What would happen if one of the eight national centers for musical creation were to disappear? This is the fear of the employees of the studio based in Nice. At the same time, they also have to deal with an internal crisis accentuated by the resignation of the director appointed last spring.
It’s been three years that uncertainties have multiplied until the last, namely, the loss of the label and funding. We have the impression that all these decisions are completely disconnected from the real activity of the CIRM and from what we produce on the territory
Camille GiuglarisSound engineer and CGT union delegate
The CIRM will perhaps give its last concert at the Francis Gag theater on February 24, 2022.
Faced with this threat of closure, the SMC, the French union of composers published a press release on January 25, 2022 in which it warns of the weakening of a sector already in difficulty.
“Following the resignation of its director appointed last spring, the International Center for Musical Research (CIRM) seems to have been doomed to closure for several days: no recruitment competition for its direction has been organized and the public funders of this center national de création musicale (CNCM) seem to be withdrawing one after the other. Finally, it is one of the eight centers labeled at the national level which is about to disappear in great opacity.
Several unions denounce a closure decision initiated at the local level with many consequences for the actors of musical creation. When questioned, the town hall replies that it is following the file closely and that a board of directors is scheduled for the first half of February.
Established in Nice since 1978, the CIRM is one of the eight national centers of musical creation having been labeled by the Ministry of Culture. It brings together composers, musicians but also researchers and sound engineers, and organizes an annual music festival, the Manca. A resolutely contemporary production not necessarily accessible to all ears. “We are a bit the victim of a lot of clichés, of music that makes funny noises“, laughs Nathalie Martin, head of communication and mediation, whereas it’s like jazz, or classical music. There are all kinds of contemporary music and all kinds of composers who do very different things.”, she assures.
The research and creation work of the musicians and sound engineers of the CIRM of Nice will be in the spotlight of the Presences festival at the Maison de la Radio on February 13, 2022 with the work entitled Other Nature. Camille Giuglaris, Monica Gil Giraldo and Bertrand Heidelein, worked with Jean-Luc Herve in the CIRM studios on the development and programming of a multitude of loudspeakers “autonomous”, such of “little sound animals” which would be an extension of the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France.