Here's some stuff about Futuresonic that my bosses have asked me to stick up here. The music programme is coming together VERY NICELY INDEED, so keep your eyes peeled for more announcements...

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FutureEverything and Futuresonic News
http://www.futuresonic.com

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1. In 2010 Futuresonic will return as FutureEverything

Futuresonic 2009 will be the 10th edition and 14th calendar year of the
festival. Over these fourteen years the festival has been creatively led,
with the focus of the festival not only sound, but also visual arts, digital
culture and social themes. In 2010 Futuresonic will return as
FutureEverything - making 2009 the last chance to experience a "Futuresonic"
festival.

"FutureEverything is a new name that captures a lot about the character of
the festival. From 2010, we look forward to all the festival's international
participants and partners joining us on a new journey as a part of the first
FutureEverything festival." - Drew Hemment, founder and Artistic Director

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2. Futuresonic 2009

The artistic programme for the 2009 festival looks to be the strongest yet.
Futuresonic 2009 takes place 13-16 May, and will feature 250 artists across
100 events at 30 venues. The full festival programme will be announced in
February 2009.

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3. Futuresonic at Transmediale09

The 2009 theme, Environment 2.0, is the culmination of 3 years of activities
and will be presented and discussed in an event at Transmediale09 in Berlin
during January and in an accompanying catalogue text on the Environment 2.0
theme by Drew Hemment, the Artistic Director of FutureEverything and
Futuresonic 2009.

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4. Lever Prize 2009

FutureEverything has been shortlisted for the 2009 Lever Prize. The highly
acclaimed prize is awarded on the basis of a range of factors including
regional individuality, high standard of existing work and exciting future
developments.

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5. Prix Ars Electronica 2009

FutureEverything's Artistic Director, Drew Hemment, has been awarded an
Honorary Mention by Prix Ars Electronica 2009. The Prix Ars Electronica
award is the equivalent of the Oscars for digital arts.

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6. FutureEverything Team

Seven fantastic new people have joined the team at FutureEverything to help
realise the ambition of the festival and other year-round projects,
including three programme managers for the Art, Music and Ideas strands,
plus new key people in marketing, production, research and administration.

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7. Futuresonic 2008

Futuresonic 2008 featured 5 days and nights of live music, art premieres,
exhibitions, club nights and events with a world-class programme of over 350
artists attended by 50,000 people in 30 venues and spaces across the city
centre.

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8. International Events

The "highly respected" Futuresonic festival was invited to participate in
international events, from the prestigious International Symposium for
Electronic Arts (ISEA) in Singapore to the Numusic festival in Norway.

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9. Social Technologies Summit

A highlight of the 2008 festival was the Social Technologies Summit with
over 900 attendees. Launched in 2006, the summit has been made a regular
annual event alongside the Futuresonic festival and 2009 themes build on the
successes of 2008.

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10. FuturesFamily - Artists In Residence

FuturesFamily is a new Artists In Residence initiative from
FutureEverything, established to nurture artists at the very cutting edge of
art, music and ideas. Our family have been hand selected for their
innovation and experimentation, driving forward our ethos to challenge and
inspire.

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11. International Network

FutureEverything / Futuresonic have led in the establishment of an
international network of music festivals called ECAS. Fifteen Festival
Directors have attended Futuresonic, and FutureEverything / Futuresonic have
participated in other international festivals in Europe and North America.

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12. Support from Partners

FutureEverything / Futuresonic have received strong support from partners
and funders in 2008: Awarded 'Pillar Event' status by Manchester City
Council, 'Regularly Funded Organisation' (RFO) status by Arts Council
England, and a 3 year funding award by Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

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13. ImaginationLancaster

ImaginationLancaster, where FutureEverything's and Futuresonic's Drew
Hemment is Associate Director, has been awarded #5million by the EPSRC
Digital Economies programme to establish a Doctoral Training Centre, one of
only five in the Digital Economies programme awarded nationally.

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14. Research Activities

FutureEverything has been awarded funding from the CREATOR cluster of the
EPSRC Digital Economies programme to undertake a pioneering research project
on creative interdisciplinary practice on the Environment. This research
will culminate in a comprehensive report on the successes of such practices
by a range of leading international artists, designers, makers and thinkers.

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Futuresonic 2009

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13-16 May, Manchester UK

Transforming the city into a space of experimentation, making it come alive

Futuresonic has 4 strands: Art, Music, Ideas and EVNTS. Currently in its
14th year, the festival occupies the orbits of both music and digital
culture.

Futuresonic is presented by FutureEverything CIC. It is a Regularly Funded
Organisation (RFO) of Arts Council England North West and is supported by
Manchester City Council.

Futuresonic is presented in partnership with ImaginationLancaster
http://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk, a major new research lab at Lancaster
University.

Futuresonic is presented by FutureEverything CIC.

http://www.futuresonic.com