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The KIMC Collective is proud to present a series of 6 featured artists and ensembles that will give a public performance and lead a public workshop on their artistic practice and process, including instruction and/or group improvisation. Each concert event will include a Kingston-based artist. Three of the featured artists or ensembles will be Kingston-based. As many as possible artists in the programming will be members of traditionally marginalized groups, and we commit to 40% minimum of featured artists are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Persons of Colour). The programming will take place over two seasons (beginning April 2023 and finishing November 2023). Each event will be presented as a pair: a public workshop by the featured artist, and a public performance including the featured artist and a supporting locally-based artist or ensemble. The focus will be on improvising musicians and composers, but may also include improvising artists in other disciplines such as dance and inter-media. Both types of events will be open to the public and will be ticketed. We hope to grow a local audience that appreciates the types of music that we present (experimental music, free jazz, spontaneous composition), and we hope to develop new interest and appreciation for exploratory, improvised and experimental musical and artistic forms.

Our Mission

The Kingston Improvising Musicians Collective has a mission to energize and develop a local appreciation for creative, adventurous music and art, and invite the community into the improvisational process by:

1. (1) Presenting high quality artists in unique and engaging performances to a public audience, either in-person or on-line;
2. (2) facilitating, presenting, and leading high-quality, participatory workshops that teach and inspire local musicians and artists in the process of improvisatory creation;
3. (3) Lay the ground-work for a thriving, active local music scene that expands upon existing musical organizations, presenters, and venues to engage with novel, adventurous, new and exciting musical and non-musical forms of art creation and collaboration;
4. (4) Increase the confidence of local musicians by providing opportunities for collaboration, professional development, and presentation opportunities;
5. (5) Increase the visibility and participation of equity-seeking groups in public performances, workshops, and music community.