About Norient http://norient.com/about Network for Local and Global Sounds and Media Culture Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:03:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 Thomas Burkhalter http://norient.com/about/en/thomasburkhalter/ http://norient.com/about/en/thomasburkhalter/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:43 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=144 Editor-in-chief Ethnomusicologist, Cultural Journalist - Bern, Switzerland]]>

Dr. Thomas Burkhalter [*1973], an ethnomusicologist, music journalist and cultural producer from Bern (Switzerland), runs the research project «Global Niches – Music in a transnational World» at the Zurich University of the Arts. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of norient – Network for Local and Global Sounds and Media Culture. He produced and tours with the audio-visual performances «Sonic Traces: From the Arab World», «Sonic Traces: From Switzerland» and co-directed the documentary film «Buy More Incense» (2002) about Indian and Pakistani musicians of second and third generation in the UK.

His dissertation «Creating Sense out of Chaos: New Sounds from Beirut« researched empirically experimental and popular music in Lebanon (University of Bern and Oldenburg, 2009). His book «Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut» is going to be published by Routledge in 2013. Burkhalter wrote academic and journalistic articles and produced radio features on music, culture and politics in Beirut, Istanbul, Cairo, Bamako, Duschanbe, Belgrade and other cities for academic journals, books, Swiss and German newspapers, magazines and radio stations (e.g. Popular Music and Society, New Zurich Newspaper, Swiss National Radio DRS2, Die Zeit, SWR2).

As a curator and concert organiser (e.g. norient Musikfilm Festival), curator of CD-Compilations (e.g. «Golden Beirut: New Sounds from Lebanon», Outhere Records), cultural funder (music committee of the Canton of Bern, Switzerland (since 2010), committee of ArtLink, and board of trustees of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, 2002-2010), and tour agent (Bhangra band DCS, 2002-2004), he is trying to gain more and more knowledge about the processes of musical practise and distribution in today’s globalized, digitalized and urbanized world.

Link: Posts by Thomas Burkhalter on norient.com.

Books

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2013. Local Music Scenes and Globalization – Transnational Platforms in Beirut. New York: Routledge.

Burkhalter, Thomas und Theresa Beyer (Hrsg.). 2012. Out of the Absurdity of Life – Globale Musik. Solothurn: Traversion

Articles (Selection)

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. „Between Art for Art’s Sake, and Musical Protest. How Musicians from Beirut react to War and Conflict.“ In. Popular Music and Society. February 2011, Vol 34, No.1. p 55-78.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Digitalisierung und Musik: Fokus Arabische Welt. In: Dominik Landwehr, Veronika Sellier: Kultur digital: Begriffe, Hintergründe, Beispiele. Merian Verlag.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Avantgarde Musik in Beirut: Weg vom Lokalkolorit! Oder doch nicht?. In: Alenka Barber-Kersovan, Harald Huber, Alfred Smudits (Hrsg.): West Meets East. Musik im interkulturellen Dialog. Schriftenreihe “Musik und Gesellschaft” Band 29. Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Playing music saved us from going nuts’ – The Role of Childhood Trauma in the Sound Works of Beiruti Artists of the Lebanese War Generation. In Fred Maus (ed.) Essais on Trauma and Music. (Wesleyan University Press) ( in Produktion)

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Im Rhythmus der Revolution – Politik und Musik in der Arabischen Welt. In der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung. 23.3.2011 – und auf norient.com.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. Frauenrollen und Popmusik in der arabischen Welt: Von unantastbaren Starsängerinnen, Models in Unterwäsche und selbstbewussten Musikerinnen, in: Dietrich Helms, Thomas Phleps (Hrsg), Thema Nr. 1: Sex und Populäre Musik, Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, Beiträge zur Popularmusikforschung Band 37, 2010, S. 189-200

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. Weltmusik 2.0: Musikalische Positionen zwischen Spass- und Protestkultur. In: Dissonance 112. 2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. World Music 2.0: Between fun and protest culture. In: Near East Quarterly Issue II, November 2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. The Aesthetical Approaches of «Avantgarde» Sound-Artists in Beirut. Bahithat (Lebanese Association of Women Researchers) Vol. 14. März 2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. “Tarek Atoui – or: Reflections on the New Musical Avant-Gardes of the 21. Century”. In Indicated by Signs. Bonner Kunstverein, Goethe Institute Kairo.

Radio Emissions (Selection)

Burkhalter, Thomas 2011. Musik und Religion (2/2): Islamische Musik in Kairo. Schweizer Radio DRS2. 4.11.2011.

Burkhalter, Thomas 2011. Musik und Religion (1/2): Christliche Musik in Beirut und Kairo. Schweizer Radio DRS2. 28.10.2011.

