Global perspectives on the 'orchestra'

(Tina K. Ramnarine – Royal Holloway)

Project overview | Project narrative | Workshops | Outputs

Outputs

Much of the project leader's initial thinking for this project is published as an article in the journal Ethnomusicology Forum ('The orchestration of civil society: community and conscience in symphony orchestras', Volume 20, Issue 3, 2011). The abstract states:

This essay explores the symphony orchestra's potential to contribute to the making of civil society. It highlights orchestral attempts to reach new communities through repertoire choices, outreach projects, interactive digital technologies, and initiatives addressing poverty and environmentalism. Metaphors of the 'orchestra as society', which have been shaped by notions of social relations, are outlined to provide a platform for considering the institution as a social agent in the contemporary world. The social conscience of symphony orchestras is illustrated with ethnographic case-studies mainly from the British context - the CBSO’s tribute concerts for the qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Rafi Resurrected recordings, the LSO Gamelan community project and the Philharmonia’s digital project, Re-Rite. Orchestral advocacy and the quest for contemporary social relevance stand in contrast to pessimistic views in the late twentieth century on the future of the orchestra as a musical institution. Key concerns are the symphony orchestra as a socio-political actor, orchestral interaction as a mode of civic collaboration and orchestral participatory projects.

Other publications very briefly note orchestral matters, e.g. orchestral arrangements in the Caribbean of Indian film songs ('Music in circulation between diasporic histories and modern media: exploring sonic politics in two Bollywood films Om Shanti Om and Dulha Mil Gaya' in South Asia Diaspora Journal 2011). Various conference papers have been given in relation to this project, notably a keynote at the 'Symphony orchestra as cultural phenomenon' conference, University of Leeds in association with the Institute of Musical Research, University of London (July 2010). A second article and an edited book project will emerge at later stages of the project.