Press release

During the ceremony marking the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year to be held on Thursday September 17, the University of liège will honour and confer its insignias of Doctor honoris causa upon the following seven musicians and composers of international renown:

• Dick Annegarn
• Anthony Braxton
• Arvo Pärt
• Henri Pousseur (posthumously)
• Frederic Rzewski
• Archie Shepp
• Robert Wyatt

as well as on the two designers of the World Wide Web:

• Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee
• Robert Cailliau

The ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year (by invitation only) will take place at the Amphithéâtres de l'Europe (Sart Tilman campus) at 3:00 p.m. The official ceremony will be preceded by two discussion forums, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

• "Perveyors of music" (Academic Hall of the University of Liège, place du 20-Août, 4000 Liège) with the participation of the seven musicians and composers;

• "How far can the web be spun?" (Amphithéâtres de l'Europe, University campus at Sart Tilman) with the participation of the aforementioned designers and of the web and other experts in the field.

Purveyors of music

In 2007-2008, six authors ("purveyors of culture") were honoured during the ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year.  This year, the University of Liège has chosen to confer its insignias on seven  "purveyors of music", and more particularly, contemporary music.  In addition to the aesthetic quality of their respective works, these artists share a common desire to impart their technical, cultural and musical knowledge. Their influence on contemporary music need no longer be demonstrated.  Nevertheless, their desire for innovation and their refusal to confine their work to a specific genre or tradition has not prevented them from achieving considerable success on both sides of the divide usually separating popular entertainers and esoteric experimenters.  Not only have these artists made their erudition and creativity accessible to the largest number of people possible, but they have also shown a very high degree of moral integrity, intellectual honesty and a radical independence toward what is now commonly called the "musical industry".

Visit the Culture website of the University of Liège for more information on the career paths of these musicians and composers.

The web revolution

Alongside these musicians and composers, Ulg will also be honouring the two individuals, one from Belgium and the other from England, who are at the origin of the World Wide Web,  which has recently celebrated its twentieth anniversay. A support and vector of technological innovation, data and information, the Web first established itself in developed  countries and then the entire world, leading to a profound change in society's customs and in our relation to the world.

The distinction that the University of Liège will confer on these two innovators is a symbol of its desire to open itself to the world outside, acquire international exposure and widely disseminate the results of its research work; it is also perfectly in line with the Company-University  Interface, also celebrating its twentieth year of existence.