasses and take part in forum discussions with Dilettante members. The residency will conclude with a live event, which will include a newly commissioned work.
Confirmed Judges
Andrew Burke: former head of LSO Discovery, the London Symphony Orchestra’s community and education programme, and current Chief Executive of London Sinfonietta Andrew has previously worked in education roles at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and at Blackheath Concert Halls in South East London.
Michael Christie: the music director of the Phoenix Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Colorado Music Festival, Michael Christie first came to international attention in 1995 when he was awarded a special prize at the First International Sibelius Conductors’ Competition in Helsinki. He was then invited to become an apprentice conductor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and subsequently worked with Daniel Barenboim in Chicago and Berlin. He has embarked on a range of interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists, dance companies, and theatre groups, along with contemporary composers such as Ligeti, Golijov and Tan Dun.
Anna Meredith: a British composer of acoustic and electronic music, Anna Meredith was the Composer in Residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra 2004-2007. Her new work, which was commissioned by the BBC, will premiere at the BBC Proms on 9th August 2009.
Nico Muhly: a rising star in contemporary composition, the Juilliard graduate’s work was featured in the Oscar-winning film The Reader. Muhly’s compositions have been performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony and many others. In 2006, his work It Remains to be Seen was commissioned by Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute Orchestra to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
Classical Music Web community Dilettante has entered into the second phase of its development, introducing new ticketing, media and retail partners, video tutorials, a new personalized homepage, Dilettante Radio, a discussion forum and Dilettante Guru, a site-wide search tool.
By partnering with ClassicTic and TicketSwitch, users can purchase tickets directly to classical music events. A host of performing organizations also list their concert schedules on the site.
Reviews from specialist publications such as Gramophone, La Scena Musicale and Fanfare are syndicated alongside member reviews on the site, while partnerships with iTunes, ArkivMusic, Amazon and DG Web Shop give users members options to purchase the music online.
It is free to register, upload music to and stream music on Dilettante. Music can only be uploaded by people who have the rights to do so, and users can choose the level of interaction this music has with the Dilettante community. Dilettante Radio streams random tracks uploaded by members, however it is also possible to create individual playlists.
London-based Dilettante was launched in January 2008 and now claims to have over 15,000 unique visitors each month from more than 100 countries.
The League of American Orchestras: The Hub "Industry Buzz" 9 June 2009
DilettanteMusic.com makes upgrades
Dilettante—a London-based online classical-music site that launched in January 2008—has announced upgrades to its website, which connects performing-arts organizations and musicians with audiences and listeners. Changes include a sitewide search function; an area for members to upload and listen to music; member blogs; classical-music news from selected journalists and bloggers, such as Alex Ross, Jessica Duchen, and NPR; and an events calendar and retail area for purchasing recordings and tickets. As part of the upgrade, the site is partnering with publications such as Gramophone, La Scena Musicale, and Fanfare to repurpose reviews on the site. The site’s new DilettanteRadio function is a pop-out player featuring members’ mp3 files; members can also create playlists of other members’ mp3s. Dilettante has added a series of video tutorials to help users navigate the new site functions. Dilettante’s members and visitors come from more than 100 countries and include large organizations such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as smaller ones like the Barbirolli Quartet.
The Collaborative Piano Blog 28 May 2009 Chris Foley
Introducing the New Dilettante
The classical music social network Dilettante has just launched a major upgrade, and social media junkies might to check out this unique corner of the web. In addition to a more navigation-friendly design, the reworked Dilettante features expanded offerings of user-created content, music, discussions, and events. I would also like to welcome the many first-time visitors who arrived via the latest news section from the Collaborative Piano Blog article links.
It is said that the value of a social network rises exponentially with the number of people that utilize it, so if you value a separate social network devoted to the art of classical music, be sure to sign up right away, and check out my own Dilettante profile while you're at it.
Scots-based digital agency Blonde has clinched a deal to design and develop the next phase of the online classical music networking site Dilettantemusic.com.
