Improvising Across Boundaries: Performance and Practice as Research

An evening of music and discussion as practice researchers Shirley Smart (Royal College of Music) and Dr Sarah Raine (University College Dublin) join forces to showcase their work and reflect on gender and inclusion in contemporary improvised music worlds.

Speakers

Dr Sarah Raine

Researcher at University College Dublin, Ireland. She is the PI of Improvising across Boundaries: Voicing the experience of women and gender–minority improvising musicians (2023–2027), funded by Research Ireland and in partnership with IMC (Improvised Music Company). Sarah is an Editor for Jazz Research Journal, a co–Managing Editor of Riffs: Experimental writing on popular music, and a Book Series Editor for Equinox Publishing (Music Industry Studies). Sarah has previously undertaken collaborative research with Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, TradFest (Dublin), and Creative Scotland. Her research was included in the Misogyny in Music Parliamentary Report (2024).

Shirley Smart

Cellist and Professor of Musicianship and Improvisation at the Royal College of Music, and Musician–in–Residence at St. John’s College, Cambridge. Shirley is equally at home and well versed in jazz, folk, Middle Eastern and World Music, as well as classical, and her music draws upon this rich tapestry of influences. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem. Since moving back to London, Shirley has established herself firmly on both the jazz and world music scenes. Recent projects include Issie Barratt‘s Interchange Dectet, which released its debut album ‘Donna‘s Secret‘ in 2020, and Nikki Yeoh‘s trio project Café Oran which debuted at the Ronnie Scotts International Piano Trio Festival in 2019, and has since also opened for Avishai Cohen at the Barbican.