Conference on Improvisation (Nuova consonanza)

[Massimiliano Guido]

CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline: July 30, 2017

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Keynote speakers: Gianmario Borio (University of Pavia – Fondazione Cini) and Benjamin Piekut(Cornell University)

Invited Speakers: Alessandro Bertinetto (University of Udine), Vincenzo Caporaletti (University of Macerata), Paul Steinbeck (Washington University in St. Louis), and members of the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza

It has been more than fifty years since the Californian composer and improviser Larry Austin was in Rome playing recordings of his New Music Ensemble at the American Academy, and since the first improvisational experiences of the groups emerging in Rome, such as the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza and Musica Elettronica Viva. We invite scholars from different disciplines to reflect on those early experiences of collective improvisation, and the evolution and consequences they have had to the present day.

Presentations (in Italian or, preferably, in English) will explore from any angle (historical, sociological, analytical, reception history, etc.) the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza or other Rome-based improvisational experiences.They may focus either on the groups as a whole or on the relationship of single members to the rest of the group.They may also cover issues, concepts, and methodologies that provide new approaches or content to the study of collective improvisation in general. Although a direct reference to the Roman improvisational scene is preferable, we will welcome presentations that present comparisons with other experiences (e.g.: AMM, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Musica Elettronica Viva, Gentle Fire, The League of Automatic Music Composers, Portsmouth Sinfonia, etc.), or that offer different conceptual or methodological approaches. Great attention will be given to new content, interdisciplinary research, work in progress, and innovative presentation formats.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• (self)ethnographies or historical studies on collaborative relationships within the group
• relationship between collective improvisational activity and individual improvisational or compositional activity
• comparative studies between different experiences of improvisation
• new or alternative perspectives on significant episodes in the history of improvisation, or overarching new approaches
• relationships between improvisational group(s) and the institutions they were/are collaborating with
• relationships with (and achievements in) different media and art forms such as theatre, dance, film, etc.
• interaction between different groups
• relationships between experimental improvisation and related music genres
• similarities and differences between musical improvisation and improvisation in other artistic fields: study of collaborations or comparative study for a more in-depth understanding of the specificities of each manifestation
• oppositional, counter-cultural and political aspects of improvisation and of improvisational groups in specific historical periods, geographical locations, and groups
• study of archival material on improvisation and on improvisation groups
• studies on reception aspects pertaining to improvisation groups
• proposals for new methodologies or new analytical approaches to improvisation
• studies on the formative nature of improvisation
• studies on different approaches to the study of improvisation
• pedagogical aspects of experimental improvisation in the 1960s and 1970s

Contributions can either be in paper form (20 minutes + 10 minutes of discussion) or lecture- recital, performance session, praxis session, workshop (30 minutes + 15 minutes of discussion).

If interested, please submit an abstract of the contribution you wish to present (up to 450 words), which should include the title, a maximum of 5 bibliographical references, and the type of contribution (paper, lecture-recital, etc.) to the email address ginci...@gmail.comby July 30, 2017.