SYMPOSIUM
Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium
The Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium brings together a diverse community of artists, educators, and researchers from across the region to engage in a critical exploration of improvisation through performance, dialogue, and collaboration.
First inaugurated in 2025, the symposium responds to growing international recognition of improvisation as both an artistic practice and a pedagogical approach. While developments in European music education have foregrounded improvisation in recent years, the Asia-Pacific region offers its own rich and diverse musical cultures through which improvisation can be explored, reimagined, and expanded.
Positioned at the intersection of practice and pedagogy, the symposium provides a platform to examine improvisation not only as a form of creative expression, but also as a vital tool for learning, exchange, and cultural connection.
Call for Performance Proposals: Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium 2026
The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music invites proposals for the Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium (APIS) 2026, taking place 20–21 October 2026 in Singapore.
The symposium welcomes artists, educators, and researchers engaging with improvisation as both an artistic practice and a pedagogical approach. As a platform centred on the sharing of practice, submissions should foreground performance, with opportunities for reflection and dialogue emerging from the work presented.
Submission Formats
We invite proposals in the following formats:
– Performance: A Standalone performance demonstrating an improvisational approach and/or practice.
– Framed Performance: A performance accompanied by contextual framing (e.g. verbal introduction, demonstration, or discussion) that situates the work within a broader artistic, pedagogical, or research context.
Possible Areas of Exploration include (but are not limited to)
– Cross-cultural conversations in improvisation
– Integration of electronics and technology
– Development of new improvisational language and vocabularies
– Improvisational practices emerging from local, regional or non-Western traditions
Eligibility
We welcome proposals from individuals or collectives who:
– Are based in, or connected to, the Asia-Pacific region, and
– Engage with improvisation in performance, teaching, or research
Key Dates
Submission Deadline: 15 May 2026, 11:59pm SGT
Notification of Acceptance: 30 Jun 2026
Symposium Dates: 20-21 Oct 2026
Submission Process
Please submit your proposal(s) via this form.
Enquiries
For questions or additional information, please contact us at present@nus.edu.sg.
Related Opportunity
Applicants whose work engages more explicitly with artistic research may also consider making a submission to Interweaving (22-25 Oct 2026), the 2026 edition of the Performers(‘) Present International Artistic Research Symposium held at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.