Big Bang Seminar Tallinn 2020
Friday, 20^th March
11:00–19:00
National Library of Estonia (Tõnismägi 2, Tallinn)

Eesti Kontsert and ASSITEJ Estonian Center present:

“MUSIC AND THEATER FOR YOUNG VIEWERS: AWARENESS, QUALITY, AND COOPERATION WITH SCHOOLS AND KINDERGARTENS”

Moderated by Reigo Ahven

The seminar aims to introduce contemporary ways and methods to create projects for young audiences and to talk about art for children and young people in educational institutions. Teachers, especially drama and music teachers and class leaders, hobbyists, musicians, theater makers, and parents are welcome to attend the seminar.

The seminar will take place on the ASSITEJ World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People.

PROGRAM

10:30 Registration and coffee

11:00–11:15 Moderator introduction

11:15–11:45 Wouter Van Looy – founder and artistic director of Zonzo Compagnie and Big Bang (Belgium)
Big Bang Festival: An adventurous music festival for young audiences

BIG BANG shifts the boundaries of music projects addressed to young audiences. What is the philosophy behind BIG BANG? What is the glue between all its 14 festivals in Europe and Canada? Wouter Van Looy will speak about the ideas behind this project and about challenges and traps in creating and programming music projects for children.

11:45–12:30 Ana Luísa Veloso and Gustavo Costa – Association Sonoscopia (Portugal)
Talk: Rethinking Music, Rethinking Education: The Case of Sonoscopia

Focusing on the principle of music as organized sound and the work developed at Sonoscopia Associação, this talk discusses several approaches to artistic development and music education. Through practical examples from Sonoscopia´s works, we will introduce inclusive strategies to enhance listening and awareness to music-making with any given sound source. www.sonoscopia.pt

12:30–12:50 Coffee break

12:50–13:20 Aline Goffin – theatre actress, singer and voice actress (Belgium)
My Big Bang Journey (1999-2019)

Aline Goffin has been participating in several Big Bang festivals as a performer during the last 20 years. She will give an insight on her Big Bang journey from being a 10-year-old in the children’s choir of Czech violinist and singer Iva Bittová to performing with a full band in the big Opera halls in 2019. https://www.transparant.be/en/artists/alinegoffin

13:20 – 13:45 Heli Ernits – oboe and English horn, member of the Duo Telluur (Estonia)
The concert-performance “The World Of The Sleep Fairy”, challenges with the new production for Big Bang Tallinn 2019.

13:45–14:30 Lunch

14:30–15:00 Fragments of 2 + 2 = 22 – Zuga

15:00–15:20 Kaido Rannik – Miksteater, ASSITEJ Estonia
The Impact of Theater on Young Viewers

Kaido Rannik will introduce some of the scientific researches from the world about the impact of theatre for young audiences, which is not researched in Estonian universities yet. Inspiring results can equally motivate theatre makers, critics, and educational workers.

15:20–15:40 Peter Duncan – circus trainer (UK)
Circus as an effective tool in the fields of art and education

Peter Duncan is an experienced circus trainer based in the UK with a reputation for engaging innovative and fast-paced training to look at Circus as a way of promoting inclusion and creativity. He is working with the social circus and physical literacy, developing confidence and competence among young people. He also has examples of scientific research on the value of Circus like case studies and examples of Integrated Circus from the world.

15:40–16:50 Discussion panel: concerts and performances for educational institutions
Responsibility, Choices and Quality

How to increase better cooperation between educational institutions and professional artists? How can ministries support children and young people to become more creative in their environment? Who takes the responsibility what the young audiences see, hear, feel and learn in theatre and music? In the discussion, we try to answer these and many more questions related to theatre and music productions made for children and young people in nowadays world with experts and practitioners from different cultural institutions, schools, and kindergartens.

Kirsten Simmo (Estonian Theater Agency)

Margit Salmar (Folk Culture Center)

Ülle Lehtmäe (Eesti Kontsert)

Tuuli Potik (Estonian National Opera)

Allan Kress (ASSITEJ Estonian Center)

Külli Arand (Estonian Teachers Association)

Mairy Perman (Estonian Kindergarteners Association)

16:50 Closing remarks

Speakers:

Wouter Van Looy is a highly active player in international music, opera and music theatre world.

