Held in partnership with the Sound Symposium festival of new music and sound

June 29 to July 12, 2014

Summer Institute on Improvisation as Practice Based Research

Keynote Lecturer: Dr. Jesse Stewart, Associate Professor of Music, Carleton University
Faculty: Frederique Arroyas, Rebecca Caines, John Campbell, Ajay Heble, Eric Lewis, Shawn Van Sluys, Ellen Waterman, Daniel Fischlin

Public workshops

Monday, July 7, 10:00 am

  • SUNCOR HALL MUN School of Music: Workshop
  • MARIANNE TRUDEL, Improvisers Making Meaning

As improvisers, we know that playing together is meaningful – socially, politically, aesthetically. When we make music we are making knowledge. But how does this actually work? Pianist Marianne Trudel offers an interactive workshop on improvisation as a meaningful practice. All are welcome – bring your instruments!

Sunday, July 6, 3:00pm

  • SUNCOR HALL MUN School of Music: Workshop
  • WILLIAM PARKER – Large Group Improvisation

How do musicians in a large ensemble figure out when and what to play in the heat of an improvisational performance? Join New York bassist, composer, educator, and band leader William Parker – a true luminary on the international jazz circuit – for a workshop on how to improvise cooperatively in a large ensemble. All are welcome – bring your instruments!

Thursday, July 10, 3:30pm

LSPU HALL: Presentation by IICSI summer institute participants in performance with JESSE STEWART

Friday, July 11, 12:00 – 5:00

SUNCOR HALL MUN School of Music: Symposium: Improvisation as Practice Based Research

What is the relationship between scholarship and creative practice? How can academic research questions, methodologies, and outcomes benefit improvisatory creative practices and vice versa? Join researchers from across Canada and participants from the Summer Institute sponsored by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) for a half-day symposium on improvisation as practice based research.

Saturday, July 12, LSPU Hall 7 pm – Ice Band

Members of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation. Ajay Heble, piano; Eric Lewis, trumpet; Ellen Waterman, flute; Daniel Fischlin, guitar; Mack Furlong, percussion plus friends.

About the Summer Institute

Intended for graduate students who have an interest in improvisation and its potential for dynamic forms of community building, the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation is offering a two-week intensive course to explore the theme of Improvisation as Practice-Based Research. The course will examine some of the ways in which improvisatory arts practices can be integrated with scholarly research agendas. How can academic research questions, methodologies, and outcomes benefit improvisatory creative practices and vice versa? In addition, the course will critically examine the changing institutional frameworks that support practice-based research in general and improvisation studies in particular.

Hosted by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation and Memorial University’s School of Music, the course will be held in St. John’s Newfoundland in parallel with the Sound Symposium Festival. Students will be asked to prepare readings, attend lectures, workshops, and festival events. For participants taking the course for credit, the major evaluation component is a paper and/or project due at the end of July. The Summer Institute provides excellent networking opportunities with top scholars and artists in the field of Improvisation Studies as well as bursaries to offset the cost of travel and accommodations.