The Slow Music Movement

How the Slow Food grassroots movement may light the path for music

Andrew Balio by Christian Colberg
Spike Gjerde by Scott Suchman
  • event type:Classical:NEXT 17 Conference
  • date:19 May 2017
  • time:10:45 - 11:30
  • city/area:Rotterdam
  • venue:De Doelen, Conference Room 2 (fourth floor)
  • country:Netherlands
  • event posted by:Piranha Arts

Chaired by Andrew Balio (US), president and founder, Future Symphony Institute
with Spike Gjerde (US), chef & restaurant owner, Woodberry Kitchen

Two long-time friends, trumpeter Andrew Balio and award-winning chef Spike Gjerde, found themselves sharing the same vision, one in music and the other in cooking. Here, they wonder if they've uncovered something true about people, their communities and how music and food have lost their way through large-scale industrialisation and commercialism.

The grassroots movement of "Slow Food" has brought together people who want their lives to slow down, to re-establish a healthy relationship with food, the people who grow it and enjoyment of eating together. Many will recall small farmers and citizens spoke up when the EU was established and regional farming traditions were threatened by globalisation and mass production.

In music, we see this same zeitgeist, the desire to come home, slow down, be together and maintain traditions related to small-scale localist culture and relationships.