The site, set up by businesswoman Juliana Farha a year ago, allows musicians and listeners from around the world to talk to each other, upload their music and publicise their events.
In addition to building Dilettante's consumer-facing tools, Blonde will boost the site's usability, and finesse its look and feel.
Blonde, which is based in Edinburgh and London, already counts London's Sadler's Wells theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival as clients.
Dilettante is designed to guide users on a journey of discovery through classical music. It has attracted members and visitors from as far away as China and Australia, and organisations big and small, including the Royal Opera House.
Classical Music 22 November 08 Edited by Thomas Lydon
Dilettantemusic.com has appointed Christopher Gruits as commercial director. Gruits recently completely completed an MBA from the University of Edinburgh Business School, where his thesis focused on corporate digital strategy in the classical music business and an analysis of strategic responses by classical music companies operating in the digital sphere.
The website's founder, Juliana Farha, said, ‘We are so excited to welcome Christopher to Dilettante. Not only does he come with significant experience in arts presenting, but his unique skill set combines classical music management and digital marketing experience, which is a rare find. Part of Christopher's remit is to drive and implement its retail and broader commercial strategy.'
The Collaborative Piano Blog September 7 2008 Chris Foley
Dilettante Music's Blank Canvas Webcast
A few month's ago I wrote about the classical music social networking startup Dilettante Music. In the ensuing months, they've been both expanding their user base and releasing new and interesting multimedia content for both members and visitors. Below is a recent webcast of their July 9 Blank Canvas event at 93 Feet East in London. The featured musicians on the webcast: Pianist Will Dutta playing the first movement of Debussy's Pour le piano (starting at -3:32 on the video) The Elysian Quartet playing Sean O'Hagan's The Ballad of Eppington Steel (starting at -8:21) For those who haven't heard of Dilettante Music yet, it's a sort of classical-music-themed Facebook, where you can post a profile, write blog posts, friend other users, post photos, join groups, add event listings, and upload music. Right now Dilettante is mostly UK-centered, but that will probably change as the site grows and matures over the coming season.
Classical Music August 16 2008
Webwatch
Dilettante's classical club night, Blank Canvas, which took place on 9 July, is available for viewing on the site's new and improved homepage.
The evening featured a ‘fusion of classical, contemporary and experimental music, against a backdrop of Brick Lane graffiti and the insistent murmur of debate about how to define classical music'.
The webcast includes interviews with Juliana Farha, Dilettante founder, Will Dutta, pianist and event producer, Sean O'Hagan, composer, and other revellers, as well as highlights of the live performances. Look out for O'Hagan lurking in the background during the performance of his piece The Ballad of Eppington Steel.
Weary of Hollywood and hungry for London, I headed off to Brick Lane, where pianist Will Dutta, The Elysian Quartet and dilettantemusic.com were hosting Blank Canvas: an informal evening of classical, contemporary and experimental music of the type I remember happening in Manhattan more than a decade ago. There's an inevitable awkwardness to any situation in which you feel obliged to relax, particularly if you can't hear the music. But what started out as a rather earnest exercise in playing Debussy's Préludes to an aleatoric accompaniment of cash registers, popping corks and air-conditioning became a lot more enjoyable when The Elysian Quartet performed Dominic Murcott's witty Installation for String Quartet. I don't know whether spending an evening listening to a minimalist multimedia string quartet counts as "leading the classical uprising", or whether there needs to be a classical uprising at all. Nonetheless, it was fun.
musicomh.com Blank Canvas @ 93 Feet East, Brick Lane, London, 9 July 2008 **** Review by Stephen Crowe
An eclectic evening of 20th and 21st century works organised by Dilettante Music and Will Dutta in a contemporary setting for a contemporary audience.
The venue is a darkened bar with a small stage - perfect for an intimate gig, but uncharted as a classical venue. The audience at 93 Feet East are pretty relaxed time keepers so the performance started a couple of hours after the doors opened, the first of many pleasant little shocks.
