German Society for Electroacoustic Music

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische Musik e.V. (DEGEM) is a German non-profit registered association dedicated to the promotion of electroacoustic music. It was founded in 1991 as the Deutsche Sektion der Gesellschaft für elektroakustische Musik e.V. (DecimE), succeeding the C.I.M.E. section of the former German Democratic Republic. The founding assembly, led by composer Georg Katzer, elected West Berliner Folkmar Hein as chairman. In 1994, following its exit from C.I.M.E. and a temporary membership in the New International Community of Electroacoustic Music (NICE), the association adopted its current name, DEGEM. The association is based in Berlin and operates nationally and internationally. Its mission is realized through the organization of conferences, courses, and concerts, the international exchange of information, and the publication of materials and sound recordings. DEGEM is selfless in its work and pursues exclusively non-profit purposes, financing itself mainly through membership fees and donations. Among its core activities, DEGEM documents contemporary works by its members in a series of its own productions on CD, DVD, and CD-ROM. Since October 2011, all DEGEM-curated releases appear on the EDITION DEGEM label, owned and operated by Till Kniola. The association also awards the Thomas-Seelig-Fixed-Media-Preis, a prize endowed with 3,000 euros and a composition commission for fixed media, established by Folkmar Hein in 2018. The prize recognizes outstanding achievements in acousmatic music. DEGEM maintains international contacts through its involvement in the annual Sound and Music Computing conference, organized by electroacoustic art advocacy groups from seven European countries. From 2005 to 2019, it operated the DEGEM WebRadio in technical cooperation with the ZKM in Karlsruhe, offering editorially curated programming on electroacoustic art. The association also maintains an archive and publishes the DEGEM Journal and the EMDoku (Internationale Dokumentation Elektroakustischer Musik).