He is the founder of Zonzo Compagnie which realized innovating projects and productions in the field of music and music theater for young audiences. Zonzo Compagnie is the driving force behind BIG BANG, an adventurous music festival for young audiences that are yearly active in 13 European cities and the Canadian capital Ottawa and received the EFFE award in 2015 as Europe’s most innovative festival.

Wouter Van Looy is also resident stage director at the Belgian company Muziektheater Transparant where he is co-artistic director. As stage director he premiered recently in Germany (Staatsoper Berlin and Ruhr Triennial), Switzerland (Luzerner Theater and Zürich Theaterspektakel), Mexico (Musica y Escena), France (Opéra de Lille), Portugal (Centro Cultural de Bélem), Holland (Holland Festival), Austria (Bregenzer Festspiele), Italy (Teatro Comunale di Bologna), Belgium (deSingel, Concertgebouw Brugge, hetpaleis) and elsewhere.

Sonoscopia is an association that creates, produces and promotes artistic and educational projects, focused on experimental music, sound research and its interdisciplinary intersections. Since its inception in 2011, Sonoscopia has produced over 600 events, art projects, educational activities, and publications. Some of its most noteworthy projects are Phonambient, INsono, Phobos – Orquestra Robótica Disfuncional e Phonopticon.

Gustavo Costa has studied percussion, music technology, sonology, composition, and music theory. Holds a Ph.D. in Digital Media at FEUP, Porto on the subject of expressiveness and interactivity in computer music. His work as a musician and composer is based around underground counterculture, improvised and electroacoustic music. He is currently an assistant professor at Aveiro University, Portugal and ESMAE, Porto.

Ana Luísa Veloso (Guitarist, Graduation in Music education, Porto College of education, 2005, Ph.D. in Music Education, Aveiro University, 2012) is a postdoctoral research fellow at CIPEM where she has been developing several research projects in the areas of musical creativity, informal learning, and music, personal and social transformation. She is a member of Sonoscopia, a member of the board of directors of the Portuguese Association of Music education and director of the Portuguese Journal of Music education.

Aline Goffin is a Flemish theatre actress, singer and voice actress. Aline Goffin was vocally trained by Anu Junnonen and attended workshops with Claron McFadden and David Moss. She studied Kleinkunst (cabaret) at the Herman Teirlinck Institute and Complete Vocal Technique at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen. In addition to this, she has a bachelor’s degree in Dutch, Theater, film- and literature studies and a master’s degree in Theatre & Film studies.

As a voice actress, she interpreted many leading roles in dubbed animation movies, such as Frozen, Despicable Me, The Incredibles & Alice in Wonderland. Because of this experience in combination with her language studies she also works as a translator for animated tv-series.

Furthermore, Goffin is mostly active in music theatre. She works with companies such as Zonzo Compagnie (Staring Girl, Slumberland, Songs with Roots,…) and Muziektheater Transparant, for which she did among others The Girl, The boy and the river and There Is No Why Here, a co-production with the Opera of Bologna (Italy). Recently she started her own musical theatre company Kopseer with whom she’s touring through Flanders with the performance Als alles kan, kan niets kapot (If everything’s possible, nothing is broken).

As a singer-songwriter of the “indie-folk with a jazzy twist” project ALONG A LINE, she released an album called Shh. in October 2016 with Lc Music. Now she is working as a writer and singer of the new synth-pop band ivori moss. Also as a backing vocal Goffin has worked for several Belgian artists among others An Pierlé, Soetkin Baptist and Wigbert Van Lierde.

Since 2013 she has been teaching children and adults in singing and theatre.

Heli Ernits is an Estonian oboe and English horn player, an active chamber musician, who’s repertoire shows an interest in introducing the works of Estonian composers to the wider audience. She has cooperated with several musicians and is the founder member of Woodwind Quintet Estica. Since 2009 she is a member of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Heli has studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (master’s degree 2010 and since 2011 doctoral studies). Also, Heli has improved her skills at Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (Bachelor diploma) with Prof. Thomas Indermühle (2006-2009) and at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock with Prof Gregor Witt (2014). She has won the 1st prize at the IV International Competition „Jūrmala 2008“, II prize on the Competition for Estonian Wind Instrumentalists in 2008 and 2012. In 2010 Heli was the laureate of the special prize of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra at the Competition for Young Estonian Soloists and gained an opportunity to play as a soloist with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

Kaido Rannik is a leader, director, and actor from Miksteater and a board member in ASSITEJ Estonia.

Peter Duncan is an experienced circus trainer based in the UK.