2012

In March 2011, Bill Drummond was supposed to lead a performance of Score 328: SURROUND around the top of the ancient city walls of Damascus. This was part of a tri-nation festival organised by Reel Festivals. The three nations were to be Syria, Lebanon and Scotland. The Lebanese and Scottish legs of the festival happened. The Arab Spring caused the Syrian leg to be postponed. It was also supposed to be part of The17's City-to-City world tour

While Syrians are slaughtered on their city streets and the world looks on wondering what it should do, Reel Festival have decided to organise a festival in waiting with the Syrian refugees and exiles who are currently living in London.

Bill Drummond plans to lead a performance of the same score as he was going to do in Damascus. This score is usually performed on the circumfrence of a five-kilometre circle. As stated above it was to be performed around the city walls of Damascus, which are also five kilometres in circumference. Drummond plans to draw the outline of the Damascus city walls on a map of London and then lead this particular performance following the outline on the streets of London. 

The 100 members of The17 that will be taking part in this performance will be drawn from the Syrian refugee and exile community in the UK.

Further information to follow.

Ragworts is the title of an exhibition at the Site Gallery by Bill Drummond. Ragworts are also a wild flower that can be seen growing up through the cracked pavements all over Sheffield at this time of year.

In  early May 2011, Drummond was the composer in residence for the Sensoria Festival in Sheffield. During this time he composed several site specific scores to performed in Sheffield. The Ragworts exhibition will be made up of several strands including performance, documentation and film - all based on his time as composer in residence within the city. There is also to be a book titled Ragworts that will be published to coincide with the exhibition.

Further details to follow

As part of Un-Convention: Uganda, Bill Drummond will be leading a number of performance by The17 in and around Kampala. This will be part of The17's Coast-to-Coast and City-to-City world tours.

Further information to follow.

Bill Drummond will be leading a performance of Score 328: SURROUND  as part of Infr'Action Paris. Infr'Action is an international live art festival that has happened in numerous cities around the globe.

This is also part of The17's City-to-City world tour.

Further information to follow

The17 will be performing the world premier of Score 4: AGE within the Curfew Tower. This will be part of The17's Coast-to-Coast world tour and part of the Heart Of The Glens Festival 2012.

Further information to follow.

The17 will be performing the world premier of Score 318: CONSIDER along latitude 36.1 degrees North between Kitty Hawk on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina and Lucia on the Pacific coast of California. This is part of The17's Coast-to-Coast world tour.

Further details to follow.

Neue Musik - Heute? is a symposium on the current situation of contemporary art music. Bill Drummond will be giving a presentation with Nobel Prize Winner, Elfriede Jelinek entitled How is the Public and non Public Dialogue?

The blurb translated from German into English for the symposium reads:

Contemporary music is now widely established, but still represents only a small segment of  the music market and the public media. The still noticeable elitist claim of contemporary music is increasingly at odds with current trends in artistic activities. Can the concept of contemporary music still be maintained today? What is exciting about contemporary music? What is behind the claim of artists who continually strive to create something new and unique? It is important to find a new understanding of contemporary art music in the context of today's changing values and the technical, medial and social changes and to question and possibly re-evaluate old categories and thinking structures to redraw boundaries between genres and social groups, as well as re-evaluate listening developments and music consumption habits.

Further information to follow.