Partnering for Change: Learning Outwards from Jazz and Improvisation
The University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
September 13-15, 2017
What can creative partnerships teach us about collaboration across sectors and genres? How have musical partnerships contributed to movements for social justice? What are the ways in which people and organizations learn, grow, and change through partnerships? The Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium features panel discussions, performances, multi-media presentations, interviews, and workshops to foster a spirit of collaborative, boundary-defying inquiry and dialogue. The 2017 Colloquium explored partnerships as models for social mobilization, and was dedicated to musicians and improvisers who have engaged in community collaborations and social movements.
The Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium is presented annually by IICSI and the University of Guelph, and provides a scholarly forum for dialogue among diverse communities of researchers, creative practitioners, arts presenters, and members of the general public, in partnership with the Guelph Jazz Festival.
Colloquium presenter abstracts and bios are available online.
Wednesday, September 13
8:30 | Room 203
Coffee and refreshments
9:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Introduction and Welcoming Remarks
- Malcolm Campbell (Vice President – Research, University of Guelph)
- Ajay Heble (Director, International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation)
9:15–10:30 | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 1: Partnering for Change
- Allen Tush Naturinda (In Movement: Art for Social Change, Uganda)
- Marshall Trammell (Music Research Strategies)
- Kade Twist (Postcommodity)
Moderator: Marva Wisdom
10:45–noon | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 2: Decolonizing Institutional Knowledges
- Dhiren Panikker (Ethnomusicology, University of California, Riverside) – Sound(ing) Community: Toward a Decolonial Ethics of Intercultural Praxis
- Hannah Burgé Luviano (Centennial College) – Shaken and Stirred: Koerner Hall’s New Canadian Global Music Orchestra
- Cathy Paton (Social Work, McMaster University) – Transforming an Improvisational Theatre Community Through Their Own Artistic Practice
Moderator: Brian Lefresne
Noon–1:00 | Room 203
Lunch
1:00–2:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Workshop: Simultaneous Multi-Dimensionality
Heritage Hall Research Group: Marshall Trammell (Black Spirituals) and Kade Twist (Postcommodity)
Workshop Introduction: Alissa Firth-Eagland
2:15–4:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 3: Ethics, Voice, Agency, and Wellbeing
- James Aldridge (Historical Musicology, Case Western Reserve University) – Tristano’s Reichian Theory of Improvisation: Jazz of the Unconscious Mind
- Mark Lomanno (Music, Northeastern University) – Wail: Precarious Breath and Voicing Black Masculinity
- Keith Loach (Music, York University) – Improvisation In Neurorhythmics
- Francesco Paradiso (Faculty of Arts, University of Wolverhampton, UK) – The Sound of Ethics: Alterity, Sound, and Improvisation Meet on a Monday Morning at Silence in Guelph
Moderator: Frédérique Arroyas
4:15–5:00 | Room 203
Film Screening of “The Day the Clock Stopped” & Discussion on Improvisation and Ritual in Music
Moderator: Kimber Sider
5:15–6:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Workshop: Revealing the Mysteries of Creative Movement with Georgia Simms (IMAGEO Artworks)
9 pm | Guelph Little Theatre
Peter Brötzmann interviewed by Mack Furlong (Sound Symposium)*
* Please note that the interview is free and will take place at 9pm, following the concert, which starts at 8pm. Tickets are required for the concert portion and cost $10. For more information, please visit www.guelphjazzfestival.com.