The history of DEGEM is closely linked to the history of electronic sound art in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This began in 1949 with the Studio for Artificial Sound and Noise Generation at the Radio and Television Technical Central Office (RFZ) of the Deutsche Post in Berlin-Adlershof, when Oskar Sala was commissioned by East Berlin Radio to build a new quartet trautonium with two double manuals, which apparently was never used. After the culturally motivated end of the Studio for Electronic Sound Generation at the Berlin Funkhaus and the Experimental Studio in the Laboratory for Musical-Acoustic Border Areas of the RFZ in Berlin-Adlershof in 1970, no officially supported electronic studios in the GDR are known until the 1980s. Until the mid-1980s, apart from small private studios and initiatives, there were only unofficial working and information opportunities. In 1981, the Confédération International de la Musique Electroacoustique (C.I.M.E.) was founded in Bourges, becoming a member of the International Music Council and UNESCO. After the GDR joined C.I.M.E., which was affiliated with the Secretariat for International Non-Governmental Music Organizations in the GDR, the Werkstatt-Tage elektroakustischer Musik (Workshop Days for Electroacoustic Music) were initiated on the initiative of Georg Katzer and Lothar Voigtländer in the electroacoustic production studio founded in 1986 at the Academy of Arts of the GDR. The Workshop Days were intended to maintain international contacts with electronic studios and to provide an information platform for the still relatively small but highly motivated and committed scene of electroacoustic composers in the GDR. Due to German reunification, in 1991 there was a need to find a new legal form for the C.I.M.E. section of the GDR. During the 4th Workshop Days for Electroacoustic Music in 1991, the Deutsche Sektion der Gesellschaft für elektroakustische Musik e.V. (DecimE) was founded as its successor by 38 founding members under the leadership of Georg Katzer. The founding assembly elected West Berliner Folkmar Hein, who was already a member of the C.I.M.E. section of the GDR, as chairman in an otherwise equally staffed board. DecimE took over the memberships in the German Music Council and the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) and continued the work of disseminating electroacoustic music. The first year of DecimE also saw the founding of the journal Mitteilungen, published by Saarbrücker Pfau-Verlag until 2005. Due to the exit from C.I.M.E. and a temporary membership in the New International Community of Electroacoustic Music (NICE), the name was changed to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische Musik (DEGEM) in 1994. The association promotes electroacoustic music in a national and international framework. This purpose is served by the organization of specialist conferences, courses, and concerts, the international exchange of information, and the publication of publications and sound recordings. DEGEM is selfless and pursues exclusively non-profit purposes. It finances itself mainly from membership fees and donations. In addition to organizing concerts and specialist conferences, DEGEM documents current works by its members in a series of its own productions on CD, DVD, and CD-ROM. Since October 2011, all DEGEM-curated releases appear on the EDITION DEGEM label, owned and operated by Till Kniola. Since 2018, DEGEM has awarded the Thomas-Seelig-Fixed-Media-Preis, donated by Folkmar Hein, endowed with 3,000 euros and linked to a composition commission for fixed media. The prize is intended to recognize and promote outstanding achievements in the field of acousmatic music. A three-member jury, changing every two to three years, selects one person annually for the prize. Applications are not possible. Recipients include: 2018 Beatriz Ferreyra, 2019 Magdalena Długosz, 2020 Benjamin Thigpen, 2021 Annette Vande Gorne, 2022 Jonty Harrison, 2023 Natasha Barrett, 2024 Clemens von Reusner, 2025 Manuella Blackburn, 2026 Duo Paul Hauptmeier / Martin Recker. DEGEM maintains international contacts through its involvement in the annual Sound and Music Computing conference, organized by advocacy associations for electroacoustic art from seven European countries. On the initiative of the then board under the leadership of Sabine Schäfer and Michael Harenberg, the DEGEM WebRadio existed from 2005 to 2019 in technical cooperation with the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe. The editorially curated program on topics of electroacoustic art was divided into five sections: Studioforum, Reports/Features, Concerts/Recordings, ZKM / Music Current, and Sounds only. The program included recordings of concerts, symposia, and portraits of composers and studios as well as reports on projects and research projects, topic-related features, and current discussions. Reports from festivals, congresses, and exhibitions, as well as productions from the archives of electroacoustic music, had a fixed slot. The aim of the offering, open to all interested parties, was to provide a platform for electroacoustic art of the most diverse styles and genres. Here electroacoustic art could be heard, discussed, and reflected in the mirror of current events. Through cooperation with ZKM, the archive also emerged from ongoing broadcasting operations.

• 2019

  DEGEM WebRadio ceases operation.

• 2018

  Thomas-Seelig-Fixed-Media-Preis established and first awarded to Beatriz Ferreyra.

• 2011

  All DEGEM-curated releases begin appearing on the EDITION DEGEM label.

• 2005

  DEGEM WebRadio launched in cooperation with ZKM; journal Mitteilungen ceases publication.

• 1994

  Name changed to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische Musik (DEGEM).

• 1991

  DecimE founded by 38 founding members under Georg Katzer; Folkmar Hein elected chairman.

• 1986

  Electroacoustic production studio founded at the Academy of Arts of the GDR; Werkstatt-Tage initiated.

• 1981

  Confédération International de la Musique Electroacoustique (C.I.M.E.) founded in Bourges.

• 1970

  Culturally motivated closure of the Studio for Electronic Sound Generation and the Experimental Studio at RFZ.

• 1949

  Studio for Artificial Sound and Noise Generation founded at RFZ in Berlin-Adlershof; Oskar Sala commissioned to build a quartet trautonium.

Non-profit association promoting electroacoustic music nationally and internationally.

• EDITION DEGEM

  Label for DEGEM-curated releases since October 2011, owned by Till Kniola.

• DEGEM Journal

  Journal published by DEGEM.

• EMDoku

  Internationale Dokumentation Elektroakustischer Musik.

• Mitteilungen

  Journal published by Pfau-Verlag until 2005.

• DEGEM WebRadio

  Online radio in cooperation with ZKM, 2005–2019.

1. 1degem – elektroakustische Kunst … elektronische Musikdegem.de
2. 2Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische Musikwikidata.org
3. 3Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische Musikde.wikipedia.org