The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance

Monash University

Melbourne Australia

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Keynote speakers:

Dr Sarah Raine (University College Dublin)

Professor Tracy McMullen (Bowdoin University - USA)

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The AJIRN committee is pleased to announce that AJIRN 7 + will be held at Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance (Monash University). An ‘umbrella’ conference, starting on Friday the 31st of May, is addressing gender equity and diversity in the Australian Jazz and Improvisation sector, with the AJIRN7 conference that evening. This umbrella conference is supported by an Australian Research Council grant (Click here for more details).  Both conferences will be hybrid (onsite and online) and will include papers and performances.  Paper abstracts and/or performance proposals are due February 10, 2024. 

 

 

Theme 

The theme for this year’s AJIRN conference centres on inclusivity and exclusivity. The organising committee are looking for diverse approaches to understanding the complexities of what these terms mean in relation to jazz and improvisation. The notion of allied concepts can be included such as disadvantage, diversity, social change, identities etc, which have been studied across many disciplines and are important in this discourse. It is also important to acknowledge that there are dichotomies between the terms inclusivity and exclusivity in terms of lived experiences, the practice of music, and academic knowledge in the field. We advocate both performative and traditional scholarly approaches that offer strategies of change towards the valuing of diversity and social inclusion. 

 

Your proposal needs to include a connection to the following sub-themes and be supported by a theoretical/conceptual and methodological approach.

 

Space and Place

• Scenes - diasporas - networks

• Temporality and jazz/improvisation

• Social change through Jazz/improvisation 

• Aesthetic boundaries and hybridities

• Melding past and present: historical practices without getting stuck in the past

 

 Identity through Musical Practices

• Developing a personal voice  - who are you?

• Cultural identity expressed through improvisation

• Hegemonic positionalities 

• Group and intersubjective identities

• Improvising gender - performance of gender through improvisation

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Musical Practice - Inclusivity and exclusivity in:

• Music analysis

• Collaborative improvisation

• The jazz canon

 

New Virtuosities

• New and diverse virtuosities

• Creating spaces: challenging the traditional ideas of virtuosity 

• Collective virtuosity

• Post-virtuosity

 

Decolonising and Indigenising

• Learning from the past to change the future

• Ethics of restoration, reconciliation and revitalisation

• Improvisation as healing

• Erasures and historical memory

• Cultural responsiveness

• Intercultural collaboration

• Culturally safe creative spaces 

 

Pedagogy

• Redefining the canon in teaching and learning

• Authenticity

• Diverse abilities and crip thinking

• Place-based learning and ecoliteracies

 

Format

 

The AJIRN committee is passionate about being inclusive which underpins our decision to deliver the AJIRN conference in a hybrid format. This will include ‘on-site’ activities at Monash University as well as the option for remote participation. The hybrid format will include both traditional paper presentations, creative contributions and performances. More detailed information will be available soon at www.ajirn.com. 

 

Submission Process

We are accepting research proposals for the following formats:

• 20-minute research presentations (10-minute Q&A)

• 20-minute lecture-recitals (10-minute Q&A)

• Curated special sessions

• Panel discussions (format can be flexible, in consultation with the Program Committee)

• Other hybrid activities, including site-specific performances and happenings

 

Please submit (1) a proposal title, (2) a 250-word paper abstract or performance proposal, and (3) a 100-word bio, compiled as a single Word doc to robert.burke@monash.edu, using the subject line ‘AJIRN 2024 Proposal - surname’. In the body of your email, please indicate what kind of proposal you are submitting, the theme or sub-theme your proposal most clearly aligns with, and whether you expect to attend in person or virtually.  

 

Proposals must be received by February 10, 2024.

 

Notification of acceptance will be sent by February 28, 2024.

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REGISTER HERE

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Accommodation

For those that are requiring accommodation for the upcoming AJIRN 7 conference 

- Monash Accommodation  - More info (use my name as a referent if needed)

- Park Royal - Monash (Mention that you are part of a conference at Monash - Monash Rates)

 

Conference organising committee:

 

Robert Burke (Monash University) (Chair)

Aleisha Ward (University of Auckland)

Christopher Coady (Sydney Conservatorium)

Miranda Park (Monash University)

Roger Dean (Western Sydney University)

Louise Denson (Independent Artist)

Bruce Johnson (University of Turku; University of Technology Sydney)

Clare Hall (Monash University)