Thursday, September 14
8:30 | Room 203
Coffee and Refreshments
9:00–10:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Keynote Address
Eric Lewis (Department of Philosophy / Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas, McGill University) – University-Community Partnerships: Improvising Success/Improvising Failure
Introductory Remarks: Rachel Elliott
10:15–11:30 | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 4: Free Jazz / Free Verse
- Jean-Philippe Marcoux (Université Laval) – The Polytextuality of Jazz Poetry: Vernacular Innovations in Literary Enactments
- Gregory Pierrot (University of Connecticut at Stamford) – Free jazz as diasporic practice: Baraka, Fanon and Free Jazz/Black Power
- Aldon Lynn Nielsen (Pennsylvania State University) – The Inside Songs of Amiri Baraka II: “Oh … If Only”
Moderator: Rob Wallace
11:30–Noon | Room 103
Lunch
Noon | Goldschmidt Room / Room 107
Thursday at Noon (TAN) Concert: Araz Salek & Pedram Khavazamini
Presented by the College of Arts.
1:00–2:00 | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 5: Remembering Why Music Matters: Exploring Music and Memory through Improvisation
Moderator: David Knight
2:15–3:30 | George Luscombe Theatre
Panel 6: Collaborating Across Boundaries
- Adam Tinkle (Skidmore College) – Mixed-skill Ensemble as Social Practice: Jazz Histories and Contemporary Contexts
- Tom Zlabinger (York College / CUNY) – Jazzadelica: Psychedelic Sounds as Embraced by Major Jazz Musicians
- Marcel Swiboda (University of Leeds) – Improvisation and Transduction: Collective Individuation in an Age of Automation
Moderator: Jeannette Hicks
3:45 | George Luscombe Theatre
John Butcher/Thomas Lehn/Matthew Shipp Interviewed by Stuart Broomer
Friday, September 15
8:30 | Room 203
Coffee and refreshments
9:00–10:15 | George Luscombe Theatre
Roundtable 1: So What’s Research Got to do with It? Sharing Findings of Short and Long-Term Research into Community Improvisation
Heather Granger, Elizabeth Jackson, Rob Jackson, Ellen Ringler, Rob Wallace
Moderator: Ajay Heble
10:30–11:45 | George Luscombe Theatre
Roundtable 2: Play Who You Are: Learning from a Decade of Community Improvisation – Artist-Facilitator Discussion
Rich Burrows, Rich Marsella, Susanna Hood, Lynette Segal, Joe Sorbara
Moderator: Mary King
Noon | Branion Plaza
Concert: Bernice
Co-presented with the Central Student Association.
1:00-2:00 | Room 203
Lunch
1:00 | MacKinnon Green
Marble Run Rung installation open for exploration.
2:00–3:15 | George Luscombe Theatre
Video Screenings and Discussion: Stories of Impact
Moderator: Elizabeth Jackson
3:30–4:30 | Outdoor Dome, MacKinnon Green
Marble Run Rung
Launch, performance, and open exploration of sound art installation by Jesse Stewart.
Plan Your Visit
Parking at the Colloquium: University of Guelph Campus
The Colloquium is hosted on the University of Guelph campus where parking is limited. Please consider these options:
- Walk: From the Delta and Best Western Hotels, the colloquium is a 15-minute walk, from the Holiday Inn at Scottsdale and Stone Road it is a 30-minute walk, and from Downtown Guelph it is a 40-minute walk.
- Bus: A single-ride fare is $3. This is a great option for anyone staying Downtown; the routes are quick, easy, and frequent. More information is available at the Guelph transit website. Google Maps can also find the best route; enter your accommodation as your point of departure and “MacKinnon Building, Trent Lane” as your destination. Select the public transit route option, and let Google do the rest.
- Parking: Parking for visitors is limited and given the start of the semester it will be busy on campus. There are two main options:
- Visitor Kiosks, the best deal on campus: $10 flat rate (if paid by credit or debit) for parking all day. Please note that parking fills up early, and you’ll want to be there at the start of the day to take advantage of this option.
- Metered Parking: There are lots of metered parking lots across campus, which can also be busy. If you opt for metered parking, we recommend setting up a “Pay By Phone” account which reduces the hourly rate by 50¢ and saves you from dealing with loose change.
More information is available on the University of Guelph visitor parking web page. If you’re coming just for a single session, you can also park in the neighbourhoods surrounding the campus. Street parking is limited to two hours.
Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium 2017 
