Atlas Lab
The Atlas Lab is an international meeting place for composers and musicians from all over the world. Devoted to the development of new intercultural music, the Atlas Lab offers a wide range of presentations, demonstrations, lectures, composers practical workshops on non-western instruments and seminars about eastern musical cultures and composing for intercultural instrumental combinations.

The teaching staff consists of the internationally acclaimed musicians of the Atlas Ensemble and a select company of renowned guest professors. The Atlas Lab is hosted by the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Objectives
The Atlas Lab promotes, stimulates and strives for the development of:

a. new intercultural repertoire
b. instrumental skills and ensemble playing
c. knowledge of various musical cultures
d. documentation and digital library

a. For the future of new intercultural music the creation of new repertoire of high quality is essential. To encourage this, composers will be invited to participate in the Atlas Lab in the coming years. A first requirement for true understanding of other musical cultures and their performers and instruments is to acquire hands-on live experience. At the Atlas Lab composers are given the opportunity to work with the musicians directly to learn, collaborate, discover and test sketches and possibilities.

b and c. The traditions, instruments and musical practises of Eastern and Western musicians vary widely and are an inexhaustible source of study, inspiration and innovation via reciprocal learning. Knowledge of other musical cultures can be enriching and may lead to new views. In individual as well as group lessons a wide range of Middle Eastern and Asian instruments will be studied.
General and theoretical perspectives will be treated in lectures.

d. Comprehensive information on non-western instruments in the English language (such as orchestration books) hardly exists. The Atlas Lab wishes to provide composers with the basic tools by structurally collecting written and audiovisual information and building a digital library available and easily accessible via internet and dvd. See for the early stages of this project www.atlasensemble.nl

The Atlas Lab is open to professional composers and musicians, instrumental and composition students, musicologists, scholars and all others interested.