Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium
UNCHARTED
20–21 OCT 2026
Welcome Message Welcome to the second edition of the Asia-Pacific Improvisers Symposium (APIS). This year’s theme, Uncharted, takes navigating possibilities as its starting point: setting out without fixed routes, responding to what emerges, and making decisions as we turn. Southeast Asia’s unique musical landscape is an exciting place from which to start this journey. Improvisatory traditions from East and West meet in complex and evolving ways, creating fertile ground for exchange, experimentation and new discoveries. Over these two days, we consider intersections alongside the shifting relationship between improvisation and composition, the place of improvisation within higher music education, and the possibilities we have to develop improvisational practices in the region. APIS is, above all, a meeting point for improvisers—to test ideas, encounter different practices, and navigate uncharted waters together. We receive you all at YST with a warm welcome! Professor Karst de Jong Assistant Professor Jonathan Shin
Key Performers
Richard Barrett
weird aftertaste
Jeonghyeon Joo
Jiyun Song
Symposium Team SYMPOSIUM COMMITTEE
Karst de Jong • Jonathan Shin Chris Stover • Peter Ivan Edwards
PRODUCER
Wan Zhong Hao
COORDINATOR Toh Yan Ee PRODUCTION
YST Productions • YST Audio Arts & Sciences
Day 1 > 20 Oct, Tuesday Time
Event
Venue
9:00
Registration
Foyer
Opening Ceremony
Concert Hall
9:30
Karst de Jong
Key Performance: System and Spontaneity
Concert Hall
Richard Barrett
11:00
13:30
Forum: Improvisation Methods and Practices in Southeast Asia
Recital Studio
Showcase Session 1
Ensemble Room 2
Innāda Duo HIVE Lab Collective
15:00
Showcase Session 2
Concert Hall
Tim O’Dwyer & Students Thomas Green & Chris Stover
16:30
Showcase Session 3
Recital Studio
VOICES Ensemble Ray Chua
19:30
Evening Concert weird aftertaste Richard Barrett Dirk Stromberg
Concert Hall
Day 2 > 21 Oct, Wednesday Time 9:30
Event
Venue
Key Performance
Recital Studio
Jeonghyeon Joo & Jiyun Song
11:00
Showcase Session 4 John Sharpley & Mumtaz Maricar Ivena Chandra
13:30
Showcase Session 5
Ensemble Room 2 Recital Studio
Chris Stover Robert Burke, Roger Dean & Su Min Lee
15:00 16:30
19:30
Showcase Session 6
Ensemble Room 2
Roundtable Session: Improvisation in Higher Music Education
Recital Studio
Closing Concert
Concert Hall
Bert Mooiman & Karst de Jong
Four Dimensions Jeonghyeon Joo & Jiyun Song Stevie Sutanto, Sri Hanuraga & Dinar Rizkianti
Getting Around
View the full programme: hopp.bio/apis-2026