From half seven till quarter to nine Dominic Murcott provided a DJ set of avant-garde classics from composers like Conlon Nancarrow, Jonathan Harvey and a host of other exotic and electronic rarities. The evening's actual performances opened up with Debussy's gorgeous suite Pour le piano played with conviction by Dutta, which deserves more silence than the noisy fan behind the bar could muster, but looking around most of the audience were completely transfixed, regardless. This certainly wasn't an audience of seasoned concert-goers, with applause bursting out between movements.
After a break there was a sort of multi-screen video composition by Murcott (head of Composition at Trinity College of Music), which consisted of the Elysian String Quartet atmospherically jabbing at the score while being coaxed by a giant pre-recorded conductor on two massive screens. This started out calmly until the on-screen conductor began to cut a more outlandish, sardonic figure. He was being funny. The screen split into many sections with a separate figure in each, the conductor rubbing various body parts as the quartet played in response to his fondlings. Quite an unexpected work, but it went down a storm with the young Brick Lane audience. Sean O'Hagan's new string quartet followed that one. There was a very clear, uncluttered logic in this piece, with distinct ideas being given to each instrument. Following directly on from that was a semi-improvised piece between Dutta on piano, O'Hagan on acoustic guitar and the Elysian Quartet. This was where the evening really came alive for me, perhaps because the audience could come to terms with musicians who were actually taking risks on the spot, playing in response to each other and trying out unusual sounds. A wonderfully mixed bag, and a fertile testing ground for future extravaganzas.
www.bridalwave.tv May 27 2008
Find the Right Classical Music for your Wedding with Dilettante Music
Do you know your Pachelbel's Canon from your Mendelssohn's Wedding March? You probably would if you heard them but how do you get to grips with picking the right classical music if you're not a classical music buff? Take a look - or a listen at - Dilettante Music who'll make finding the right piece or ensemble easier. You can search for live musicians and listen to MP3s of their performances or enter 'weddings' into the site's search engine to find lists of wedding music.
La Scena Musicale ‘Newswire Blog' May 24 2008 Wah Keung Chan
Dilettantes
Be Part of the global classical music uprising – upload your music online now!
Dilettantemusic.com, the first online classical music community, has launched an mp3 uploads tool and Events Calendar, offering its growing network of composers, musicians, orchestras and ensembles the opportunity to showcase their music and publicise their concerts.
mp3 Uploads Now Dilettantes can enhance their user profiles by uploading mp3s of their own performances or compositions. The upload function gives emerging musicians and composers an opportunity to make themselves and their music heard by listeners and potential collaborators. Those looking to hire musicians for a wedding or other event have a portfolio of talent at their fingertips.
Mp3s are linked to Dilettantemusic.com's extensive classical music data. This means that users searching for a work in the site's Music Pages will find members' mp3s on the page describing that work.
Juliana Farha, the company's founder says ‘For a musician or composer, the most effective CV is the music itself. We're looking forward to seeing Dilettantes use this tool to show off their skills and passion.'
Events Calendar The user-generated Events Calendar provides a unique online diary that brings together a range of classical music events from full orchestral concerts to intimate student recitals.
Dilettantes can upload details of any classical music event that they are organising, participating in or attending, with those events linked to the profiles of Dilettantes who created them. Dilettante calendars are organised by city, although users can switch calendars to search events anywhere they like.
The Dilettante Site At the heart of the Dilettantemusic.com site is an unprecedented level of integration between the Members' network and Music pages.
Web 2.0 tools enable classical music lovers and novices alike to harness the power of the Internet for covert exploration and discovery. Members of the Dilettante community create online profiles that showcase their musical lives, from favourite composers to works in their repertoire. They can share news and views in blogs, ‘small talk' and through private messages.
The Dilettante Music catalogue is enhanced by the web's most comprehensive data about classical performers, composers and their works, supplied by All Media Guide.
