He will therefore benefit from reading the results of the big investigation we are going to carry out among young people, addressing first of all student brass players, amateur or professional, so that they may send us their criticisms and suggestions on the subjects of
— teaching (pupil-teacher relations)
— the literature (educational, concert, orchestral)
— musical trends in brass (Baroque, brass band, jazz, light music, avant-garde etc.)
— the institutions (music colleges, academies, schools etc.; associations, professional bodies, unions etc.)
— equipment (instruments etc.)
young professional musicians who are looking for a job in an orchestra: they should send us their criticisms and suggestions on the subjects of
— the competitive system of appointments (invitations, auditions etc.)
— the responsibility of teachers, institutions etc. (value of diplomas, preparation for the career etc.)
— equipment
brass players who intend to teach
They should send us their criticisms and suggestions on the subjects of
— working conditions in the institutions
— teaching programmes
— the overall system
— equipment
brass players who have just started careers as orchestral musicians
They should send us their criticisms and suggestions on the subjects of
— their relations with the «old» brass players in the orchestra
— the general working conditions
— equipment (chosen by them or imposed on them)
amateur brass players
They should send us their criticisms and suggestions on the subjects of
— the situation of young non-professional brass players
— the literature available to them
— the prospects of development in music for amateurs
— musical institutions reserved for amateurs
The best articles will be published complete and the writers recompensed as follows:
- publication of a feature portrait (text and photograph) on a whole page in Brass Bulletin
- a voucher worth 200 Swiss francs for Editions BIM for literature (brass scores)
The editors will publish articles using extracts from texts by different writers with the same views (the writer of each extract will be named).
The editors will select the articles according to the quality of their criticism and the originality of their suggestions.
They reserve the right to exclude texts or passages whose contents could be offensive or hurtful to others.
Young musicians interested in this call are invited to send us their articles right away, without worrying too much about the quality of language; if necessary, we will correct them.
I hope that this initiative will permit a better understanding of the musical environment in which musicians live and that young people's view of the "brass establishment" will produce a constructive exchange of ideas and values.
JPM
*In the same way, for example, as when nowadays a professional brass player uses an alphorn to advance his career. Technically he so outclasses the shepherds and peasants that they get a complex about it and don't dare play it any more...
**Jazz musicians have not come off much better: — the packaging has suffocated the contents; the institutions have got hold of this stimulating, exhilarating music and turned it into something completely academic and structured. Jazz has been conquered by an industry which knows how to exploit it and feed it to a subjugated younger generation.