On Friday 20 November 2015 the SURF Centre attended the inception event of the Cultural Heritage and Improvised Music in Europe (CHIME) project at the EFG London Jazz Festival. The event, held at the Southbank Centre in London, provided partners with an opportunity to come together to talk about their work, to share ideas, and to discuss ways in which CHIME research could impact on different festivals and heritage organisations. The event was supported by Associated Partner MISTRA and brought together representatives from case study festivals, such as the GMLSTN Festival in Gothenburg to explore audience development initiatives and plans for creating digital tools to support their programming, audience participation and partnerships with heritage sites.
Following this, on Saturday 21 November, the CHIME team members also delivered public engagement panels as part of the Festival. At the Barbican Centre, Professor Tim Wall (Birmingham City University) chaired a panel on jazz and cultural heritage, featuring project team members including Dr Beth Perry. The panel explored jazz as part of cultural heritage and music as a tool for regeneration and social change. For more information see here.