Here is an article that appeared in this months edition of Muso Magazine
that I think the group may be interested to know about.

   MUSICAL MAVERICK

   He's Independent, he's determined and he's forging ahead with
   his vision for classical music.  Paul Cutts of Muso Magazine
   encounters Rene Gruss, a composer on a mission to connect new
   audiences with dynamic new sounds.

   On 2 May a new recording, Bellatrix, is released.  No news there,
   you might think - but you'd be wrong.  For one, Bellatrix is
   being released for sale on the internet only.  And the music -
   a blend of traditional classical, folk influences and a propulsive
   beat - is being touted as a new genre: urban classical.  The
   term and the sound are both the product of composer Rene Gruss,
   who has written, produced, funded, conducted and recorded the
   entire project alone.

   'It's been a labour of ten years' love' the New Zealand-born,
   London-based composer admits.  'I'm in search of a new holy grail
   for classical music: a contemporary classical music that people
   actually like: If it sounds confrontational, it's meant to be:
   Gruss hasn't spent a decade defining his style to be afraid of
   taking a stand.

   'We're at a critical crossroads in the arts and in society - you
   can sense that.  We have an amazing audience of music lovers
   around the world who are crossing genres.  It's a diverse group
   and the old models of music don't work for them anymore.  We
   need a new vision and a new approach: For Gruss, that doesn't
   mean abandoning his classical heritage: 'We have classical music
   that embraces history - why not a classical music that embraces
   the present and speaks to the future?'

   That future, for Gruss at least, looks promising, in part
   because he's been quick to exploit the power of the internet as
   a distribution channel for his work: 'The big record companies
   had always monopolised the market yet despite the strangleholds
   of particular types of modern music and the power of labels they
   have not produced the great pieces, the great art that has
   inspired the wider public.  Society needed a new dynamic - and
   that dynamic is the internet.  It's created new opportunities
   for music-loving audiences, keen for something different and
   real, to encounter what they want.

   'On the other side of the equation are composers like me: he
   goes on, 'and artists and poets who are still working within
   traditional models but writing things of broad appeal.  What's
   been missing until now is the means of bringing the two together
   in a way that works.

   '"Traditional" classical music has always been pigeonholed as
   the One True Path,' he continues, 'but it's time for classical
   music to fragment.  I call my own type of work "urban classical"
   or "classical beat" music.  Today's audiences need a number of
   genres - my music is just one - and I'm also not denying my
   classical roots.  I'm one of the people who is still making
   classical music in the way it used to be made.  I'm writing real
   music for real musicians who play acoustic instruments and read
   notation and yet my music sells to pop fans who've encountered
   my tracks on the internet.  There's a whole group of people who
   through the worldwide web have proved they want this stuff.'

   This spirited attitude is reflected in Gruss' music and has
   won him and his work an international following - from Harvard
   academics and European professionals to chicago hip-hop artists
   and celebrity musicians.  One fan - Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant
   - even chose Bellatrix as one of his top ten classical recordings
   for Classic FM's The Secret Fan show.

   Much of Gruss' profile has been built up away from the glare of
   publicity or magazine spreads.  Instead, he's steadily built a
   loyal following via internet radio stations and online soundclips
   of his music.

   The success he's enjoyed on the internet encouraged Gruss
   to go a step further and set up his own cultural webzine
   (www.newbohemia.net).  The latter has quickly grown into a portal
   where like-minded artists can discuss, promote and disseminate
   their work - and where audiences can explore it.  'I distribute
   my music on the internet and I've had orders from Taiwan and
   from the Bronx on the same day - and one from a housewife in
   Sydney,' laughs Gruss.  'There's an audience out there who've
   never bought Beethoven but who've encountered music online they
   would never have experienced otherwise.  It may lead them to
   Beethoven and it may not but that's OK - why shouldn't people
   discover classical music the "wrong" way around?

   'I operate in a free market - I have no subsidy and no patron -
   but my music sells,' he adds.  'I'm proof of what the modernist
   wing thinks is impossible: that you can produce art, have popular
   appeal and remain authentic.' Bellatrix is released an 2 May on
   Rene Gruss' own record label, urban Classical, and is available
   initially for purchase at www.renegruss.com

"Richard Tanyon" <[log in to unmask]>