Ultima Remake

Ultima’s annual education project Ultima Remake introduces younger audiences to the world of contemporary music.

This education project s based on the simple idea of taking an actual musical work and letting teenagers recreate their own version of it, using various available creative tools and meansof expression. The work in question is always one of the pieces included in the current year’s festival programme.

Progress and method

Each year, pupils and teachers from one of Oslo’s high schools work with artists and mentors in a series of workshops. In the process, students become familiar with the work’s social, political and aesthetic context. In re-thinking the work, students explore their own relationships with experiences and artistic understanding. During the Ultima Festival inSeptember, the pupils will present their own independent interpretation – a ‘remake’of the source work for the festival audience in the form of an exhibition, installation or concert.

Purpose

Ultima Remake is intended to increase awareness of the relevance of art and its role among teenagers. It also views the musical tradition underlying cultural and societal currents. With this project we want to inspire, engage and allow teenagers to get to know contemporary music according to the principle of ‘learning by doing’. Pupils will learn to make use of different musical, artistic and technological tools in the course of practical work. Via listening, reflection and creative analysis, participants are encouraged to explore the reference work from a present-day perspective, real-life problems and experiences from the teenagers’ everyday lives.

Background

Ultima Remake was developed by Ultima and has been an annual feature of the festival programme since 2012. The project has previously involved source works that could be called ‘contemporary classics’ as wellas completely new pieces premiered duringthe festival. The teenagers’ ‘remakes’ have been based on a wide range of composers and artists: Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Terry Riley, Marianne Stranger, Lasse Thoresen, Verdensteatret, La Monte Young and Savina Yannatou. In previous years Ultima has collaborated with pupils from Bjørnholt, Edvard Munch, Elvebakken, Fyrstikkalleen and Manglerud high schools.

A part of the Ulysses Network

Ultima Remake is part of the Ulysses Network’s initiative Re-play Cultural Heritage, supported by the EU’s Creative Europe cultural programme. The Ulysses Network exists to support and promote young artists starting out on a professional career. The 11 partners will offer platforms, mentors and educational activities to aid the development of the contemporary music composers and performers of the future.