The Institute of Composing aims to address the critical issues of making new music in the 21st century, from the viewpoints of composer, performer, technologist, writer and audience.
Improvisation has been a vital part of most world musics, and played a significant role in early classical music, but less so between 1800 and 1950. The explosions of the avant-garde of the 50s and 60s and increasing exchanges between different musical forms make it a vital issue to address today.
Shrinking global boundaries make accessible and practical conversations between music and musicians. Are these tending towards certain norms, are traditional voices and practices being lost?
There was at one time an accepted classical music canon as the basis for broadsheet music journalism. In a recent series in the Observer, surveying ‘styles’ of music, classical music and jazz were not mentioned.