The
DIMI, Department for the Italian Musical Innovation
is an Association, born in 1996 out of a project whose
aim was to merge together the formative and the professional
of musicians. The steering axis between formation
and profession is to work by using its own methodologies
and contents from the economic and entrepreneurial
areas, but it will always keep a right balance between
tradition and innovation, as well as a close relationship
with public institutions. We have decided to found
DIMI legally, after we have spotted the most suitable
people who were able to carry out this project and
we have made them the founders and members of the
directing council. The council includes: musicians
performing "classical" music, who have also developed
an ability to organize and direct human resources;
"public relations" representatives linked with the
EEC and entrepreneurial consultants, specialized in
"high-quality-systems".
The
project is based on the mergence, between the formative
and the productive aspect in the music field. Its
aim is to promote, through the its formation, a new
professional image of the musician, and to accomplish,
as to what concerns the productive aspect, a coordination
and organization of the musical profession, which
is to be broad and efficient. Furthermore, it would
like to suggest to reconsider music as an activity
which, though having a "handicraft" nature, should
become better adapted to the present methodologies
and rhythms and above all to the future ones.
The
plan of the project-idea is made up of the axis that
is concerned with both the traditional and the innovative
formation, of the axis that is concerned with the
organization and the coordination of the work and
the facilities and between them there is the steering
axis of the whole project. This represents an important
qualifying aspect, as it introduces new criteria for
management and functionality borrowed from the entrepreneurial
areas. Here solidity is a major element, and is to
act within the field of those activities which we
have already defined as "handicraft", not only because
of their nature but also because of their inefficient
management. The role of this axis is to accomplish
and solidify all the applications and activities within
the project. Particularly, in Italy we believe it
is necessary to start a mechanism that allows "classical"
music to evade the one- way route of "subvention".
In fact the government and the state institutions
in general, cannot afford to be the only source of
grants for artistic and cultural activities anymore.
They should begin to place themselves as a " fly-wheel"
for the enterprising in this field and to engage Sponsors
and potential supporters interested to bind their
own image with that of an appealing "testimonial"
such as "classical".
We
will now analyze the development of our suggestion.
THE
REASON FOR THE PROJECT
The present situation of music in Italy is
verging to rather serious conditions: it is a
well-known fact that it has been the object of
broad and thorough analyses for several years
now, even though researchers have not always been
able to group into an organic system the various
deficiencies related to the numerous segments
which make up "the musical universe". Another
notorious and real fact which can nowadays appear
to be quite rhetorical, is that Italy has produced
Schools, musicians, singers and instrumentalists
of exceptionally high standard, not to mention
the ones who have actually gone down in history,
and has dominated with its opera, royal courts
and theatres all over Europe for centuries. Furthermore,
until the ‘60s and ‘70s many Italian musicians
were achieving success on an international scale
and they were mostly flourishing within the fields
of opera-singing and conducting, particularly
within the area of operas. Whereas nowadays, due
to the swarming masses of students in Music Schools,
not only are there much fewer Italians present
on an the international scene, but above all the
pride and dignity of musical professions, appear
to be more and more meagre and precarious.
The
Department for the Italian Musical Innovation
wishes to propose itself as an organic and operative
structure which aims at removing some of the causes
of disorder. Being strongly convinced that there
still exists the so-called "Italian musical talent"
and that, by following suitable guidance principles
in the organization of the learning, working and
motivation, this talent can prove to possess the
necessary qualities of sacrifice and discipline
which are needed to heighten it. It is nevertheless
clear, that in Italy, even the music institutes,
as well as the other numerous educational areas
such as high-schools and Universities, feel the
lack of a delivery link between formation and
work. DIMI’s immediate objective is to place itself
as an organizational corner stone of both these
aspects, not only in order to improve the quality,
the quantity and the specialization of the performances
with regard to the market requirements, but also
to stimulate new requests and increase their number.
Our project is born because we felt the need to
move all the possible idealistic, intellectual,
operative and economic energies, to start are-qualification
of the formation and of the musical professions,
and to reply to the need of work of those individuals
who, after years of study, still have precarious
or non-existent wages, or wages which depend upon
activities for which they do not have any kind
of qualification. We are not expecting to be a
substitute for other Institutions which are set
out to do this work, but we would like wherever
possible to support them and help them to integrate
their routes. We are not expecting to compose
or even to fully understand the whole mosaic of
"the music universe", but nevertheless we do not
want to surrender to the sole use of words, to
the acquiescence or to the mere complaints. Therefore,
for this reason and because of our belief the
musical heritage has always been and will be always
a sign and an investment for the growth of civilization.
We would like to conclude by borrowing one of
A.Schönberg:
"Art
is the alarm of those who live within themselves
the destiny of humankind: of those who are not
content with it , but who try their strength
against it ; of those who do not obtusely serve
the motor called "obscure powers", but who throw
themselves in the moving mechanism, in order
to understand its structure……..".
THE
MERGENCES
The
idea of Global quality, which is DIMI’ s password,
envisages a co-operation with other National
and European organizations in order to co-ordinate
an efficient and widespread system which is
to monitor the evolution of the formation
and the work which our whole project aims.
For this reason, taking as our starting point
the concept of development and that of bringing
the strength idea into other musical associations,
DIMI wishes to propose itself as a structure
to unite all the operators who believe, as
we do, in the necessity of having active,
rather than theoretical changes, but maintaining
absolutely the quality and the prerogatives
of the project. We are certain to be moving
in the right direction, being convinced that
Italy is still a musical focus point, just
as in past centuries, it has been the home-land
of the musical talent which has dominated
Royal Courts all over Europe. DIMI’s staff
is always available to all structures which
would like further information on the name
of the Artistic Director, on High Committee
and on anything regarding DIMI and its meaning.
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