Dilettante Launch Since its launch in January 2008, the Dilettante community has attracted users from as far afield as China, Argentina and Iceland, joining professionals and organisations such as Tasmin Little and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Rising Stars Webcast Series The series continues with Matthew Schellhorn performing Chopin's Scherzo No.4 in E. Musicians are welcome to submit webcasts for broadcast on the Dilettante site.
Classical Club Night Collaboration Dilettante is launching a collaborative club night series with Blank Canvas, which takes place at 93 Feet East in London's Brick Lane on Wednesday 9 July 2008. More details can be found at www.dilettantemusic.com/member/blankcanvas.
Featured on www.weddingmagazine.co.uk 19 May 2008
The Classical Touch
Need to find the perfect classical music for your wedding? Here's how...
Choosing music for your wedding is always a dilemma - especially when you need to find that perfect classical piece to accompany you down the aisle.
So, you'll be happy to know that www.dilettantemusic.com, the classical music website, has made the search a lot easier.
Whether you want an elegant harpist, a traditional string quartet or an entire orchestra, the site helps you find musicians in your chosen area, look at the music they play and listen to mp3s of their performances. And, if you search 'wedding' in the music database, you'll be taken to a list of classical music albums with all the most popular works to walk down the aisle to.
Another planning task ticked off the list!
Daily Express February 20 2008 Maisha Frost
Tuned to the best of classical music
A start-up venture has set its sights on connecting classical music performers with their audiences using a new kind of international stage.
Harnessing the latest internet technologies driving online communities such as MySpace, first-time entrepreneur Juliana Farha intends to pump up the volume of interest in the classical sector.
‘We are a work in progress, like many of our younger contributors. But this is not just about user-generated content – although the potential here is enormous. The backbone of our offering will be a broad focus uniting elements not assembled elsewhere.
It will be a starting point for listeners to explore, learn and meet other fans, and great ways for musicians to research new enthusiasts and enhance their profiles,' explains Farha, 41.
Her online enterprise, Dilettante, launched last month and already has big names on board including violinist Tasmin Little and the London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as student prodigies – the stars of tomorrow.
Visitors to the site. www.dilettantemusic.com, will find webcasts of unsigned musicians performing. There will be members' forms for those wanting to know more about particular recordings and how to get hold of them.
A sophisticated search engine will allow users to reach minute details to help them locate what has taken their fancy.
There will also be new released and user-rated reviews sections, including links to publications. However, it is a comprehensive free calendar that will form Dilettante's centrepiece where those holding or participating in events, big and small, professional and amateur, throughout the UK initially and later beyond, can post their details
‘The massive popularity of live music is not confined to pop,' declares Farha. ‘Dilettante's calendar will be a central point for those wanting to go to a classical recital or concert.
‘The technology exists now to make this available and it is time it was applied to benefit classical music. And there are more ways than one to enjoy it these days.
‘But I definitely don't see us as competition to the other community sites, but complementary and differentiated because of our focus. Classical music may have laboured under this uncool image, but not any longer.
‘The demographic of audiences is changing. More younger people are listening to classical pieces and by making it more accessible, in formats appealing to them, I see us taking a key role in driving forward this evolution.'
More tools and functions will be added as Dilettante grows. Farha expects a £60,000 turnover in year one, building to £170,000 the next. Revenue will come from a variety of streams.
‘We are polishing the technology for a new retail business model to form strategic partnership with those selling music,' she says. Other income sources being developed include sponsorship deals and classified advertisements relating to the music industry – for example, services from instrument makers.
Already Dilettante has struck a chord. ‘There is a hunger out there,' confirms Farha. ‘We have barely started, but enthusiasts and musicians from Argentina, China, Taiwan and India have been in touch.'
So far Dilettante has two full-time employees, with the finance as well as the technological operations being outsourced. As expected, it is this latter that has absorbed the lion's share of the investment.
Farha, whose professional experience is in media and marketing but comes from a strong classical music background, put in £60,000 of her own money, borrowed against a future family inheritance. A search for matching funding through the small firms loan guarantee scheme resulted in a few shut doors at first. Farha recalls: ‘I went to two big clearing banks, one of which trumpets its support of women entrepreneurs where the male manager took great pleasure in telling me how he had never advanced money under that scheme.'
