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We are pleased to announce our largest symposium so far, a two day event on the 25th and 26th March, 2010. We will have guest speakers and performers from Denmark, Sudan, USA, Canada and the UK.
Flirting with Uncertainty: Improvisation in Performance
SocArts International Symposium, 25 and 26 March 2010, University of Exeter
Although our lives are filled with carefully rehearsed and polished performances, from rock music performed in large arenas to Shakespeare plays, improvisation has been an important element in various time-based arts throughout history. From co-operative folk music to baroque music, from slam poetry to jazz and from street theatre to “Improvisation” as a separate musical genre, there has always been room for the uncertainty that improvisation brings. Improvisation as a technique is also crucial in applied areas of music such as community music, community drama and music therapy where music acts as a medium for collaboration and communication. Despite this, most social research focuses on the polished and rehearsed performances or the consumption of such art.
With this symposium we will explore the possibilities inherent in improvisations: Is improvisation a linear process aiming at reaching certainty or is it a challenge to flirt with uncertainty? What does improvisation make possible in terms of collaborations, connections and creations? Does it provide a different kind of energy in the artistic creation? Does it affect the audience’s perception and experience of the music? Does it allow for more participation?
This symposium brings together international and local researchers and practitioners to discuss the roles and potentials of improvisation in various settings and artistic expressions.
Full program below.
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Schedule 25th March
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10.00 – 13.00
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Presentations in B105, Amory Building
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10.00 – 10.15
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Welcome by Tia DeNora
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10.20 – 10.50
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Musical Improvisation in Communities with Musicians and People with Learning Disabilities in Kobe
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Rii Numata, Japan (music therapist, researcher in Graduate School of Intercultural Studies, Kobe University)
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10.50 – 11.20
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Improvisation in Music Therapy: Extra-ordinary?
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Simon Procter, UK (PhD student at SocArts, Program Director of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy Center, London)
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11.20 – 11.40 Tea break
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11.40 – 12.10
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Some concepts around freely improvised music
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Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen, Denmark (Composer, music coach, musicologist, music therapist)
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12.10 – 12.40
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Blurring the boundaries: situating an improvisational performance in (con)text
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Craig Robertson, Canada (PhD student at SocArts)
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12.40 – 13.00
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Discussion
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13.00 – 14.30
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Lunch break
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14.30 – 16.30
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Workshop in Seminar room, Music Building
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This workshop will be led by Carl Bergstrøm-Nielsen, everyone is welcome to join.
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Schedule 26th March
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10.00 – 12.15
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Presentation in B106, Amory Building
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10.00 – 10.30
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Designing Musical Gardens: Composition, Improvisation and Haiku
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Andrew Melvin, UK (PhD student at Brunel University, composer)
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10.30 – 11.00
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Improvising Music as a Methodology for Creating a Dialogue in Cross-Cultural Collaborations
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Griselda Sanderson, UK (Lecturer in Music (Performance), University College Falmouth)
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11.00 – 11.15 Tea break
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11.15 – 11.45
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The Bachelorette's Ball: Freestyle dancing at home and abroad
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Mary Fogarty, Canada (Lecturer in Dance, University of East London)
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11.45 – 12.15
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Improvisation in Nubian poetry gatherings
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Halim Sabbar, Sudan (PhD student at SOAS, linguist)
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12.15 – 13.30 Lunch
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13.30 – 14.00
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Keynote Presentation
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How can we understand improvisation in music therapy after the bankruptcy of meta-narratives?
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Yu Wakao from Japan is a Professor in the Department of Human Development at Kobe University. His interests include composition of experimental music, music therapy, soundscape activities and music education. He is also a composer.
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14.00 – 15.00 Open discussion.
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16.00 – 18.00
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Performances in seminar room in Music Building (details below)
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We are fortunate enough to be able to finish this symposium with some music-in-action. True to the topic of the symposium, it will include improvisations by several of the speakers as well as other members of SocArts and Exeter University.
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Performers will include Andrew Melvin with Muso, and Bash-O, Carl Bergstroem-Nielsen, Craig Robertson, Griselda Sanderson, Henry Tompkins (Exeter Improvisation Group), Mary Fogarty, Rii Numata, Trever Hagen (SocArts PhD student), Yu Wakao.
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