Though the freedom of music is often taken for granted, creative expression is limited by censorship, intimidation, and cultural pressures in many places, from Iran to Cameroon to China.
The Impossible Music Sessions bring banned music to the stage in New York City, staging the non-appearance of singers, musicians, and composers at risk. We connect artists, producers and audiences for the purpose of expanding the boundaries of creative expression.
Although the artists are not present, and in many cases cannot play publicly in their home countries, the audience engages with them and their music in other ways: via remote audio or video, or through a live performance of the music by partnered acts—other performers who have collaborated in advance with the artists to understand and interpret their works.
Along with music, there is conversation with the artists or others who have insights on the artists' circumstances. Each Session closes with the audience contemplating the stage—empty but for the instruments that would be played—and listening to a recording of a piece by the artist not appearing.
The Impossible Music Sessions are sponsored by Freemuse: The World Forum on Music and Censorship and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Their creator and director is the philosopher, writer, and frustrated musician Austin Dacey.
The Impossible Music Sessions bring banned music to the stage in New York City, staging the non-appearance of singers, musicians, and composers at risk. We connect artists, producers and audiences for the purpose of expanding the boundaries of creative expression.
Although the artists are not present, and in many cases cannot play publicly in their home countries, the audience engages with them and their music in other ways: via remote audio or video, or through a live performance of the music by partnered acts—other performers who have collaborated in advance with the artists to understand and interpret their works.
Along with music, there is conversation with the artists or others who have insights on the artists' circumstances. Each Session closes with the audience contemplating the stage—empty but for the instruments that would be played—and listening to a recording of a piece by the artist not appearing.
The Impossible Music Sessions are sponsored by Freemuse: The World Forum on Music and Censorship and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Their creator and director is the philosopher, writer, and frustrated musician Austin Dacey.
