NEEMFest 2022 Set for September 9-11

You might recall NEEMFest was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. It looks like they are back this year.

via NEEMFest

"NEEMFest 2022 is happening!

We’re pleased to announce that NEEMFest 2022 will take place from September 9-11, at the Homer Center for the Arts. We all look forward to seeing everyone there – we’ve missed you. Our community of musicians and its spirit of collaboration and spontaneity have always made NEEM a very special event. And because your generosity made it possible, we will once again be able to hold NEEM without artist fees.

We’ve all learned a lot during the two years of the pandemic – about livestreaming, for sure, but even more about the value of getting together in one place. This year, we’re going to do everything we can to increase that value, shifting gradually from an emphasis on pre-rehearsed performances toward things that can help us all play better together, listen better together, and increase our pool of technical skills. This is not really a new direction – more of an effort to recapture some of the spontaneity and learning that took place in the old Huguenot days.

We’re going to make time for many more workshops and demonstrations than we’ve had in the past. The workshop planning depends on you – we need to know what you’d like to learn from others in the community, and what you’d like to offer as presenters. You’ll have an opportunity to tell us about that on the signup form. We’re also going to make some changes in the format of performances, and create opportunities for more spontaneous collaborations among people who decide on the spot that playing together would be fun.

This year, NEEMFest will have up to 9 performance brackets of two hours each. No more than four of the 9 brackets will be devoted to the standard half-hour sets we’ve done in the past. We know that we’ll have enough slack in the schedule for some spontaneous, self-selected collaborations and impromptu jams. We won’t be ping-ponging back and forth between spaces every half-hour – instead, every artist in a given bracket will set up simultaneously on one of the stages, allowing more setup time.

For the remainder of the brackets, we’ll take a new approach that combines longer performance time with structured Q&A. You’ll have 35-45 minutes total, broken down as a 20-30 minute group improvisation, a 10-minute solo showcase, and 5-10 minutes of Q&A about your approach, style, and equipment (not in that order).

Some of us have already had very positive experiences with this format. Back in 2018, it was used successfully for a number of “Bleep Salons” involving between 6 and 9 Ithaca artists, launching some collaborations that have lasted to this day. The ten-minute solo piece is, if anything, more demanding than a longer set – it needs strong choices and careful planning. And the group improv builds listening skills and musicianship – and gives everyone a lot more playing time (it also closely resembles some of the “improv orchestra” events done at NEEM in the past).

The signup form offers you a choice of formats. The old-school brackets will be passed out randomly, and once they’re full, we’ll add the remaining folks to the pool of artists for the Bleep-style slots. The final schedule will of course depend on both demand and room-juggling, but we think we’ll be able to put together an excellent selection of performances, improvs, and workshops that will be a real step forward for all of us.

We’re excited about these changes, and we hope you are too. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in Homer this year. You can take the first step by signing up on the web site here:
REGISTER NOW
We are concerned for the health of all members of our community. All persons attending NEEMFest will be required to provide proof of vaccination and at least one booster shot. We may also, at our sole discretion, impose masking requirements stricter than those in effect at the Homer Center or in New York State.

– Tom, Mike, Rebekkah, Rob, Chris, and Ken

PS: we have a particular need for visualists this year, in addition to sound engineers, petting-zoo minders, and others."

NEEMFest 2020 Cancelled

via https://neemfest.com

"Hello Friends,

Unfortunately, we must postpone NEEMFest 2020 indefinitely. It was a difficult decision to make (and is even more difficult to communicate) because there was no single overwhelming reason for it. Rather I -- and the rest of the group that you’ve entrusted with planning and arranging it -- felt that there are numerous obstacles standing in the way of a successful and satisfying experience for the community, enough of them to make postponement the wisest plan. A complete list would take a while, but there are three I’ll mention here.

First, a virtual conference requires a huge effort from presenters and performers, and because much of that involves learning and experimentation, it must be done well in advance. Many of us, through no fault of our own, are not very far down that road. Even though we were ready to assist everyone with both documentation and in-person support, we did not feel that NEEMFest would be able to maintain its inclusiveness, the one thing that all of us value the most.

Second, those of us who had done streaming events realized that audience attention is far harder to capture and maintain with a multi-day virtual event. That, and the need to provide technical support, had already led to a decision to reduce the number of performance slots from our normal 40+ to around 16. At that point, we had entered a world where it was not at all clear that the rewards for the performers (or for the technical volunteers) would justify the effort.

The third reason is the most difficult to describe and at the same time the most compelling. The entire community is stressed and distracted now. There is a pandemic raging in the United States and it is going to get worse, even as the rest of the developed world is slowly returning to normal. Some of us face financial insecurity. Those who have children in school, or who work in schools and colleges, are experiencing worrisome risk and real uncertainty about what will happen in just a few weeks (my own city of 30,000 is about to face an influx of tens of thousands of college students who will, of course, maintain social distancing and other safe practices at all times). NEEMFest was scheduled for the week after the public schools reopen -- a peak time for either anxiety or relief, and either way a time when people will be most focused on family and friends. It seemed that our chances of capturing the attention of performers and audience at that point in the calendar were, if anything, substantially worse than they would be at other times.

We concluded that we should, as one of us put it, “do NEEM when we can really do NEEM”. In the meantime, we can all raise our game, and continue working on virtual events in a paced, deliberate way. We’re making all of the technical-support materials we prepared available on the NEEM website (at https://neemfest.com/?post_type=encyclopedia&p=7771&preview=true ]). All of us are available to help people who want to get going. There are any number of good ideas for Zoom presentations and online tours floating around; over the coming weeks, we’ll be putting those forward here in the hope that some educational events and virtual tours might spring up. There is a lot for all of us to work on, and I hope that as many of you as possible will join us.

Speaking now only for myself (and maybe for some of my bandmates), virtual collaboration and performance have been a real godsend for me over the last few months. This is a resilient and adventurous community, and I’m confident that NEEM will come back in the form of a hundred micro-NEEMs before we are all able to meet together in person again -- and that there will be some new things, uniquely possible in cyberspace, that will astonish and delight all of us.

A final, personal word: I am immensely grateful to the volunteer crew of organizers: Rebekkah, Mike, Steve, Ken, Rob S., Jim, and Chris. This has been a rocky road, and I have pitched a few of the rocks. All of us are even more grateful to those of you who have made financial contributions to support NEEM. Fortunately, we have spent very little if any money so far, and your contributions remain to be used exactly as you intended -- to make the next NEEM the most inclusive, fee-free event it can possibly be. All of us are in your debt.

We close with a musical selection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdZXQHa9rv0"

We'll Meet Again - Vera Lynn, Drag Queens in Quarantine (DiQ)

Cheddar Gorgeous

"26 drag queens from 5 different countries are asking you to help us raise money for Age UK."

NEEMFest 2018 Set for September 7-9 in Homer, New York

"This year’s NEEMFest (NorthEastern Electro-Music Festival) is happening September 7-9, 2018 in Homer, NY. Now in its 15th year, the performance-centric gathering features three full days of innovative electronic music concerts, workshops, seminars, demonstrations, video artists, industry-name interviews, and a mini-swap meet.

Also, there will be a hands-on “Synthesizer Petting Zoo,” with various rare and odd synthesizers, drum machines, and other pieces of electronic music gear you hadn’t known existed.

Please bring your own headphones for the Petting Zoo, otherwise a community set of headphones will be made available; iPhone/iPod headsets work well.

NEEMFest 2018 is once again being hosted at the The Center for the Arts of Homer, in Homer, New York."