With its rich, unique tradition, New Music in Germany is one of the most dynamic areas of contemporary art today. Yet only a small fraction of culturally interested audiences recognize it as such. If we wish to support New Music as one of Germany's vital cultural practices, it is crucial to present its entire spectrum of diversity and productivity to the public. In order to anchor New Music more firmly in public cultural life, the Federal Cultural Foundation will fund a selection of model projects from 2007 to 2011 which aim to strengthen and promote New Music.

For the next four years these projects should explore innovative ways of promoting New Music, cross the boundaries of New Music as it is currently perceived and build a network between its participants. The NMN hopes to encourage far-reaching promotional concepts for New Music today which pave the way for its complete integration into musical life tomorrow. They should set benchmarks of quality and originality in their programmes, as well as in their structures of organization and production. The NMN wishes to bundle the most diverse approaches and measures of New Music promotion in a reasonable and forward-looking programmatic manner.
The projects should fall under the responsibility of a stable network of various institutions and participants in an entire region who jointly strive to establish a permanent, high-level and audience-building relationship to New Music. Another important goal of the NMN is to establish contacts between local, but often unaffiliated organizations, and in so doing, encourage a new, stronger productivity in New Music activities. They should have a lasting effect, at best, beyond the period of FCF funding and be regionally co-financed by public and/or private-sector sources.

Following a two-phased application process, the New Music Network curatorial panel awarded funding to 15 projects from all around Germany on November 9, 2007. These projects all have the potential to create stable, long-term networks on a regional basis and creatively introduce New Music to a larger segment of the population.

The selected projects will take place in the following cities and regions - listed from north to south: Kiel, Hamburg, Oldenburg/ Bremen, Lüneburg/ Hannover, Berlin, Essen, Moers, Dresden, Cologne, Neuwied/ Mainz/ Kaiserslautern, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart conurbation, Passau, Augsburg and Freiburg.

The New Music Network project office will support the projects both artistically and organisationally. Furthermore, it will build a network of communication for these model projects across Germany and serve as an additional public relations platform.

All the projects funded through the New Music Network were introduced at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin on November 26, 2007. Over 70 NMN participants, coordinators and cooperative partners were there to present their projects and discuss the tasks and goals of the New Music Network.

In the coming year, the NMN project office will advise the projects in artistic and organizational matters. Furthermore, it will serve as a representational platform and establish a network of communication for all the projects in Germany.

Please note that project proposals are no longer being accepted for the New Music Network.

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