Thursday, June 5, 2014
Reach of Resonance screening @ 7PM
Whitsell Auditorium at NWFC, 1219 SW Park Ave.

Friday & Saturday, June 6 & 7, 2014
Sandbox Studios, 420 NE 9th Ave.
Doors open Friday at 5:30PM, Saturday at 4:30PM

Purchase advance tickets to #ISP2014 today via our Indiegogo Campaign

Lineup & Schedule

Thursday, June 5 –

7:00  Reach of Resonance screening at Whitsell Auditorium at NWFC, 1219 SW Park Ave.

Friday, June 6 –

6:30 Welcome Ensemble (TBA)

7:00 Scott Cutshall’s Phrasology

7:45 Suzanne Chi/ Heather Treadway, Lisa Schonberg

8:00 Tim Berne Solo

8:30 Vanessa Vogel, Tere Mathern/Brandon Conway

8:55 Rich Halley Quartet

9:40 Mike Barber, Danielle Ross/ Seth Nehil, Ryan Stuewe

10:00 Tim Berne Ensemble: STATIC with Tim Berne, John Gross, Farnell Newton, Dana Reason,  Scott Cutshall, Jon Shaw, Lars Campbell, Dan Duval, and Lee Elderton)l

11:00 Kaj-Anne Pepper/ Alyssa Reed-Stuewe, Catherine Lee

11:15 Pinkish

Saturday, June 7-

12:30 Informal lunch gathering at Bunk Bar

2:00 Panel Discussion moderated by Daniel Flessas, featuring Reed Wallsmith, Amenta Abioto, Michael Stirling, Gregg Bielemeier and more to be announced.

6:00 Ken Ollis and Senses Sharpened

6:45 Gregg Bielemeier, Catherine Egan / Lisa Degrace

7:10 Amenta Abioto

7:55 Lucy Yim/ Jesse Mejia

8:10 Michael Stirling, Doug Theriault, Matt Carlson

8:55 Dawn Stoppiello, Ruth Nelson, Emily Stone, John Gross, Reed Wallsmith

9:15 Bad Luck

10:00 Luke Gutsgell/ Ben Kates

10:15 Matt Hannafin & Loren Chasse

The 3rd annual Improvisational Summit of Portland brings together the best musicians, dancers and film organizations in the city and combines them with a small group of visiting musicians, creating a unique event. This year we feature a number of unbelievable artists at the beautiful Sandbox Studio space in NE Portland with contributions from all corners of Portland’s vibrant performing scene. Drinks courtesy of Breakside Brewery. Sponsored by KBOO 90.7 FM.

Featured Performers:

Tim Berne (NYC) is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.  Based in New York City since 1974, Berne has composed and performed prolifically, amassing a body of work that includes dozens of critically-acclaimed recordings. His work draws heavily on free improvisation resulting in complex, lengthy compositions. During his career, he has performed or recorded with a number of notable musicians, including Bill Frisell, John Zorn,  Mat Maneri, David Torn, Hank Roberts, Herb Robertson, the ARTE Quartett and in trio Miniature. In recent years, he has performed in several groups with Tom Rainey, Gerald Cleaver, Craig Taborn, Michael Formanek, Drew Gress, Marc Ducret and David Torn, and Chris Speed. (www.screwgunrecords.com)

Bad Luck (Seattle, WA) is a duo comprised of drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch. Called “One of the best Seattle jazz recordings in years” (Earshot Jazz) Bad Luck was awarded the “Best Outside Jazz Group” of 2009 by Earshot Magazine, and a finalist for “Best Avant Group” in the 2009 Inside Out awards. Performing all original compositions, the pair use live loops and pedals to create an astounding range of sound. Icasiano and Welch can quickly shift into fierce improvisations, sound art and carefully constructed harmonic palettes. Icasiano and Welch are both founding members of Seattle’s creative performance series: the Racer Sessions. (badluckband.net)

The Improvisation Summit of Portland 2014 is sponsored by:

The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation

Composition Through Improvisation: ISP 2013 Panel Discussion

Don’t miss this opportunity at the beginning of day two of the ISP to hear these master performers discuss their use of improvisation in composing new works.

