The Improvising Brain II: Multiple Perspectives Concert & Symposium
March 8-10, 2015, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
Presented by GSU School of Music, Neuroscience Institute, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, & the Center for Collaborative and International Arts

Following the success of the first Improvising Brain Symposium in 2013 and the related theme issue in Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain, the Improvising Brain II: Multiple Perspectices symposium will once again explore questions related to all aspects of improvisation in music including cognitive, neuroscientific, therapeutic, and pedagogical issues. Examples include: How can improvisation be studied empirically? How do creative processes differ in musicians from different performance traditions? Are note choices during improvisation and word choices during speech controlled by similar decision making processes? Is it the sound or the motor movements that drive the choices? How do the environment and the underlying musical structure affect these decisions? Can these decision making processes be modeled mathematically?

Submission Details

We seek related papers and posters describing completed or in-progress work from both faculty and graduate students. Paper presentations should be 20 minutes in length and include visual slides. Please submit an extended 350-word abstract including purpose, literature review, methodology, and findings (final or preliminary). Those interested in a poster presentation may submit a shorter 250-word abstract with the same, though abbreviated, information.

All proposals will be blind-reviewed by a panel of experts. Do not include the author(s)’s name or other identifying details in the proposal. Attach the proposal as a Word or PDF file to an email that includes the author(s)’s name, email address, home and work addresses, and academic affiliation. Send proposals to Martin Norgaard at mnorgaard@gsu.edu. Submissions must be received no later than October 15, 2014, and notifications will be made by November 15, 2014. Accepted presenters will be invited to submit full papers to a follow-up special issue of Psychomusicology: Music, Mind, and Brain on improvisation to be published in September 2016.

For more information and updates on the Improvising Brain Concert & Symposium, please visit their website.

Please address questions to Martin Norgaard at mnorgaard@gsu.edu