It was HSBC's Pall Mall branch in London that saw Dilettante differently and was accommodating with the money.
Already Farha is on the look-out for another equity investor to pump in £200,000. But the fact she is in a position to consider that, as she occupies a dedicated office in London's Southbank, a stone's throw from the Royal Festival Hall, is nothing but positive.
After all, the memory remains sharp of how she first tuned into the times and came up with the concept back in 2006. ‘Facebook had not yet taken off and were not on my radar,' she says. ‘I mentioned to the director of a major music festival about his selling recordings from the event and boosting takings. He dismissed it, but my husband-to-be saw the potential and suggested I do something.
‘While I was shaping it, the phenomenon of social networking gathered force. It upped the pressure in one way but in another it was a confidence booster. I love running a business, being responsible for decisions.'
Her husband is London politician Kit Malthouse whom Farha, a Canadian, married last year after meeting when taking a course at London University.
Recently she went to Midem, the major music industry festival in Cannes.
She recalls: ‘I went to get some experience and to network. But the fact Dilettante was launching was picked up and featured on a journalists' blog. From that I got a call from an industry mogul wanting to talk about linking up.
‘And all that came when I was not seriously into promoting the business, so imagine what progress we can make next year. We are going to keep building Dilettante and the music lovers and players will come.'
Chandos Records Blogspot February 15 2008
Check Out Dilettante Music
In case you haven't picked up on this new website, I would thoroughly recommend you take a look. www.dilettantemusic.com
This revolutionary online classical music community seems to be causing a genuine stir in the classical music world. Juliana Farha who set up the site has been busily talking to the press where she explains the philosophy behind the site. “I want Dilettante to be so much more than a social networking site,” she says. “I'm thrilled to be able to offer classical musicians and music lovers the chance to connect with each other.” One of the highlights of the site are the webcasts that feature young ensembles. “I'd love the site to be as useful for young classical musicians as MySpace is for young popular classical musicians,” she says. Dilettante caters for all classical music fans, from the novice to the connoisseur.
Or why not visit www.dilettantemusic.com directly, and sign up to the classical music revolution.
The Times - My Big Idea: Dilettantemusic.com 14th February 2008 By Kevin Baxter
Having a famous violin maker for a stepfather and a mother responsible for building the family violin business into a respected international company, Juliana Farha was bound to follow family tradition. However, the Canadian entrepreneur has given her company a 21st-century twist and last month launched the online classical music community dilettantemusic.com.
After leaving the University of Toronto, Farha worked as a journalist for CBC, Canada's public broadcaster, before editing Watch, a youth culture magazine. But a trip to the Frankfurt Music Festival in 1997 inspired a career change. ‘My stepfather was the Czech violin-maker Joseph Kun,' she says. ‘He devised a comfortable shoulder rest for violin players and my mother asked me to join the company after he had passed away. I became head of marketing and product development.'
Farha stayed with the company for seven years before arriving in London to take a masters degree at Goldsmiths College, after which she developed her business idea.
‘I want to offer so much more than a social networking site,' she says. ‘I'm thrilled to be able to offer classical musicians and music lovers the chance to connect with each other.' One of the highlights of the site are the webcasts that feature young ensembles.' I'd love Dilettante to be as useful for young classical musicians as MySpace is for young popular musicians,' she says.
Dilettante caters for all classical music fans, from the novice to the connoisseur. The site is supported by All Media Guide (AMG), the musical archive that offers expert editorial content via articles and reviews. ‘I think it's important to be able to offer members some substantial editorial content and AMG helps us do that', she says. ‘The most exciting aspect for me, though, is that people from all over the world are using the site to form relationships through a mutual love of classical music.'
February 12, 2008 Guy Dammann Guardian Unlimited Arts & Ents Blog
Love classical music? Head for Dilettante It had to happen sooner or later - someone has invented a social networking site for classical music enthusiasts
Two revelations accompanied my otherwise rather routine progress through January.
