News
CSI-ÉCI Issue 17.1: “Sound, Meaning, Education 23”
We’re thrilled to announce that Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation—IICSI’s open-source academic—has just published a new special issue: “Sound, Meaning, Education 23” (17.1)! You can read…
Call for Papers | 2026 Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium: “Artists On/Off the Record: Living Archives and Embodied Memory”
The 2026 Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium: “Artists On/Off the Record: Living Archives and Embodied Memory” ImprovLab, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada September 10-11, 2026 Deadline for Abstracts: May 31, 2026…
Dr. Rebecca Barnstaple Researches Arts-Based Support for People with Parkinson’s Disease
Dr. Rebecca Barnstaple, leader of the University of Guelph’s new Bachelor’s Degree Program in Creative Arts, Health and Wellness (BCAHW), former IICSI Postdoctoral Fellow (2024-2025), and current member of IICSI’s…
Apply Now: PhD Program in Critical Studies in Improvisation
Fall 2026 applications are now open for the PhD Program in Critical Studies in Improvisation (IMPR) at the University of Guelph. A transformative, four-year program, IMPR blends rigorous academic research…
IICSI Presents Improvisation Festival 2025
November 24 (Guelph, Ontario)—This week sees the sixth annual Improvisation Festival (IF) return to the University of Guelph! Presented by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), this…
IF 2025: Sixth-annual Improvisation Festival features two free days of programming!
November 4 (Guelph, Ontario)—The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) is thrilled to announce that Improvisation Festival (IF) 2025 will take place in ImprovLab at the University of Guelph from…
IICSI 2025 Improviser-in-Residence Marilyn Crispell to Give Two Free Performances at University of Guelph
October 9, 2025 (Guelph)—The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) will host renowned pianist Marilyn Crispell for a free night of performances in ImprovLab at the University of Guelph…
IICSI Presents the 2025 Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium: “Dance with the Music: Movement in the Improvised Arts”
The 2025 Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium will take place in the ImprovLab at the University of Guelph from September 11-13, 2025. Presented by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI)…
IICSI Director Eric Fillion Launches New Book: SOUNDTRACK TO THE REVOLUTION
On June 24, 2025, Dr. Eric Fillion, Director of the University of Guelph’s International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), will hold a launch event for his new book,…
IICSI’s Founding Director Dr. Ajay Heble Named a 2025 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association
On April 2, 2025, the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) named Dr. Ajay Heble, Founding Director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), a 2025 Jazz Hero—a title awarded to community leaders who go above and beyond to nurture, support, and advocate for jazz and the arts.
Heble, who was also founding Artistic Director of the Guelph Jazz Festival, is one of twenty-nine individuals across North America recognized this year as part of the JJA’s Jazz Heroes initiative, which honours “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz.” As the JJA notes, “Jazz Heroes are essential to the health of the overall jazz ecosystem.”