Burkhalter, Thomas 2011. Klangspuren der arabischen Welt. Schweizer Radio DRS. 26.10.2011.

Burkhalter, Thomas 2011. Murray Schafer – Soundscape Aktivismus und Komposition. Schweizer Radio DRS2. 23.3.2011.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2011. Musik in der Schweiz. Mal anders. Schweizer Radio DRS2. 25.2.2011

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. «Soundscape Forschung: Interkulturell» Schweizer Radio DRS2. 17.9.2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. «Über Geräusche die Welt deuten: Eine Soundscape Konferenz in Koli». Bayerischer Rundfunk. 5.9.2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. «Des Teufels Amboss: Psychedelische Musik in der Arabischen Welt». SWR2, 29.7.2010.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2010. «Mixtape Südafrika». SWR2. 11.6.2010

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2009. «Wir sind keine Satanisten: Metal in Libanon» SWR2 Dschungel. 14.9.2009.

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2007. Neue Musik von den Rändern der Welt. Schweizer Radio DRS2 15.6.2007 (Zweitaustrahlung 24.8.2007)

Burkhalter, Thomas. 2007. Zwischentöne aus Mali: Griotmusik im Weltmusikmarkt. Schweizer Radio DRS 2 (13.4.2007) Hessischer Rundfunk (7.4.2007) SWR2 (15.10.2007)

CV

Download CV from Thomas Burkhalter (December 2012)

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/thomasburkhalter/feed/ 0 Theresa Beyer http://norient.com/about/en/theresa-beyer/ http://norient.com/about/en/theresa-beyer/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:27:14 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=510 Editor Web Ethnomusicologist and Journalist – Bern, Switzerland]]> Theresa Beyer is ethnomusicologist and journalist. After her A levels in Leipzig (Germany) she attended the bi-national Bachelor German-Italian Studies in Bonn (Germany), Florence (Italy) and Neuchâtel (Switzerland). In line with the ethnomusicologic project between the Center for Worldmusic (University of Hildesheim) and the Cairo Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate she digitised coptic-orthodox hymns in Cairo (summer 2009). As master-grantee, she finished her studies in «Cultural Anthropology of Music» at the Berne Institute of Musicology (2011). There, with a scholarship from the Mariann Steegmann Foundation, she is currently carrying-out a doctorate on the subject of gender dynamics in Swiss-German Hip Hop and folk (supervisor: Prof. Dr. Britta Sweers). Other research topics are political singer-songwriters in the GDR and today‘s East Germany as well as queer-feminist music-movements in Europe.

As a free journalist she is writing – amongst others – for ‘Berner Zeitung’ and the ‘Swiss Music Revue’ and produces radio shows for Radio RaBe. Further she is involved in the ‘ForumMusicDiversity’. As norient editor and contributor Theresa works since 2012.

Links: Articles by Theresa Beyer on norient.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/theresa-beyer/feed/ 0 Michael Spahr http://norient.com/about/en/michaelspahr/ http://norient.com/about/en/michaelspahr/#comments Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:30:21 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=194 Editor Web Filmmaker, Artist, Journalist - Bern, Switzerland]]> Michael Spahr (VJ Rhaps) is an artist, filmmaker and radiojournalist. He works for norient.com as web editor, as co-director of the Norient Musikfilm Festival and contributes with his video art to the audio-visual scientific media performance series Sonic Traces.
He studied history in Bern and Amsterdam (MA 1998). Afterwards he started working for video production companies and TV stations. Since 2003 he is a freelance film director and media artist. Since 2010 he also works as news editor at the independent radio station RaBe.
In his artistic work he creates video collages by manipulating and animating photos and calligraphy. His work is often interdisciplinary, interactive and is performed in real-time. He produces audio-visual live shows and interactive backdrops for concerts, theatre plays and art performances. His video art is shown in galleries all over the world.
He lives and works in Bern (Switzerland).

Links: Website, Posts on norient.com.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/michaelspahr/feed/ 0 Simon Grab http://norient.com/about/en/simongrab/ http://norient.com/about/en/simongrab/#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:52:54 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=200 Audio Producer Musician, Sound Engineer - Zurich, Switzerland]]> Simon Grab [*1971] has been an active musician and producer in a wide range of musical contexts.

In the earlier days as a guitarist, he’s been touring with aligaga and other punk bands. With the duo ‘the wonderful world of chamberplants’ he played live drum’n’bass and jungle gigs, produced lots of experimental electronics, radioplays and weird pop songs. With the peruvian bandleader Gustavo Delux and some wild brasilian percussionists he added his beats and sounds to the live Reggaeton. Since 2003 he spends quite some time in Westafrica as a producer (Math Doly) and sounddesigner for theatre.

As a co-founder of ganzerplatz he produces music and sounddesign for film, theatre and commercials.