The first was that Facebook had passed from being a genuine brightener of days, to being another of those countless entities that feed with efficient but dull certainty upon the delicate nutrients of the soul. I originally thought it an easy, fun way to keep up with friends. It was, and still is, but now my friends are all spammers, the desire to keep up with them is less keenly felt.
The second revelation was that the cultural irrelevance of classical music, long suspected by the majority but heavily disguised by generous representation in the media and government arts budgets, and by residual beliefs about the value of so-called "elite" culture, has now been officially recognised.
This occurred when reading a special new year issue of G2 on the "noughties" so far. Alongside entries on the decade's contributions to art, literature and such other cultural pastimes as terrorism, a major newspaper's judgement on eight years of triumph and disaster in the world's concert halls and recording studios was summed up with a conclusion that many writers could learn from.
There was no entry of any kind on classical music. Not a word, the implication being that not a single thing of importance has happened. Popular music was served by an article on consensus stadium rock, entitled the soundtrack - which is what music seems to have become (why else would everyone speak of "going to see" concerts?) - by Alexis Petridis, suggesting the spirit of the age will best have been captured by the "open-gobbed stupidity" of the Bodyrockers. Well I suppose if that's the price of cultural relevance, classical music is well out of it.
But one thing that has happened to classical music in the past decade is the internet. Of course, the web has provided a home for classical enthusiasts to share opinions, thoughts and gossip in much the same way that it has for the activities of all minority-interest groups. The healthy state of the hundreds of excellent classical music blogs will attest to this.
The net has also transformed classical music retail. From a sound-proofed corner of the record shop, behind a glass door to which only nerds are given the key, to a much more supple model in which experimentation with other kinds of music is taken for granted.
Classical music has consistently been the biggest growth area for iTunes, where mainstream shoppers often find themselves sampling Brahms and Wagner while shopping for more regular fare (just as classically-minded shoppers are discovering, apparently, a taste for hip-hop). While the anonymity of online life has brought many things, and not all of them positive, a greater flexibility in people's artistic tastes is something to be grateful for.
It had to happen sooner or later, then, that someone would come up with a social networking website for classical music enthusiasts - and here it is in the form of Dilettante.
The website is aimed at users ranging from jobbing but agent-less professionals looking for a gig (and those trying to book someone for one), to would-be listeners simply looking to enrich their musical experience through contact with like-minded individuals. The model follows, by and large, that of Facebook, but in being considerably more focused (i.e. your contacts aren't suddenly going to turn round and ask you if they fancy them) has a much more refreshing feel. In addition to the basic "friendship" model, there are opportunities for webcasts and feature articles from the likes of internet-friendly virtuosi such as Tamsin Little.
Naturally, the success of such a project depends largely on the people that use it. In the couple of weeks since it launched, the feel of the site has certainly been one of small beginnings, but with 500 members signed up since the end of January there is certainly a sense that a significant community is likely to form.
And, since advertising on the site seems so far to be limited to a company selling shoulder rests for violins, it seems unlikely that Dilettante will explode into an enormous centre for Spam 2.0.
Classical Music February 2 2008 Phil Sommerich
Classical Webwatch
'I'm a dilettante myself,' said Juliana Farha. The Canadian journalist nd daughter of a violin maker was explaining why she has launched Dilettante.com, a website that could be described as a classical music combination of Facebook and iTunes.'
'I'm as nervous as the next person about walking into HMV and asking a question,' she said. 'The internet is the perfect place for breaking down these barriers.'
She has put on the site a catalogue of information including composer biographies and record reviews licensed from All Media Guide, supplemented by chatrooms which she said had already attracted 'a few hundred' members from countries as far flung as Argentina and Brazil.
'The overriding goal is to create a community around classical music, not just a social network,' Ms Farha said. She intends to add a retail store at which users can sample and buy music. Dilettante.com also invites composers and performers to post links to their own websites and communicate with each other. It will offer a platform for 'students who graduate from college and are looking for an audience'. The first webcast, on 28 January, featured the Harpham Quartet playing Schubert.
