A little while ago, I mentioned that I was working on a manifesto-like set of ideas about the future of classical music, but they haven't quite reared their head. I have reams and reams of ideas on paper, filed nicely, but they are just too indomitable for me to really tackle in any meaningful way right now.
But they are informing my everyday work here in Berlin, and – like some kind of mutant academic – I am stress-testing these new ideas not with essays and theories, but with practical application.
In collaboration with Peter Tregear – himself an academic, having been lecturer at Cambridge University and until recently Dean of Melbourne University in Australia – I am test-launching MusBook.com later in the week, with the hope that we can properly launch to lots and lots of people before Christmas.
I won't waste time here explaining it in depth, other than to say it is a Global Social Network for Classical Music. The Global Social Network for Classical Music , we hope.
Two initial aims. 1) Create a global microeconomy for Classical music, and 2) Deinstitutionalize music education. Crazy? Possibly. Risky? Well… kind of. (we've already proved it works, so we're actually really confident). Addictive? I hope so!
Please check it out, send your comments, play around, tell us how to make it better.
http://www.musbook.com/