Improvisation Ensemble: MUSC 112, 212, 312, 412 - 1.5 units per term (3.0 units per year)
Director - Matt Rogalsky
This ensemble warmly invites anyone with a voice or an instrument to join. Acoustic and electronic instruments are all possible. Limited prior experience with improvisation, or level of skill on your instrument should not deter you, as we will be co-developing the identity of the group and accommodating/exploring everything we have to work with.
The ensemble will be grounded in practices of what has become known as an improvisor’s orchestra, with the ensemble developing a group identity by playing together under a leader performing what composer and improvisor Lawrence Douglas "Butch" Morris referred to as conduction rather than conducting. This is a form of directed free improvisation, which might also be called “instant composition”. We will discuss free improvisation historically as a mode of music making, recognizing how it extends from important organizations such as the African-American led AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), blurring into other notions of “experimental” music in the second half of the 20th c, We will explore the ideas of composer-improviser-theorists such as Anthony Braxton and George E Lewis and also consider other modes of improvisation in music, including historical examples from rock, folk and classical traditions.
Auditions: Students are asked to submit a short video (1-2 minutes), performing an unaccompanied song of their choice that demonstrates their singing ability. Examples of suitable songs include jazz songs, classical songs, folk songs, pop songs, or choral repertoire.
Auditions will be happening later in the fall term for a winter term start.
NOTE: Students will be given permission to register in the course number that matches their current level of study. (i.e: if a student is in third year they will be given permission to register in MUSC 312).