“Let me draw your attention to the fact that many venues and platforms, new art spaces have been opened in recent years in Russia, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where concerts of contemporary music take place, contributing to increased interest of the public.“

Mehdi Hosseini takes us into the contemporary music scene of St. Petersburg and Russia, which despite a growing interest of the public, often stands in the shadow of classical music.

The Audio Foundation began in Zoe’s bedroom with a computer and a phone and grew from there. From online texts, chat rooms, noticeboards, gig guides to small events and concerts, to a venue, exhibitions, symposiums etc. The river brings and sustains life as it winds to the sea.

Jeff Henderson, director of the Audio Foundation, gives us insight into a tight-knit community of experimental music „on the way to antarctica“ – and beyond…

„On 9 September 1993 the city council replied with an unannounced, illegal and hurried attempt to demolish all Metelkova buildings with machines and wrecking balls. Ha! Exactly the opposite of what they promised! As a response to this quite unethical act, approximately 150 self-organised individuals occupied the Northern section of the Metelkova barracks.“

Amongst the group of people fighting to save what is now a famous and lively hub for creatives of all kinds in the centre of Ljubljana was also Nataša Serec. She would later found KUD Mreža, a network for experimental music at the Metelkova site. In our interview she tells us how the network came into being, about their concert series FriForma or the International Feminist and Queer Festival Red Dawns, and the changes over the years – and last months… 

We put a lot of focus on artistic exchange all over the world and it is certainly one of the reasons why I started CMMAS 15 years ago. Composers, performers, musicologists, creative people come to work here for a few months or a few weeks, then they also teach, do performances and community work around the centre. These interactions help our own students a lot, too.

Rodrigo Sigal introduces us to the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras – CMMAS, a network for contemporary music in Morelia, Mexico. With concerts, festivals, courses, residencies and much more it takes a large part in the vibrant musical scene of Morelia. In the interview he speaks about the different programmes, technological development and the lacking support by the Mexican government.