Daniel Flessas: moderator, longtime KBOO DJ

Catherine Lee – Tardis Ensemble, oboist

John Niekrasz – Why I Must Be Careful, drums & percussion

Rich Halley – co-founder of the CMG, saxophonist

Linda Austin – founder of Performance Works NorthWest, dance

Reed Wallsmith – Blue Cranes, Battle Hymns and Gardens, saxophonist

Complete Schedule:
Friday Night: Doors at 6pm.
7pm – Cinema Project presents Thirteen Summers (This program features a multi-screen projection performance of footage from filmmaker and naturalist Timothy Treadwell. With live accompaniment by Joe Cunningham, Tim DuRoche, Dan Duval, Jon Shaw, Reed Wallsmith, Doug Theriault)
7:55 – John Grunfest/Megan Bierman Duo
8:20 – Dawn Stoppiello and Doug Theriault
8:30 – Sam Coomes & Brian Mumford Duo
8:50 – Linda K. Johnson and Tim DuRoche
9:10 – Tim DuRoche & Reconstruction of Light: :The Music of Carei Thomas, with Andrew Durkin, piano; Eugene Lee, saxophones; Jon Shaw, contrabass; Tim DuRoche on drums/little instruments.
10:05 – Richard Decker, Danielle Ross, Jordan Dykstra, and Reed Wallsmith
10:25 – Anton Hatwich / John Gross
11:30pm – Gino Robair leads a large ensemble of musicians and dancers in his opera, I, Norton

Saturday
11am at Bamboo Grove- Improvisation and Contemporary Instrumental Techniques workshop with Dr. John C. Savage (flutes, alto saxophone). Dr. Savage will discuss and demonstrate his approach to contemporary improvising. Specific topics will include: circular breathing, multiphonics, vocalizations, and ideas for group interplay. This will be a hands-on workshop, so please feel free to bring an instrument. All instruments welcome!
11am at Revival Drum Shop- Gino Robair percussion workshop
1pm at Bamboo Grove – Workshop on Improvising & Dance w/ Danielle Ross & Christi Denton
4pm at Bamboo Grove- Musician-writer Tim DuRoche moderates a discussion with dance artist Linda K. Johnson, musician Rick Stewart of Smegma, saxophonist and Creative Music Guild co-founder Rich Halley and interdisciplinary dancer-storyteller Susan Banyas about improvisation – its role in their craft, its history over the last few decades in the NW, and how they’ve deployed improvisational strategies to create across disciplines and expand on tradition.

Saturday Night
Doors at 6pm
7pm – Filmusik presents Un Chien Andalou w/ a live score by an ensemble curated by Nick Bindeman
7:40 – Tracy Broyles & Catherine Lee
7:50 – Blue Cranes
8:35 – Tere Mathern, Vanessa Vogel, Jen Hackworth and Marisa Anderson
9:05 – The Tenses
9:35 – Woolly Mammoth Comes to Dinner
9:55 – Thicket
10:10 – Grouper
10:40 – Linda Austin, Jin Camou, Ben Kates, Ryan Miller
10:50 – Gino Robair
11:20 – Carla Mann and Rich Halley
11:35pm – The Raven Big Band Buddha Mind Ensemble lead by John Grunfest and Megan Bierman w/ 30+ musicians
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And:
A sound installation by Stephanie Simek
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This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
This project is supported in part by Ninkasi Brewing and The Map Room Studio.

Here it is everyone: The second iteration of our festival. This is two days of experimental music, dance and film on May 31 & June 1 at Sandbox Studio. Check out the schedule below.

