News

“Volume II: Improvisation, Musical Communities, and the COVID-19 Pandemic” Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation—IICSI’s peer-reviewed, open-access journal—has released a special double issue of Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation: “Volume II: Improvisation, Musical Communities, and the COVID-19 Pandemic.” This issue features musicians, performers, scholars, arts presenters, and other cultural workers…

Improvisation & Convivencia in East LA We are excited to share a video showcasing IICSI research being conducted in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and Dr. George Lipsitz! This short video, directed and edited by Sara Aguilar, showcases the work conducted by artist fellows as part of the Building Healthy…

Recordings of 2020-21 Thinking Spaces lectures are now available in our research library! In the Fall 2020 and Winter 2021 semesters, IICSI presented an online iteration of Thinking Spaces, the improvisation reading group and speaker series. Moving the series online created an opportunity to connect with a diverse range of guest speakers and audience members…

IICSI and Musagetes are pleased to announce the inaugural Big Ideas in Improvisation lecture: Fred Moten & Vijay Iyer in Conversation. This online event on May 28th, 2021 (7pm EDT) will bring these two artistic visionaries, social activists, and MacArthur “Genius” award winners together for an evening of provocative and inspiring dialogue. This lecture is…

Improvisational free jazz/post rock quartet Vertical Squirrels (comprised of IICSI’s director Ajay Heble, IICSI researcher / professor Daniel Fischlin, and all-star musical improvisors Ted Warren and Lewis Melville) have released a new record through Ambiances Magnétiques entitled Le gouffre / The Chasm. The album was recorded during a 2019/20 residency at Silence as part of…

The University of Guelph’s Music Students’ Association is proud to present the 15th Annual Music Symposium, featuring a variety of events highlighting musical creation at the U of G and beyond. This year’s events include: Critical Studies in Improvisation (IMPR) Graduate Students’ Presentations and Performances (First Set) Date: Thursday, March 25, 2021 Time: 1 pm – 3…

Community, Arts, and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts and Outcomes Survey Invitation University of Guelph Critical Studies in Improvisation Graduate Students in the Arts-Based Community-Making class want to hear from the arts community! Under the supervision of Dr. Ajay Heble and in collaboration with the Guelph Arts Council, our team is researching how the COVID-19 Pandemic…

Thinking Spaces, IICSI’s improvisational reading group and speaker series, is proud to be presenting some excellent speakers over the coming weeks: Dhruv Jani of Studio Oleomingus, Roger Dean, and Harald Kisiedu. Friday, March 26, 3-4:30PM, Dhruv Jani – Studio Oleomingus: The Concentric Fictions of a Generous History: Hypertext and other annotations to memory Dhruv Jani is…

Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation—the peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) at the University of Guelph—has released a special issue providing key insights into the pandemic’s effects on artists, arts organizations, and their communities. Published on the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic shutdown,…

Thinking Spaces: The Reading Group and Speaker Series is pleased to present a listening and discussion session by IICSI Researcher and U of G Professor Dr. James Harley and IMPR Graduate Students for the Interactive Improvisation in Times of Isolation project titled: “Improvising and Listening.”