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| International Society for Improvised Music | |
|---|---|
| Name | International Society for Improvised Music |
| Formation | 1990s |
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Region served | International |
| Leader title | Founder(s) |
| Leader name | William Parker; Joe McPhee; Pauline Oliveros |
International Society for Improvised Music is an organization dedicated to the promotion, study, and practice of musical improvisation across genres and cultures. It brings together practitioners, scholars, and institutions from jazz, experimental, contemporary classical, world music, and electronic music scenes. The society facilitates conferences, performances, publications, and educational initiatives that intersect with prominent venues, festivals, and academic programs.
The society emerged during a period when improvisation-related networks were consolidating alongside institutions such as Bard College, New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Berklee College of Music, Rutgers University, and University of California, San Diego. Early founders included improvisers linked to scenes around New York City, Chicago, London, Berlin, and Amsterdam, and collaborators from festivals such as Umbria Jazz Festival, International Jazz Festival Montreal, Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and Jazz à Vienne. Influences and interlocutors included figures associated with Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Keith Jarrett, and Charles Mingus, as well as composers tied to Arnold Schoenberg, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Pierre Boulez. Institutional partners and advisory contributors have included representatives from Lincoln Center, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Smithsonian Institution, Getty Research Institute, Royal Academy of Music, and Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
The society's mission aligns with organizations such as International Society for Contemporary Music, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Society for Ethnomusicology, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, and International Musicological Society in promoting research, performance, and cross-cultural exchange. Activities draw on models exemplified by Documenta, Venice Biennale, Glastonbury Festival, Woodstock Festival, and Tanglewood Music Center, emphasizing collaboration among artists associated with Ars Electronica, STEIM, IRCAM, RCA Records, ECM Records, and Blue Note Records. Projects often involve partnerships with ensembles and collectives linked to London Sinfonietta, Bang on a Can, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, The Loft Jazz Festival, Black Artists Group, and Association for Cultural Equity.
Membership comprises improvisers, composers, researchers, and institutions from communities related to jazz, free improvisation, electroacoustic music, avant-garde, and world music; notable affiliated artists include those from lineages of Pharoah Sanders, Bill Frisell, Mary Halvorson, Fred Frith, Maggie Nicols, Tony Oxley, Han Bennink, Nels Cline, Mat Maneri, and Roscoe Mitchell. Organizational governance is informed by nonprofit examples such as Arts Council England, National Endowment for the Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, and Australia Council for the Arts, with advisory boards echoing models from Royal Philharmonic Society and American Composers Forum. Institutional members have included ensembles and schools like The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Kronos Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Bang on a Can All-Stars.
Regular events mirror the scale and format of gatherings such as Association for Recorded Sound Collections conferences, International Computer Music Conference, Bali Arts Festival, Midem, and South by Southwest. Past conference venues and presenting festivals have included Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, and academic symposia at Columbia University, Harvard University, Oxford University, and University of California, Berkeley. Featured panels and performances have included collaborations with practitioners linked to John Zorn, Matana Roberts, Annea Lockwood, Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley.
The society publishes proceedings, monographs, and curated recordings in formats comparable to Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, Duke University Press, and labels such as ECM Records, Tzadik Records, FMP (Free Music Production), Intakt Records, and Constellation Records. Scholarly contributors come from programs at Goldsmiths, University of London, Royal Holloway, University of York, McGill University, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and University of Michigan. Recorded projects have featured collaborations with ensembles and labels associated with Nonesuch Records, Impulse! Records, Columbia Records, Deutsche Grammophon, and archival releases in the style of Document Records and Smithsonian Folkways.
Educational initiatives partner with conservatories, summer schools, and community programs similar to Yellow Barn, Aspen Music Festival and School, Indiana University Summer Music Clinic, Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and workshops at venues such as The Stone (New York), Cafe OTO, The Vortex, and Cornelia Street Cafe. Outreach emphasizes cross-cultural curricula drawing on practices from West African drumming traditions, Indian classical music, Gamelan, Balinese music, Arabic maqam traditions, and improvisatory practices linked to Flamenco, Tango, and Klezmer.
The society has instituted prizes and recognition comparable to Pulitzer Prize for Music, MacArthur Fellowship, Polar Music Prize, Graham Walker Prize, Doris Duke Artist Awards, Herbie Hancock Jazz Legacy Award, and Spellemannprisen, and has been acknowledged by cultural bodies such as UNESCO, European Cultural Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Council England, and Canada Council for the Arts for contributions to artistic innovation and intercultural exchange.
Category:Music organizations Category:Improvisation Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City