Concert by The New Improvisers Studio

Jun 28, 2025
Field:

Performance

 Location:

Grand Luxe Hall, Western Front

 Time:

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Description:

Western Front, in partnership with Coastal Jazz, presented The New Improvisers Studio—a free, weeklong educational program for emerging musicians aged 17 to 24, offered as part of the 2025 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. The New Improvisers Studio supported collaborative exploration in musical improvisation, guided by a leading international artist featured in the festival. 

For the second year of the program, participants Dae-Lillee Baillie (trombone), Ben Cai (saxophone), Jaiden Christie (violin), Olivier Hart (guitar), Sadie Koshan (percussion), Allison Lee (bass), Jack Lee (trumpet), Milan Stanga (percussion), Cindy Xu (piano), and Annie Zeng (bass) worked closely with acclaimed Filipinx-American composer, percussionist, and sound artist Susie Ibarra and invited guest facilitators. Through daily three-hour workshops focused on listening practices, field recording, spatial mapping, ensemble playing, and alternative forms of musical notation, Ibarra led participants on a creative journey rooted in the rhythms and patterns of the natural world.

The Studio culminated in a free, hour-long public performance at Western Front, offering audiences a glimpse into the sonic discoveries developed throughout the week. The concert opened with a short procession into the Grand Luxe Hall, as Studio members played a rhythmic cycle on balingbing (bamboo buzzers). The ensemble then performed an improvised conducted score developed collectively from field recordings of tree fractals and bird songs gathered in Stanley Park, and transposed into layered polyrhythmic cycles.

Susie Ibarra conducts The New Improvisers in the Grand Luxe Hall. Ibarra is seen from the side, with her back partially turned towards the audience. She stands behind a music stand, with one arm outstretched towards the musicians. The musicians watch Ibarra, poised to begin playing their instruments.
An audience, seen from behind, watches The New Improvisers play in the Grand Luxe Hall. On the right, Susie Ibarra conducts the performers. She has one arm raised just above her shoulder, with her index finger pointing towards the ceiling.
At the centre of the stage in the Grand Luxe Hall, five musicians play their instruments. Two stand, playing double basses. The others sit, one with a violin, another with a bass guitar, and the last in front of a drum set.
Susie Ibarra conducts the New Improvisers in the Grand Luxe Hall. Ibarra is seen from the side, with her back partially turned towards the audience. She stands behind a music stand, with her left hand drawn in close to her chin. The musicians watch Ibarra as they play their instruments.
The audience stands applauding The New Improvisers, led by Susie Ibarra, in the Grand Luxe Hall. The musicians stand with their instruments as they turn towards Ibarra. Ibarra looks at the audience with a joyful smile and her hands clasped loosely together at heart-level.
The musician in focus at the centre of the image sits playing a trombone. The instrument is raised to their mouth, mid-breath. The five others who play their instruments around them are out-of-focus.
Susie Ibarra plays at a drum set on the right side of the Grande Luxe Hall. She looks straight ahead with a neutral expression. Two musicians, each seated at their own drum sets, hold their drumsticks low as they watch Ibarra play.
Susie Ibarra plays at a drum set on the right side of the Grande Luxe Hall. She looks straight ahead with a neutral expression. Two musicians, each seated at their own drum sets, hold their drumsticks low as they watch Ibarra play.

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Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.

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