This international conference and concert series will explore new modes of scholarly and performative expertise on improvisation. Hosted by the American Academy in Rome, the event is curated by George E. Lewis (2010 Resident), Professor of Music at Columbia University, Ilaria Puri Purini, Andrew Heiskell Arts Director at the American Academy in Rome, and Paolo Rotili of Nuova Consonanza, one of the world's most innovative organizations dedicated to experimental music.

This event includes panel discussions, presentations, and concerts. Scholars from the fields of music performance, musicology, philosophy, urban planning, architecture, and sound art, areas with which the Academy is centrally engaged, will take part in panels exploring the implications of improvisation both within and beyond the aesthetic. The International Contemporary Ensemble, for which Lewis serves as Artistic Director, will be the performing ensemble in residence, presenting panels on their music improvisation methods, and performing in collaboration with members of Nuova Consonanza.

Monday, 23 November 2026

Villa Aurelia, American Academy in Rome

16.30 Critical Perspectives on Improvisation: Philosophical and Musicological Reflections (I)

Alessandro Bertinetto, Università di Torino
Vincenzo Caporaletti, Università di Macerata
Laura Cremonesi, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
Alessandro Sbordoni, Ensemble Exàifnes

Moderated by Alessandro Sbordoni, Ensemble Exàifnes

In Italian with simultaneous on-screen AI translation.

Tuesday, 24 November 2026

Villa Aurelia, American Academy in Rome

15.00–16.00 Sonic Architecture: Perspectives from Sound Art, Visual Art, Music, Architecture, Urban Planning

David P. Brown, University of Illinois Chicago
Christopher Dell, Bergen School of Architecture
Morgan O'Hara, artist
Gascia Ouzounian, University of Oxford

Moderated by Harald Kisiedu, Institut für Musik, Hochschule Osnabrück

In English with simultaneous on-screen AI translation.

16.30–17.30 Inside Improvised Music

Members of International Contemporary Ensemble and Nuova Consonanza discuss their creative processes.

Nuova Consonanza: Virginia Guidi, voice; Gianni Trovalusci, flute; Paolo Ravaglia, clarinet; Simone Alessandrini, saxophone

International Contemporary Ensemble: Fay Victor, voice; Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flute; Joshua Rubin, clarinet; Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Darius Jones, saxophone; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Cory Smythe, piano; Kyle Armbrust, viola

Moderated by Christopher Dell, Bergen School of Architecture

In Italian and English with simultaneous on-screen AI translation.

18.00–19.00 Critical Perspectives on Improvisation: Philosophical and Musicological Reflections (II)

Fumi Okiji, University of California, Berkeley
Harald Kisiedu, Institut für Musik, Hochschule Osnabrück
Alessandro Sbordoni, Ensemble Exàifnes

Moderated by Gascia Ouzounian, University of Oxford

In English with simultaneous on-screen AI translation.

19.30–20.40 Suono e spazio: A Concert of Improvised Music

International Contemporary Ensemble

Wednesday, 25 November 2026

Location to be determined

18.00–19.30 Histories and Futures: Keynote Conversation

Miya Masaoka, composer/sound artist, Columbia University
Tomeka Reid, cellist/composer
Alvin Curran, composer/sound artist
Giancarlo Schiaffini, trombonist/composer, Nuova Consonanza
Alessandro Sbordoni, Ensemble Exàifnes

Moderated by George E. Lewis, Columbia University

In English with simultaneous on-screen AI translation.

Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone

21.00 D'Improvviso: International Contemporary Ensemble e Nuova Consonanza in Concert

Nuova Consonanza: Virginia Guidi, voice; Gianni Trovalusci, flute; Paolo Ravaglia, clarinet; Simone Alessandrini, saxophone.

International Contemporary Ensemble: Fay Victor, voice; Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flute; Joshua Rubin, clarinet; Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Darius Jones, saxophone; Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet; Cory Smythe, piano; Kyle Armbrust, viola.

Individual Musicians: Christopher Dell, vibraphone; Miya Masaoka, koto; Tomeka Reid, cello; Alvin Curran, electronics; Giancarlo Schiaffini, trombone

All events are free and open to the public, with the exception of the concert on Wednesday, 25 November, which is ticketed. Please check back in September for ticket sales.

George Lewis (2010 Resident) is an American composer, musicologist, trombonist, and the Artistic Director of the International Contemporary Ensemble. He is the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music and Area Chair in Composition at Columbia University. He has been awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Doris Duke Artist Award. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, an Honorary Member of the American Musicological Society, a Member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin, and a Trustee of the American Academy in Rome.

Nuova Consonanza is a non-profit cultural association dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Italian and international music, and one of Italy's most important organizations dedicated to experimental improvised music. It was founded in the late 1950s by composers Mario Bertoncini, Mauro Bortolotti, Aldo Clementi, Antonio De Blasio, Franco Evangelisti, Domenico Guaccero, Egisto Macchi, Daniele Paris, Francesco Pennisi and since 1963 it has organized an annual festival.

The International Contemporary Ensemble, now in its third decade, is a collective of musicians, media artists, and educators committed to reimagining contemporary music and sound by commissioning, developing, recording, and performing the works of living artists. The Ensemble has premiered over 1,000 works, and many of its collaborators have developed highly influential careers, including Du Yun, who won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for her opera Angel's Bone, which the Ensemble developed and premiered; and MacArthur "genius" Fellows Tyshawn Sorey and Courtney Bryan. Notable presenting partners include Lincoln Center (New York), Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, TIME:SPANS Festival, Roulette, Miller Theatre, Warsaw Autumn, Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Park Avenue Armory, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ojai Music Festival, Big Ears Festival, Dutch National Opera, Carnegie Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.