Creative Music Making at Eastman – July 14 to 18, 2008

As one of the Eastman School of Music’s World Music Institutes in July 2008, Bill Cahn presented a week-long workshop on “Creative Music Making” for participants from Canada and the U.S.
The daily 3-hour sessions, based on Bill’s book (“Creative Music Making” – Routledge, 2005) gave participants – many of whom had never improvised on a concert before – the opportunity to play every day and to make recordings of free-form improvised music in small ensembles of 2 to 4 players. Each daily session began with participants listening to unfamiliar music from around the world, followed by analysis and discussion. Connections were made between the music heard and the music experienced directly by the participants in the improvisations. All of the improvisation recordings were also played back for listening and discussion.
The week culminated in an evening concert in the Eastman School’s Kilbourn Hall on July 18. The CMM participants each participated in one trio improvisation, and as a finale, all participants contributed to a “Tag-Team” trio improv titled, “Metamorphosis”, in which one-by-one each player in the active trio was replaced by another player, until all participants had performed in the continuous music. About 200 listeners – students from other Eastman summer courses and community members – attended and responded enthusiastically.
This was the third summer for the CMM Institute.