Benoît Menut: "We are the" start-up nation ""

7/17/2020, 11:39:39 PM

INTERVIEW- The composer is on the initiative of a professional federation which intends to defend the place of musical composition in contemporary creation.

On May 25, barely out of confinement, 170 composers (including 30% women) announced the creation of a professional federation to make their voices heard, often voiceless in the cultural environment. There are now 350 of them wanting to join the movement. Benoît Menut, initiator of the project with Jean-Louis Agobet, looks back on this first.

LE FIGARO. - Why a federation of composers today?

Benoît MENUT. - We heard a lot during confinement. We spoke of an emergency for the performers, the authors ... Not once was the word composer used. The fact that none of us were around Emmanuel Macron during his speech on culture, on May 6, challenged us. This lack of consideration in acts and speeches has awakened an enormous desire to be known to the general public and to politicians. We are the French musical creation. Pascal Dusapin, played by orchestras and operas around the world, exports French culture