mima, 11 years later
DESCRIPTION
We love to improvise. From 2000-2011, the international charity called MIMA used music improvisation to engage and enrich communities. This PDF features 11 photographs and 11 quotes for each one of MIMA's milestones for the last 11 years.TRANSCRIPT
2000 ORIGIN
“Help us change the face of Princeton University. It’ll be fun. We promise.”
—Original MIMA email invitation
A group of students led by Adam Nemett ‘03 creates the MIMA student group at Princeton University. MIMA stands for: Modern Improvisational Music Appreciation
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2001 OPPORTUNITY
“Our newly established student organization, MIMA, has two primary goals: to support the musical talent and interest of Princeton students, and to expose the Princeton campus to diverse forms of improvisational music.” — Campus flyer
MIMA produces live events and becomes the largest student music organization at Princeton University with over 500 members.
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2002 EXPERIMENT
“I like the diversity of musical events at Princeton. Maybe more big name bands would be fun.” — Princeton student survey
Christoph Alexander Geiseler ‘04 becomes the president of the MIMA student group at Princeton University. MIMA events feature the award- winning DJ Christopher Lawrence (1500+ people) and the world-renowned drummer Leon Mobley.
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2003 EVENTS
“I think that MIMA has done an amazing job of working with eating clubs to bring amazing music to the Princeton Scene. Without MIMA, music at Princeton would be far more generic and far less hyped up.” — Princeton student survey
MIMA co-produces alcohol-free events with the University Student Government, including George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, the Wailers and an international conference entitled “Listening in the Sound Kitchen”.
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2004 CHARITY
“Student groups are one solution for college Administrators’ concerns about community- building because students can use their own creative energies to organize educational and interactive social alternatives for their peers.” —Christoph A. Geiseler ‘04 Senior thesis
Christoph writes his senior Politics thesis for Princeton University about music improvisation, community-building and transforming MIMA into an international charity called MIMA Music, Inc. Christoph launches MIMA’s first outreach program for kids in Trenton, NJ.
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2005 ADVISORS
“What makes me happiest is the involvement of so many of our students, young alumni, and faculty and staff. This is Princeton at its best, and I wish you every success as you bring the joys of musical performance and appreciation to some of New Jersey’s most disadvantaged students” — President Shirley Tilghman Princeton University
MIMA Music, Inc. receives 501(c)3 tax-exempt charity status, tests a new teaching method in China and forms an advisory board with: Dr. Anthony Branker Dr. Scott Burnham Janet Dickerson Phoebe Jacobs Dr. Stanley Katz Dr. Lawrence Lessig Dr. John Logan Rev. Paul Raushenbush Dr. Cornel West
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2006 SPONSORS
“The combination of live music making, youthful energy, and a peace bringing international agenda make this an enterprise full of future, one that bolsters our sense of what young people can achieve in today’s world” — Professor Scott Burnham Department of Music, Princeton University
MIMA tests its method in Brazil, Spain and the USA (New Orleans, Trenton and Newark). MIMA receives a seed grant from the Edward T. Cone Foundation. Additional sponsors include Prince’s Love 4 One Another Foundation, the Bank of American Foundation, the Google Foundation, Remo, Inc. and Scion USA.
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2007 EXPANSION
“Based on our experience working with Christoph Geiseler and his team, I encourage government and private sector organizations to seriously consider partnering with MIMA Music, particularly with projects focused on the integration of marginalized populations.” — Marti Estell, Cultural Affairs Officer US Embassy in Madrid
MIMA receives its first US State Department grant from the US Embassy in Madrid to produce a 10-week social integration program for sub-Saharan immigrants in Madrid, Spain. MIMA tests its method in new programs in Jamaica and the USA (New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco).
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2008 THINKTANK
MIMA hosts an international Thinktank and leadership training summit in Florianopolis, Brazil, and begins to certify MIMA musicians so they can start their own programs using the MIMA Method in countries like Germany and Spain. “Kevin Wenzel, our music director, has just returned from an intensive teacher training
summit in Brazil… Kevin proposes to test the MIMA Music teaching methodology at Cristo Rey with the objective of cultivating our students’ creative faculties, increasing their classroom engagement, and providing them with a fresh and enlivening approach to music.” — William P. Ford III, Principal Cristo Rey New York High School
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2009 TEACHERS
MIMA partners with the US Consulate in Rio de Janeiro to produce the first MIMA music video with Leon Mobley and Afroreggae. MIMA hosts simultaneous MIMA Weeks in 9 cities in Argentina, Brazil, China, Cyprus and the USA. “Through its own unique teaching methodology, MIMA engages young people in musical projects
that teach them not only about the joys of artistic creation, but also the importance of respect, teamwork, and discipline… We were delighted to work with MIMA Music and were impressed by their professionalism in conceiving, organizing and executing their program in Rio.” — Erik Holm-Olsen, Public Affairs Officer US Consulate Rio De Janeiro
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2010 CELEBRATE
“My goal is to work together with MIMA at Princeton to advance a public dialogue about improvisation, social responsibility and peace-building through the Arts.” — Gilberto Gil, musician Former Minister of Culture of Brazil
MIMA celebrates its 10-year anniversary at Princeton University with an international conference, featuring a keynote and performance by Gilberto Gil. MIMA launches a Cultural Envoy program in El Salvador with the US Department of State. Additional US Embassy projects take place in Argentina, Cyprus, England and France.
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2011 ACADEMY
MIMA hosts programs in Argentina, Brazil, Cy-prus, Greece and El Salvador, publishes its Teacher Training Guide and Classroom Curricu-lum and opens its first academy in Brooklyn, NY. MIMA Brooklyn will become a self-sustaining model that MIMA will franchise to Argentina, Brazil, Cyprus, El Salvador and India.
“Christoph Geiseler is modeling what cultural leadership means.”
— Dr. Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University The Chronicle of Higher Education
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I just wanted to say thank you to the MIMA Program. You sent two people, Caleb and Kevin, to an outpatient rehab center where I was a patient and they did a music therapy program. The program and teachers helped me so much. It was one of the best things I have ever been able to be a part of. It made me happier, more hopeful, and gave me a bit more confidence in myself, which I had never had before. Even now, more than a year later, I still sometimes think about the program and what it did for me. I just wanted to thank you. What your organization does for people all around the world is a great thing. I would never have thought that music would be able to inspire and transform me the way it did. I hope MIMA continues to grow and inspire people. :)
— MIMA Student
THANK YOU
Creative Copyright 2012. MIMA Media. Layout and design by Christoph A. Geiseler. Additional photo credits: Jonathan Barnes, Christina Charalambidou, Caleb Dance, Angela Prazeres, Gaia Wilmer.