How to deal with cultural journalism from a type of music that has been progressively losing interest from the twenties? How to approach European traditional sounds from a context so different and distant as it is Cartagena? During the initial session of the music module of Gabriel García Márquez Fellowship in cultural jounalism, teachers Jonathan Levi and Hector Feliciano, in the company of nine journalists, began to seek answers to these and other questions related to the practice of journalism around the academic music.
To start solving the first point from the practice, the workshop participants shared the 400 introductory words of the texts they will develop along this week while the city celebrates the Cartagena Music Festival: different perspectives to the path of Diego Schissi, a young musician who claims not to interpret Argentine tangos but "tongos" taking away the undeniable legacy of Piazzolla, the journey of four centuries of a cello that comes with Mario Brunello to be played within the walls of Cartagena, a Profile of Santiago Canyon Colombian cello prodigy, and presentation of Rinaldo Alessandrini in the particular area of ‹Cerro de la Popa ... A variety orf registers, genres and themes that reflect both the diversity of the group of fellows, as the richness of the offer International Music Festival of Cartagena.
For now, we have heard just initial versions. In the words of Jonathan Levi, the definition of a well-made article is as simple as it is powerful: "A successful piece is one in which the reader begins and continues to the end." You need to hook, catch and release. As Hector Feliciano said: "Do not let air comes inside because everything could become gaseous."
The workshop participants are challenged to follow that path and radical departure from certain types of notes copied and pasted from the press releases, a common practice in countries such as Italy and Colombia, and that much of a younger generation begins to be confused with cultural journalism. In this regard, teachers argue that the richness of the descriptions, details, a powerful story and the force of history make the difference. What is unique about this character? Why is it necessary for someone to go to the concert by that artist? The long trajectories with their glittering awards lists alone do not respond to that question. There must be something more, something exceptional that deserves a journalist devote your time to that character and the audience to his music.
Finding that something is not a simple exercise. Additionally research requires the antennas maintain alert. Added to this is a further difficulty in this case: many of the workshops have no depth knowledge of classical music. It is true that knowing how to read music represents a substantial advantage for this type of journalism. However, there is another way to address this gap and is part of the answer to Jonathan Levi offers one of the initial questions: "The fact that there is a classical music festival in a city like Cartagena demonstrates what can make a new sound in an environment that has never existed. The public is fresh, it's new. He approaches this music for the first time. Perhaps that lack of background are better prepared for the experience".
Are those fresh ears makers provide substantial information to the followers of this genre and to bridge the gap between the public and music still distant for many.
See here for the article published in the Ibero-American Cultural Journalism