Concert by The New Improvisers Studio

Description:

Western Front, in partnership with Coastal Jazz, presented The New Improvisers Studio—a free, weeklong educational program for emerging musicians aged 17 to 24, offered as part of the 2025 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. The New Improvisers Studio supported collaborative exploration in musical improvisation, guided by a leading international artist featured in the festival and hosted in residence at Western Front. 

For the second year of the program, participants Dae-Lillee Baillie (trombone), Ben Cai (saxophone), Jaiden Christie (violin), Olivier Hart (guitar), Sadie Koshan (percussion), Allison Lee (bass), Jack Lee (trumpet), Milan Stanga (percussion), Cindy Xu (piano), and Annie Zeng (bass) worked closely with acclaimed Filipinx-American composer, percussionist, and sound artist Susie Ibarra and invited guest facilitators Giorgio Magnanensi and Jen Yakamovich. Through daily three-hour workshops focused on listening practices, field recording, spatial mapping, ensemble playing, and alternative forms of musical notation, Ibarra led participants on a creative journey rooted in the rhythms and patterns of the natural world.

The Studio culminated in a free, hour-long public performance at Western Front, offering audiences a glimpse into the sonic discoveries developed throughout the week. The concert opened with a short procession into the Grand Luxe Hall, as Studio members played a rhythmic cycle on balingbing (bamboo buzzers). The ensemble then performed an improvised conducted score developed collectively from field recordings of tree fractals and bird songs gathered in Stanley Park, and transposed into layered polyrhythmic cycles.

Presented in partnership by Coastal Jazz and Western Front, with the support of Creative BC, Deux Mille Foundation, the Government of Canada, and the SOCAN Foundation.