In 2025, Anthony Braxton’s 80th birthday year, the Post-1945 Music Analysis Interest Group and the Improvisation Interest Group will hold a joint meeting at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory in Minneapolis, MN. We invite paper proposals on the topic of Improvisation and Composed Music by Anthony Braxton and His Contemporaries. Papers should be 10 minutes long, with 5 minutes for a Q&A session. We may conclude with a discussion amongst panelists if time permits.
How do improvisation and composed art music relate to each other in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? Proposals may address, among many other topics:
- Structural placement of improvised material within composed music
- Systems of interaction between musicians in an ensemble
- Analytical methods for improvised passages or improvisational frameworks
- Analytical methods for diverse improvisatory traditions as reflected in contemporary music
- Comparing approaches to improvisation by different composers
We invite proposals of up to 300 words with an optional page of supplemental material that may include examples, works cited, or video links. Email your proposal to Gui Hwan Lee lee3gh -at- jmu.edu using the subject “Post-1945/Improv Proposal” by August 11, 2025. An option for remote presentation is available.
Andrew Malilay White and Yiyi Gao, Chairs, SMT Improvisation Interest Group
Noah Kahrs and Gui Hwan Lee, Chairs, Post-1945 Music Analysis Interest Group