The current Multimod Festival for Composer-Performer has evolved from a research project of the same name that was conducted at the Geneva Haute école de musique. Our team’s goal was to unite various contemporary composition and performance practices under a common conceptual and practical framework, drawing on the theory of multiple or plural modernities as its foundation.
According to this theory, instead of the concept of a monolithic and homogenous history of modernity, we are facing a “continual constitution and reconstitution of a multiplicity of cultural programs” (Eisenstadt, 2000). Multiple modernities concept is an inclusive theory that takes into account new geography in creation, which is not only characterized by multiple cultural locations, but also multiple origins and aesthetic fundaments on which these modernities are based. Accordingly, we think that the logical consequence of multiple modernities theory is an acknowledgment of a culturally decentered world.
Using this idea as a starting point, this festival will present and explore musical works primarily created by composers-performers based on a larger, international and multifaceted overview of modernity. We will offer a variety of concerts, master classes, workshops and lectures. We believe that it represents a unique opportunity for adventurous artists, students and scholars to examine and experience the transforming world of artistic creativity in the crosscurrents of improvisation, written-out composition, multimedia and research. The second edition of the festival will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, and will be produced by the Guarnerius Institute.