The following is an incomplete list of experimental music festivals, which encapsulates

music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...

focused on

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. Experimental music is a compositional tradition that arose in the mid-20th century, particularly in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

, of music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. The Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète (GRMC), under the leadership of

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

, organized the First International Decade of Experimental Music between 8 and 18 June 1953, and the phrase was used by musician

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading f ...

as early as 1955. Afterwards saw the development of specific experimental musical instruments, which were featured at various music festivals.

Musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, wit ...

is an experimental form of

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instru ...

, and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

free music Free music or libre music is music that, like free software, can freely be copied, distributed and modified for any purpose. Thus free music is either in the public domain or licensed under a free license by the artist or copyright holder themse ...

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s) involved.Smith Brindle, Reginald. 1987. ''The New Music: The Avant-Garde Since 1945'', second edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. (cloth) (pbk.)

Related lists and categories

The following lists have some or total overlap: * List of music festivals *

List of electronic music festivals The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (E ...

The following categories are related: * :Experimental music festivals *

Music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...

* Contemporary classical festivals * Electroacoustic festivals * Electronic music festivals

Festivals

* Bang on a Can Festival *

Berlin Atonal Berlin Atonal is an annual festival for sonic and visual art in two distinct stages. It first took place between 1982 and 1990, relaunching in 2013 under new direction and continuing to the present day. The festival presents contemporary, interdis ...

Big Ears Festival The Big Ears Festival is an annual music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, created and produced by AC Entertainment. History The festival was founded in 2009 by Ashley Capps, founder of AC Entertainment. The festival was originally organized by ...

CTM Festival The annual CTM Festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "Festival for Adventurou ...

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music. The festival is known for its small scale (usually no more than 20 performa ...

* GOGBOT * High Zero * How to Destroy the Universe festival *

Music Biennale Zagreb Music Biennale Zagreb ( hr, Muzički biennale Zagreb, MBZ) is an international festival of contemporary music in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the Croatian Composers' Society. The Biennale, founded by Milko Kelemen and held every spring of the od ...

* MUTEK *

New Interfaces for Musical Expression New Interfaces for Musical Expression, also known as NIME, is an international conference dedicated to scientific research on the development of new technologies and their role in musical expression and artistic performance. History The confe ...

New Music America New Music America was a nomadic American festival (held in Montreal during its last year) showcasing at its origins New York City's Downtown Music, but growing into one of the largest new music festivals ever held in North America, all in an atte ...

* Noise Fest * Noisefest *

Norbergfestival Norbergfestival is a Scandinavian electronic and experimental music festival held in Norberg, Västmanland, Sweden. The festival was started in 1999 by Michael Østerz Christiansen and Dag Celsing. The event attracts people of different ages and m ...

NWEAMO New West Evolving Arts & Music Organization (NWEAMO), founded by composer Joseph Waters in Portland, Oregon, U.S. in 1998, is a nonprofit organization based in San Diego, California that produces the annual international festival of electro-acoust ...

* Okuden Music *

Olympia Experimental Music Festival The Olympia Experimental Music Festival, also known for a time as The Olympia Festival of Experimental Musics,Christopher DelaurentiClassical, Jazz, & Avant: Experimental Music Festival '' The Stranger'', June 26 – July 2, 2003 issue. Accessed ...

* OM Festival * Other Minds * Psych Tent *

TodaysArt TodaysArt is the annual international festival for Art, Music and Technology in The Hague, Netherlands that takes place in the end of September. It is also the name of the cultural production agency ''TodaysArt (Stichting The Generator)'' that ...

Unsound Festival Unsound Festival, also known as Unsound, is an annual music festival that takes place in Kraków, Poland, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related visual arts. Apart from the main festival, Unsound regularly takes plac ...

Warsaw Autumn Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

References

{{Experimental music Experimental music festivals

Experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

Exper

Related lists and categories

Festivals

See also

References