“Hear it now!” : New Orchestra Workshop & Canadian West Coast freely improvised music

Community is at the heart of all improvised music practices. It is a space where musicians and music appreciators gather to partake in the collective experience of improvised music. Numerous improvised music communities and collectives have come out of Britain and the United States; however, Canada’s improvised music scene is scarcely documented in the academic literature. Vancouver’s New Orchestra Workshop (NOW) has been active since 1977, yet it has received little recognition for its contribution to North American and international free improvised music scenes. Beginning as a small group of local musicians hosting workshops to becoming a heavyweight collective hosting yearly multi-performance concert series, NOW is an improvising collective that focuses global improvised music traditions through a local, West Coast Canadian frame. This thesis brings attention to the significance of NOW and the role it has played in Canadian improvised music by covering three distinct features of the collective: 1) the history of the collective and its influence on West Coast Canadian improvised music, 2) the continuation of its practice into the 21st century and how they foster community, and 3) the personal experiences of the musicians participating in the events put on by NOW. Drawing from interviews and discussions with previous and current NOW members, I piece together a timeline of how the collective amorphously began, and how they navigated change and uncertainty throughout the mid- to late 1990s. From here, I look at the collective’s recording history with the NOW Orchestra, ending in the mid 2000s. Continuing until 2013, I look at how NOW navigated the early 21st century under the sole direction of Nikita Carter. I then look towards the collective’s contemporary era, focusing on the direction of NOW from 2013 to the present day, highlighting the continuation of the group's original ethos of NOW. Finally, I discuss my personal experiences performing with NOW and its musicians in a variety of contexts, from taking part in workshops to being an ensemble member with the collective.