ISIM--and a blog of improvisations

I'm at the International Society for Improvised Music conference at the University of Michigan. My presentation Friday on how I've used my experiences with Music for People and also Arthur Hull went well. And I've been to so many fascinating, stimulating presentations which have given me new ideas and new perspectives that I feel greatly privileged to be here. I'll write as much as I can about this on my improv blog as soon as I can--of course we are now in the end-of-semester crush, so time is quite limited.

Speaking of improv blogs, Eric Barnhill, a wonderful pianist and Dalcroze teacher who also gave a presentation at the conference, has a blog of actual improvisations. He told me about it this evening; what a great idea! He describes his musical language as having a strong Brahms and Schubert influence. I've just listened to a few of his pieces, and he's right. And his music is wonderful. It's a wonderful discovery for me to find someone who improvises in a traditional common-practice language--it shows that one can indeed improvise in any style.

Take a listen.