We are so grateful to regularly gather and make music together on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the
xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) Nations and Peoples now known as Chinatown-Vancouver and Brentwood Burnaby. (What's this?)
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Beginnings...
The first mention of Improv Karaoke happened in the summer of 2022 backstage at a Public Dreams concert. Having met improvising at John Korsrud’s Mixtophonics festival, Andrea Wong and Spencer Schoening had wistful conversations and ideas of backyard gatherings - places where all types of musicians played together with minimal curation and need for rehearsals - a space that effortlessly fostered spontaneous and collaborative playing with full artistic freedom.
Andrea and Spencer connected with Matthew Ariaratnam, a member of the 8EAST collective, who supported the idea and without whom the first Improv Karaoke at 8EAST event would not have happened. Spencer and Andrea later brought in Mike WT Allen with his experience hosting “The Monthly Hiphopalypse” jams prior to the pandemic. Coming out of the pandemic, this team of four with their passion for free improvisation set out on a mission to fuse musicians from different genres, practices, and experiences to further connect, support, and strengthen our local music community. From here, Improv Karaoke was born.
Coming up to the first Improv Karaoke in 2022, Andrea said to the other co-hosts: “worst-case scenario, no one wants to come and we’ll just get to jam together as a group of four”. Boy were they about to be surprised.
Community Building & Support
Improv Karaoke has since been attended by over 400 annual attendees, many of whom returning members, bringing new instruments to explore, making new friends, and even branching off with their own bands performing and gigging around town. Improv Karaoke currently is a Society-in-Residence with the NOW Society at 8EAST in Chinatown, Vancouver.
In 2023, Improv Karaoke received a $50 000 Sector Support, Innovation and Development grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to facilitate their monthly series and continue supporting local musicians. Since, they have been honoured and grateful to continue operating with the heart of many volunteers and donations from the community.
Improv Karaoke continually reached the venue capacity at our 8EAST monthly meetups with the enthusiasm of local Vancouver community members, and even a handful of international visitors! With the great support of the Brian Fraser and Noah Franche-Nolan, Improv Karaoke started their second monthly series in May 2024 at Burnaby’s Brentwood Presbyterian Church, reaching more folks residing outside the City of Vancouver.
What is Improv Karaoke?
Improv Karaoke developed from a desire to create more regular opportunities for music collaboration, discovery, and innovation within our local improvising community. This artist-run community event started in December 2022 as a monthly series where improvising musicians of all genres and experience levels drop in, sign up, and play in new ensembles created from a freshly drawn pool of names. Improv Karaoke currently facilities two monthly series of musical gatherings at 8EAST in Chinatown-Vancouver and Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Brentwood Burnaby, totaling 20 gathering opportunities every year for music lovers alike.
Of all the ways to play collaboratively, why free improvisation?
Because of its ease, widespread relevance, and accessible nature! Improvisation can be approached by musicians from any culture, any generation, and with any amount of experience, breaking down many practical and creative barriers to collaboration. Free improvisation additionally removes barriers to making music including any necessity for a particular instrumentation; shared knowledge-base such as Western music notation fluency; specific qualifications, merit, or credentials; or a pre-curated set-list of standards or repertoire selection. Musicians merely need to be open-minded to improvise with each other. With minimal preparation required, the flexible nature of improvising provides an excellent creative setting to focus on musical connection and innovation. By facilitating opportunities for our community to mindfully improvise together - a setting that practices adaptability and attentive listening - the desired outcome of this project is a stronger, more diverse and interconnected music ecosystem. This project invites people to gather and play together, with hopes it seeds new musical collaborations and branches outwards as a more nourished and sustainable music community.
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