The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra have rehearsed and performed in the city’s Centre for Contemporary Arts since the early 2000s, and hosted 14 annual festivals (GIOFest) funded by Creative Scotland. The group have always found it vital to collaborate with prolific musicians from around the world, and encourage accessibility and inclusion in its outreach programmes GIOBabies and GIODynamics, for those who are at the beginning of their journey in improvised music.
When COVID-19 struck, Jessica Argo, Raymond MacDonald and Maria Sappho immediately set up a programme of ZOOM sessions, meticulously documented by a team of filmmakers led by Ross Birrell. The idea was to maintain the creative community despite the newly imposed lockdown restrictions. Our weekly sessions surpassed our expectations, as the progressive textures and conversational gestures of improvised music are not so plagued by latency issues as pop/rock music genres are. Many musicians expanded their practice, going beyond solely musical instrumentation, as they played up to the mediation of ZOOM technology – morphing their bodies with experimental video, conducting other players using physical gestures, appropriating household objects as noise-makers or optical filters, presentation of spontaneous graphic scores and dropping in keyword themes. Fascinating political and theoretical questions arose – what are the ethical implications of forming a “Theatre of the Home” (Macdonald and Donohue 2020) – when the private rehearsal space becomes the stage? One result is that participation can become more accessible for those with chronic illness or care responsibilities, the only requirement being an internet connection, even on a mobile device (expensive external microphones were not mandatory).
Whilst in lockdown we hosted the first fully online, live-streamed GIOFest XIII. Another bonus was that our regular sessions were no longer limited to those in Glasgow – it became long-form international residency where we play with musicians we may never meet in person!
Therefore, as our world began to open up again, we decided GIOFest XIV would incorporate our expanded digital practices, combining three festivals in one. First and foremost, a live in-person CCA event with theatre audience and our international players dialling in on ZOOM, played back in the theatre space; secondly, a film festival featuring interviews with our players based in Canada, Japan and Brazil; and thirdly, the event was available online as a live-stream, for an audience at home.
Over this talk, Jessica will share how we do this telematic music making, how the musicians feel about it and she will even share a live demonstration of a small group ZOOM improvisation with members of the orchestra.
Bio:
Dr Jessica Argo is the Programme Leader of the BDes Sound for Moving Image Programme at Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation & Visualisation. Beyond the GSA, Jessica is passionate about public outreach for art and science, speaking at TEDx, the Glasgow Science Festival and Sonica. Jessica is an immersive installation artist, previously mixing live experimental video in dance clubs and white cube galleries.