Ms Farha is confident that advertising as well as music sales will provide revenue. 'There have already been approaches from advertisers keen to reach and audience of musicians, and we have not done any marketing yet.'
Midem News 28 January 2008 Web Debut for Dilettante
Myspace meets iTunes, with a classical music theme - that its Dilettante Music, which is making its first appearance at MIDEM.
"I'm a dilettante myself," said Juliana Farha, explaining why she set up the UK-based venture. The daughter of a violin maker, she felt the web needed a site "where novice and experienced classical music listeners can find each other". The site has a comprehensive catalogue of information about classical music reviews, provided by All Media Guide, and will soon have a retail store at which users can sample and buy recordings. Composers and unsigned musicians will also be able to post tracks on the site, Farha said.
The first in a series of webcasts by young musicians is due out tomorrow, featuring the Harpham Quartet playing Schubert.
Advertisers have already shown interest in taking space on the site, and several hundred members had signed up, from as far afield as China and Argentina, and were using the chat room as well as the archive.
La Scena Musicale ‘Newswire Blog' 24 January 2008 Wah Keung Chan
Dilettante is the first specialist classical music community on the Internet with tools for musicians, listeners and novices. The site aims to create a global network where classical musicians and fans can discover, present and share the music they love.
Why "Dilettante"? Dilettante comes from the Italian dilettare meaning "to delight", so a dilettante is anyone who enjoys the arts.
Why classical? Why now? Record industry sales figures show that classical is currently the fastest-growing genre of music, with digital downloads of classical music outpacing those of any other genre. Meanwhile, the demographic of classical music listeners is changing. Boasting a total listenership of 6.5million, the UK's ClassicFM recently reported a 52% increase in listeners under the age of 15 in a mere three-month period. As the Canadian news magazine Maclean's put it, "maybe classical music isn't dying, just relocating to the Internet."
Juliana Farha, the company's Canadian founder, was determined to use the Internet to revive the true spirit of dilettantism in music.
She says: "I was convinced that new listeners could discover classical music if they were given the right tools. Dilettante is designed to guide listeners on a journey through that often-daunting world". At the same time, Juliana wanted to support talented and committed young classical performers. "The best way to accomplish both was to help them find each other," she says.
The Site At the heart of the Dilettante site is an unprecedented level of integration between the members' network and music pages. The Dilettante music catalogue is enhanced by the web's most comprehensive data about classical performers, composers and their works; supplied by All Media Guide.
Web 2.0 tools enable classical music lovers and novices alike to harness the power of the Internet for covert exploration and discovery. Members of the Dilettante community create online profiles that:
- showcase their repertoire and influences -'fingerprint' (tag) music according to mood and other criteria - highlight other skills, such as composing or teaching - use blogs to share their news and views - link their profiles to their own recordings for sale in the Dilettante shop, powered by Amazon.
In the coming weeks, we'll be adding tools to enhance user profiles, including:
- mp3 uploads of musicians' own performances and compositions - a public events calendar, with concerts linked back to performer's profiles.
In addition, Dilettante will collaborate with producers to present classical music events in non-traditional venues.
These are the ingredients for a classical revolution; the only qualification to join is curiosity.
Rising Stars Webcast The Dilettante uprising begins with a series of webcasts featuring some of the UK's rising stars. On 28th January 2008, The Harpham Quartet are first in the spotlight. Recent music college graduates, these fantastic young musicians have already made their Wigmore Hall debut and been featured live on BBC London.
Wired Blog Network Eliot Van Buskirk 23 January, 2008
A Social Network For Classical Music Fans
Forget about all those dirty hippies on MySpace; they wouldn't know pianissimo from a glissando. Classical music enthusiasts who want to commune online need no longer rely on general-interest social networks or email groups. Dilettante, a new social network for classical music fans as well as professional and amateur players, aims "to create a bona fide classical music community online" to which the only barries to entry is a lack of curiosity.
