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<aside> ✔️ Presentation Formats

• Oral presentations should be 20 mins followed by 20 mins for questions.
• Performance presentations can be in the form of a lecture recital or performance with reflection, and should be 20 mins followed by 20 mins for questions.
• Pre-recorded Presentations: Oral or performance presentations can be pre-recorded and submitted as digital media. These should be a maximum of 25 mins**.** Prerecorded  presentations will be available to  view before the event and the full 40 mins of the session will be used for feedback and questions.

Pre-recorded presentations must be submitted by 31st May 2023.

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<aside> ℹ️ What to expect from this event:

• The course platform will go live on Notion on 2nd June. You will receive a link to access all course materials and information. Before the event you will be able to prepare by viewing digital presentations and find out more about other participants .
• Music4Change event is an international, interdisciplinary learning environment where music-focused researchers from a wide range of fields and methods come together to discuss their work and exchange knowledge. When preparing your presentation please consider how to communicate your project with people who may be outside your specific area of study and/or geographical location.
• We encourage active participation, discussion and dialogue during the event, accordingly we hope that contributors will attend the majority of the sessions across the three days. If you plan to only be present for your own presentation, please let us know in advance.
• If you wish to take 3 or 5 ECTS credit points for this event please make sure you register in advance. </aside>

Ahmet Mücahit Güven Master Student, Istanbul Technical University

Amateur Music Performances as the Right to the City

Keywords: amateur music, performance, leisure, local participation, right to the city

The research discusses amateur music performances within the scope of the right to the city. It is mainly conducted in Istanbul. Bookchin, who establishes the relationship between city culture and the leisure time of the citizens, becomes an inspiration for the research. While the notion of "amateur" is discussed on the basis of "leisure" and "performance" studies. The value of amateur music activities for music is revealed by using quantitative data. The ratio of amateurs among classical musics (Western tonal and Turkish maqam) listeners, students of all ages who lead to the employment of music teachers in local classes and the support of amateurs as collaborators in music researches are evaluated. Local government units are consulted to understand the current situation and to make a stride. Through the research, it is aimed to encourage people to perform amateur music, to raise awareness among music professionals to support amateur activities and to enable local government units to supply physical and financial support for amateur music performances. Amateurs are targeted to perform in the public sphere via concerts as a "right to the city". People should ask the question, (which in the past could be answered as "authority"): Who decides what can be staged in the city? It is argued that the city is a space, where one can realize and perform oneself, beyond a shelter. One of the ways to experience the city is to participate actively in musical life. This research makes a tangible contribution to the “right to the city”, which has been discussed in literature since Lefebvre and has been the subject of international conventions, but has not been adopted by the people due to its ambiguity. Harvey also states, making a clear definition and putting the right into practice requires the struggle of the citizens. In conclusion, approaching amateur music performances as a form of local participation and "right to the city" are the original values of the research.

References

• Bauman, Richard. 1992. Folklore, Cultural Performances, and Popular Entertainments. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Bookchin, Murray. 2017. Urbanization Without Cities: The Rise and Decline of Citizenship. Montréal: Black Rose Books.
• Butler, Chris. 2014. Henri Lefebvre: Spatial Politics Everyday Life and the Right to the City. Abingdon Oxon: Routledge.
• Harvey David. 2013. Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. Paperback ed. London: Verso.
• Stebbins, Robert. 2017. Leisure’s Legacy: Challenging the Common Sense View of Free Time. Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Publishing).

About Ahmet

I am Ahmet Güven. In my undergraduate term, I have studied in Political Science and International Relations. I have wrote a paper as “Possible Effects of Aarhus Convention in Turkey in framework of Ecological Citizenship”.

As an amateur violinist, I bring my political and musical thinking together on the concept of "amateur" and publish my informal essays via amateurcultural.com

Then at the graduate level in Musicology department of Istanbul Technical University, my interests have expanded to include amateur music, lesiure studies, musical participation, performance theories, right to the city etc.

Currently, study on "Amateur Music Performances as the Right to the City".