Besides his own musical activities he organises and curates experimental music projects as rough and ready electronics, Homemade Sound Electronics, and From Analog to Digital / A2D (check out the videos). Other collaborations include the clubnights ‘motherland – music from urban africa‘ and ‘sonic traces‘ by norient.
He shares his knowledge at the radioschool Klipp & Klang , the Zurich University of Arts, and the school for audio engineering SAE Zurich.

Links: Website, Posts on norient.com.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/simongrab/feed/ 0 Agnes Hofmann http://norient.com/about/en/agnes-hofmann/ http://norient.com/about/en/agnes-hofmann/#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:08:11 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=452 Fundraiser, Editor Project Manager - Bern, Switzerland]]> Agnes Hofmann arbeitet seit Jahren in kleinen und grossen kulturellen, sozialen und politischen Projekten.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/agnes-hofmann/feed/ 0 Academic Journal http://norient.com/about/en/academic-journal/ http://norient.com/about/en/academic-journal/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:31:40 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=431 &

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/academic-journal/feed/ 0 David-Emil Wickström http://norient.com/about/en/davidemilwickstrom/ http://norient.com/about/en/davidemilwickstrom/#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:16:11 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=205 Editor-in-chief Academic Journal Ethnomusicologist - Mannheim, Germany]]> David-Emil Wickström (born 1978 in Bergen, Norway) studied Scandinavian studies, musicology and ethnomusicology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the University of Bergen. In 2003 he completed his candidatus philologiae degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Bergen with a thesis on the revival of Norwegian traditional vocal music and the Ragnar Vigdal tradition. Funded in part by a fieldwork grant from the DAAD he spent 18 months doing fieldwork in the popular music scene of St. Petersburg for his PhD from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2009 he was employed as a phd fellow and from 2009 until 2010 as a research assistant at the University of Copenhagen. In September 2009 he successfully defended his dissertation on Post-Soviet popular music in St. Petersburg and Berlin. He currently administrates the Bachelor degree program “Pop Music Design” at the Pop Academy Baden-Württemberg – University for Popular Music and Music Business in Mannheim, Germany.

Links: Website, Posts on norient.com.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/davidemilwickstrom/feed/ 0 Oliver Seibt http://norient.com/about/en/oliverseibt/ http://norient.com/about/en/oliverseibt/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 23:29:25 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=340 Editor Academic Journal Ethnomusicologist - Heidelberg, Germany]]> Oliver Seibt studied ethnomusicology, cultural anthropology and Japanese studies at the University of Cologne. After completing his studies with an M.A. thesis on the domestication of popular music in Japan he worked as a freelancer for the market research department of EMI Music Germany and as teaching assistant in ethnomusicology at the universities of Cologne and Berne. His Ph.D. thesis entitled “Der Sinn des Augenblicks: Überlegungen zu einer Musikwissenschaft des Alltäglichen” (“Reflections on a Musicology of the Everyday”) was accepted by the University of Music and Drama Hannover and recently published by transcript. He is currently working as a post-doc researcher for the Cluster “Asia and Europe in a Global Context” at the University of Heidelberg on a project on the reasons for the unparalleled success of Japanese visual-kei in Europe.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/oliverseibt/feed/ 0 Julio Mendívil http://norient.com/about/en/julio-mendivil/ http://norient.com/about/en/julio-mendivil/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:09:43 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=645 Editor Academic Journal Ethnomusicologist - Nettetal, Germany]]> Julio Mendívil, reúne en su repertorio la música con sus investigaciones musicológicas y su pasión por la literatura. A través de un recorrido por los diversos estilos musicales de las regiones altas de Perú y Bolivia, el músico, escritor y etnomusicólogo peruano nos cuenta la historia de los instrumentos de cuerdas en el mundo andino, desde su llegada en manos de los conquistadores hasta su inserción en la mitología indígena contemporánea. Acompañado por músicos de diversas escuelas y de diversos países, Julio Mendívil nos ofrece un espectáculo único y ameno en el que se funde la música con ese lenguaje cargado de melancólica ironía con que las plumas de América Latina han cautivado el mundo.

www.juliomendivil.de.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/julio-mendivil/feed/ 0 Jesse Wheeler http://norient.com/about/en/jessewheeler/ http://norient.com/about/en/jessewheeler/#comments Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:42:11 +0000 Norient http://norient.com/about/?p=217 Editor Academic Journal Musician, Ethnomusicologist - Sao Paolo, Brazil]]> 2. Jesse Samba Wheeler, a.k.a. “oi nellie!”
3. Musician, ethnomusicologist, photographer and sound designer.
3. Lives in Brazil.
1. Mostly just another human being, in some other place.

]]> http://norient.com/about/en/jessewheeler/feed/ 0