Building Bridges: Improvisation as a Unifying Agent in Education, Arts, and Society

Featured Artists and Presenters: Jane Ira Bloom, Mark Dresser, Mazen Kerbaj, Oliver Lake, Bennett Reimer, Michael Zerang, Association for the Advancement of Creative Music.

Creating connections is one of the most prominent themes in today's world. Whether forging treaties between hostile nations, creating ties between diverse cultures in today's global society, melding ideas and artistic influences, or negotiating the intricacies of human relationship; the capacity to integrate disparate perspectives and constituencies into a coherent whole—to build bridges—is central to meaning and progress in most every area of life.

Recognizing improvisation as a powerful tool for achieving this integration, the International Society for Improvised Music invites proposals for performances, workshops, and papers based on this theme for its second international conference.

The theme may be construed broadly: Improvisation may be considered as a powerful way in which to engage with music as an individual or with others; as a pedagogical tool that bridges diverse areas of musical training such as performance, theory, and composition; a vehicle for creativity across fields as diverse as business, science, and sport; a means for integrating one's own creative awareness through peak or transcendent states; a lens for interdisciplinary investigation into areas such as complex systems, cognition, consciousness, and sociology; or a catalyst for dissolving ethnic, gender, and other boundaries. These are just a few examples of
possible angles; proposals that pursue other approaches are welcome. ISIM encourages proposals from as diverse a cross-section of performers, pedagogues, and scholars as possible.

Deadline for proposals: Sept 1, 2007. Notification date: Sept 20, 2007

Proposal Form is available on the ISIM website www.isimprov.org.

For more information please contact: Sarah Weaver, ISIM Conference Director, sarah@isimprov.org 734-277-2690.