Overview

Co-Directed by International Contemporary Ensemble Artists and CoPA Faculty Members Fay Victor and Rebekah Heller, Ensemble Evolution is a summer intensive, presented in collaboration with The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA) in New York City. The program is designed to foster a holistic understanding of the artist as a global citizen, and encourage all participants to embrace multiple roles: performer, composer, creator, improviser, collaborator. Ensemble Evolution participants engage in music-making, community-building, and creative producing through workshops, conversations, and radical artistic collaborations with faculty and each other. Taking place from June 26th to June 29th, the program hosts creative and collaborative performances with musicians dedicated to transforming the way music is created and experienced.

Ensemble Evolution is designed with the following guiding questions:

  • How do we discover and nourish new musical ideas?
  • How can technology and curatorial processes make collaboration more open and inclusive?
  • How do we support one another in the creation and advancement of collaborative ensembles?

In creative alignment with the Master of Music Performer Composer (MMPC) at The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA), all participants will have the unique opportunity to run their own 30 minute workshop, with both faculty and participants as performers. This will be a chance for artists to hear their own compositions, run their own group improvisation sessions, or be a leader in exploring a pre-written piece by a living composer of their choice.

During the course of the program, participants will work alongside the Ensemble, CoPA faculty, guest artists, and community partners to take ownership over programming, rehearsing, and producing concerts. Ensemble Evolution invites creative artists into a collaborative environment that fosters social consciousness and new modes of community-building through music, imagining pathways forward for the future of collective music making.

SCHEDULE OVERVIEW

June 26 – 29: In-Person at The New School’s College of Performing Arts, Arnhold Hall

FACULTY & guest presenters 2023

Faculty & Guest Presenters to be announced on a rolling basis. Follow us at @intcontemporary for more updates.
Click here to view Faculty & Guest Presenters from Ensemble Evolution 2022.

What does the program offer?

Participants, faculty, and guest presenters will work together within a daily schedule of workshops, presentations, improvisation sessions and office hours. The aims of Evolution are to explore the artist’s hybrid role, encourage open conversation and collaboration on expanding one’s artistic practice, and community-building through the lens of social justice.

Participants may attend any session that is available, at their own desired pace of engagement. The four-day intensive will culminate in a large-scale, collectively-curated performance on June 29, featuring the Ensemble Evolution participants, the International Contemporary Ensemble, New School faculty, and special guests.

Who should apply?

Artists who identify as performers or composer/performers of any instrument or voice type, along with any practitioner of performed sound (sound artists, generative music makers, or other). The International Contemporary Ensemble and The New School’s College of Performing Arts encourages applicants who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, women, trans and/or non-binary, LGBQ+, immigrants, individuals with disabilities, as well as people of diverse social, educational, and economic backgrounds. Applicants must be age 18 or older, and can be of any nationality.

If you have questions about your eligibility, please don’t hesitate to ask!

What’s Included

  • Unique Workshopping Space for your ideas
  • Performance Opportunities
  • Office hours with world-renowned faculty
  • Daily talks with Guest Artists
  • Improvisation Workshops
  • Daily presentations on a diverse range of topics

Fees

Application Fee: $0

Program Fee: $0

This year the program is in-person only. Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses. Those with physical disabilities that keep them from participating in-person can reach out on a case-by-case basis.