Improviser-in-Residence Program

IICSI is thrilled to present world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer, and award winning graphic novelist Kid Koala as the 2016/17 Improviser-in-Residence.

When Rivers Meet was the culminating performance of Dong-Won Kim’s residency as Improviser-in-Residence (2014) that took place at the River Run Centre in Guelph, Ontario. It featured the Guelph Symphony Orchestra conducted by Judith Yan; the Guelph Youth Jazz Ensemble directed by Brent Rowan; musicians Jeff Bird, Daniel Fischlin, and Lewis Melville; dancer Georgia Simms; and storyteller Ben Grossman. A fully bilingual (English/Korean) 2-CD recording was released in October 2015 by Barcode Free Music and features large-scale group improvisations, traditional storytelling, intercultural musical forms, dance interludes, and even audience participation.

Douglas R. Ewart was the 2015-2016 Improviser-In-Residence in Guelph and Waterloo. Ewart’s residency included instrument building workshops, musical improvisations with local artists, a performance at the 2015 Guelph Jazz Festival & Colloquium and culminated in his orchestrated, massive community improvisation Crepuscule 2016, in Guelph’s Arboretum. The Improviser-in-Residence program is a collaborative partnership between IICSI, the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community, and Musagetes.

By Jason Caslor, Arizona State University In 2014, Musagetes, IICSI and the Laurier Centre for Music in the Community’s Improviser-in-Residence, Dong-Won Kim, spent the fall in Guelph bringing together a…

In the Summer 2013 ICASP and Musagetes Improviser-in-Residence Rich Marsella brought his oddball aesthetic to Guelph. In this role, Marsella facilitated community impact workshops alongside ensemble musical performances, bringing together new approaches to community building and music-making.

From August 15th, 2014 through January 15th, 2015, Dong-Won Kim (along with his wife, Ju-Hyung) was embedded in the Guelph and Waterloo communities. Dong-Won connected our communities with profound experiences of improvised music making and dance; provided memorable, positive moments with participants and the broader community through experimentation and reflection; and presented his work throughout the residency and as part of a final, culminating performance with community partners.

In Autumn 2012, ICASP Improvisers-in-Residence Scott Thomson and Susanna Hood created a multi-generational community art and music experience entitled ‘The Share.’ The film captures some of the beautiful songs, dances, and interactions that made ‘The Share’ so special.

Former chair of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) Douglas R. Ewart (reeds) is the current IICSI/Musagetes improviser-in-residence. Mr. Ewart is a versatile composer, improviser, sculptor and maker of masks and instruments, educator, lecturer, and all around visionary. Mr. Ewart will be in Guelph through the fall of 2015 developing the community project Crepuscule, which will take place in May 2016. For all of Douglas’s dates and appearances, please visit our events calendar.