Improvisation Summit of Portland 2013

Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1
Sandbox Studios: 420 NE 9th ave
$12-$18 sigle day, $20-$40 both days: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/382722

All ages

Friday, May 31:
6:00 – Experimental Film Festival PDX: “Bridge” & “C.A.G.E”
“Bridge” by Kevin T. Allen 11 mins NY – A study of three similar but distinct microcultures: the Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn Bridgeand Williamsburg Bridge. Interrogated through the use of contact microphones, the physical infrastructures of these bridges become audible and reveal their inherent macroacoustics.
“C.A.G.E” by Richard Evans 20 mins NY – C.A.G.E. is a fictional documentary about ‘Variations on a Plain Index’ a 1945 sound work by an unnamed experimental composer. It is a subtle and philosophical story about an artist’s relationship to environment and how component elements of an artwork can represent subjective states of mind.
6:35 – Jen Hackworth/Heather Treadway
6:45 – John Gross Trio
7:20 – Linda Austin and Gregg Bielemeier/Ken Ollis
7:35 – Grammies
8:10 – Eet
8:30 – Daniel Menche
9:00 -Taka Yamamoto/Lisa Schonberg
9:10 – William Hooker
9:40 – Gulls
10:00 – WIMBC Big Band (with Ryan Spangler, Ben Kates, Stephanie Simek, Carson McWhirter, Russel Durham)
10:40 – Dawn Stoppiello/Thollem Mcdonas
10:55 – HITS
11:30 Elphin Elephant

Saturday June 1:
11:00 – William Hooker drum workshop (at Revival Drum Shop)
3:00 – Composition Through/With Improvisation moderated by Daniel Flessas from KBOO w/ John Niekrasz, Rich Halley, Reed Wallsmith, Linda Austin, Catherine Lee
4:30 – Wavemakers (presented by Cinema Project)
Hearing unusual interferences coming from radio vacuum tubes one night during World War I, the French musician and educator Maurice Martenot dreamed of an instrument that would turn the new material of the times, electricity, into music, but electronic music with a distinctive human touch. — Caroline Martel
From this idea came the 1928 invention, the ondes Martenot (onde meaning wave in French). While many may have heard its distinctive sound in sci-fi TV shows like The Thunderbirds, Hollywood classics such as Lawrence of Arabia, and in recent soundtracks like There Will be Blood, the instrument itself has rarely been seen. In her most recent feature length documentary, Canadian filmmaker Caroline Martel takes a slightly experimental approach to bring the history and image of this “sensual and sophisticated instrument” into view. Caroline will be in attendance to talk more about the ondes and her journey to discover it.
7:00 – Doug Theriault & Juniana Lanning
7:40 – Jim McGinn and Tere Mathern/Ben Kates, John Savage and Catherine Lee
8:00 – Battle Hymns and Gardens
8:45 – Noelle Stiles/Marisa Anderson and Rich Halley
9:00 – 1939 Ensemble
9:30 – Danielle Ross/John Niekrasz
9:45 – Like a Villain
10:15 – Tracy Broyles/Loren Chasse
10:30 – William Hooker Ensemble (with Lee Elderton, Mary Sutton, Thollem McDonas, John Niekrasz, Andrew Jones, John Gross, Kyleen King)
11:30 – Golden Retriever

Sponsored by Sandbox Studio, Beacon Sound, Stumptown Coffee and The Map Room Studio.

Thanks to: RACC & The Miller Foundation

Thanks to our Indiegogo Donators:

Arto LeStrange
Leah Wilmoth
Dan Bryant
Benjamin Spees
Danielle Parks
Robert Philliops
Marisa Debowsky
Shirley Rillera
Fletcher Nemeth
Heather MacKenzie
Mia Ferm

Edward Sharp

Benjamin Kates
Alyssa Reed-Stuewe
Matthew Doyle
Adam Triplett
Michelle Citrin
Ben Poliakoff
Jin Camou
Tanya Smith
Joshua Powell
Bob Priest
Adam Triplett
Helena Schniewind
Michael McManus
John Niekrasz
Anonymous

Buy Tickets ahead time for guaranteed entry!