Many people these days experience classical music only as comedic shorthand in films for "uptight old rich people having fun," but it can be truly powerful stuff. (As the stage manager for a classical orchestra during my teenage summers who was more into Beat Happening, Nirvana, and Stereolab at the time, I was impressed by this fact time and time again.)
In addition, classical music isn't just "classical"--it probably offers more variation than any other format. In other words, there may not be something for everybody, but there's a lot more for many people than they probably know, if that makes any sense.
So if you're just getting started with classical music, how do you find stuff you'll like? Dilettante provides a framework for your exploration (all of AMG's classical music data), and plans to surround that with a knowledgeable community to help show you the way. Ideally. they'd includes three free listens the way Last.fm does, but they are planning to add a download store--hopefully one that at least has free samples.
About the name. Dilettante the site tries to reclaim "dilettante" the word from its generally accepted meaning today ("a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge") and restore it to its earlier meaning, from the Latin "delectare" ("to delight - noun: a lover of an art or science, esp. of a fine art").
Tech Digest Posted January 22, 2008
Dilettante gives classical music a Web 2.0 spin
Much of the hype around Music 2.0 focuses on rock, hip-hop and dance music over other genres. However, UK startup Dilettante aims to change that providing a spangly Web 2.0 expeience that (it hopes) will turn younger web surfers into fans of classical music.
The Dilettante site launches officially next Monday, and is a social network for classical musicians and listeners alike, rolling in blogs, music tagging and an events calendar. There'll also be content, with musicians able to upload MP3s of their own performances, and plans for the site to put on live webcasts.
The site could be pushing at an open door: Dilettante says classical music is the fastest-growing digital music genre right now, with more and more young people discovering the genre for themselves. Insert your own 'swapping sex and violence for tenor sax and violins' joke here.
My only quibble is to wonder how many of those younger listeners would rather share their new-found passion through existing social networks (Facebook, Bebo, Myspace etc) rather than join a new one. Still, that's something we'll find out as Dilettante launches.
CBC Radio 2 Blog January 19, 2008 Li Robbins
Classical Networking
Courtesy of The Collaborative Piano blog, some nice links to classical music social networking sites. Now there are plenty of Facebook groups for this very purpose, but they tend to spring up, then wither away. Perhaps some of these that are not in Face will survive? The newbies are Klassikal Musik, which intends to be for "everyone in and around opera and classical music," and Dilettante Music, who state their goal as an attempt to "create a bona fide classical music community online." Go forth and network.
The Collaborative Piano Blog: Encounters with classical music, collaboration, chamber music, opera, administration, teaching, and technology.
January 16, 2008 Chris Foley
Dilettante Music: Another Classical Music Social Networking Site
A few weeks ago I mentioned Klassical Musik, a social networking site for classical musicians. Well, they're not alone--Dilettante Music has also recently launched. What is Dilettante?
an online classical music community that harnesses innovative and powerful technology to connect users with music, and with each other:
* Musicians can find the audience they need and the friends, fans and colleagues who support them. * Music lovers can find the music they want with a powerful and intuitive classical music search engine, supported by the most comprehensive data set available. * The curious can explore and discover new talent. * The newcomer can step gingerly into an otherwise daunting world with all the help they need.
Some of the features I've noticed are friending features (al la Facebook), user-created blogs, music listings (including a user's full bio, repertoire, favorites, instruments, skills, recordings, and influences), messaging, as well as downloads, which seem to be the monetization model for the site.
I've just joined this evening and it looks very slick indeed. One of the big differences from Klassikal Musik seems to be that new users are signing up with their real names, which points towards a networking model closer to what classical musicians are already doing with Facebok (event listings, groups, etc.). The new users list shows that a fair number of English musicians are currently signing up en masse. In fact, I just sent out a friend request to a couple of Brit violinists I recently played concerts with.
Will Dilettante become the LinkedIn of classical music? Only time will tell, with more features slated to be rolled out in the near furture.