mediation
Contemporary music has always fascinated me. Beyond performing it, I am deeply committed to making it more accessible. Contemporary music is not just “noise.” Even when it may sound like it, there is always meaning behind it: a political, philosophical, emotional, or existential message.
I served as Education & Outreach Manager at Ensemble Contrechamps (Geneva) between 2016 and 2020.
Keywords:
Contemporary Music
Pedagogy
Project Management
Main Responsibilities:
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Designing, managing, and leading outreach activities: workshops, concerts, conferences, etc.
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Setting up and developing collaborations with cultural institutions
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Writing texts and educational materials
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Production management
New Initiative: Contemporary Music, Questions and Dialogue
Seeking to connect with audiences and respond to their questions, Ensemble Contrechamps introduced a new opportunity: meeting Joëlle Mauris, Education & Outreach Manager, during the intermission or after concerts. She was available to both seasoned music lovers and newcomers to provide keys for understanding the works performed, and to open up discussion.
“I would be delighted to share your reactions and exchange thoughts about the pieces performed, as well as contemporary music in general. Come and join me!”
— Joëlle Mauris, Outreach Manager
(Contrechamps Newsletter, January 2017)
Editorial (2017–2018 Season Brochure)
Contemporary music can intrigue, fascinate, disturb, annoy, or simply provoke questions. To approach this repertoire, it is sometimes helpful to know the sources of inspiration of the composers, which may stem from a profound need to respond to political, philosophical, or existential concerns.
Eager to engage with audiences and respond to their questions, Contrechamps now invites you to meet its Education & Outreach Manager during the intermission or at the end of concerts. She is available to provide useful keys for understanding the works, or simply to open an informal conversation about the vast world of contemporary music. Encounters, dialogue, sharing: this is the very essence of music, since the dawn of time.
In addition, join us for instrument presentations, concerts for children, workshops, and conferences! Or discover various activities in Geneva’s museums: because it is also through different artistic expressions, illuminating one another, that contemporary music, synonymous with “the classical music of today”, invites you to take a poetic look at the world around us.
— Joëlle Mauris
Editorial (2018–2019 Season Brochure)
— Contemporary music, who are you?
— I am today’s Western classical music.
— They say you are serious, intellectual…
— Yes, I can be very intellectual and very serious, but I can also be playful, humorous, surprising. I can even inspire wonder.
Contemporary music can indeed inspire wonder, surprise, seduction, and curiosity, from toddlers in daycare to adults in the concert hall. In the end, it has only one condition: listening.
Mediation in Contemporary Music
The term mediation may sound theoretical, even reductive, and yet it opens up a universe of possibilities. Its aim is not to interpret but to guide. Mediation does not only occur between the public and the artists; it is present in every stage of creation. At each step, a message must be conveyed and reinterpreted: from the composer to the score, from the score to the musician, from the musician to the audience.
One of the missions of Contrechamps—its musicians, its artistic director, and its Education & Outreach Manager—is to share emotions with audiences, to introduce children and adults to the vast world of contemporary music, to awaken curiosity, to spark reflection and critical thinking about our society. This is achieved not only through concerts, but also through conferences, school workshops, educational concerts, and exchanges of all kinds—always with enjoyment as the guiding principle.
“When a sound annoys you, listen to it.” — John Cage
— Joëlle Mauris, Education & Outreach Manager