Inland Ocean (IO) is an international cooperative of artists co-creating and commissioning multidisciplinary work. Since our founding in 2022, IO has been in residence at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Equivalent Behaviour, and Kunstacademie Deinze. This work has led to five commissioned world premieres, a music/movement research project, a concert tour of Belgium, and a presentation at the Yale Innovation Summit. IO has received support from Creative Scotland, the Candian Arts Council, the Eastman Institute for Music Leadership, and the University of Michigan. Members of Inland Ocean are based in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Scotland, Norway, and Lithuania.

IO was formed after co-founders met at summer residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Young Ensemble Academy in Frankfurt. We desired a way to continue creating together, share and uplift one another’s work, and connect with other like-minded artists globally. We established a cooperative model of sharing opportunities and resources. With no artistic director, we allow each member’s voice to be heard. This structure creates new collaborations and supports existing partnerships among our members in a variety of configurations. We are passionate about empowering performer agency, fostering collective creativity, and building community.

Inland Ocean is also passionate about using education and community engagement to share the contemporary arts with a broader audience. IO has led workshops on composition, improvisation, and movement for students of all ages. In 2025, members of IO will lead multiple weeks of educational workshops and perform alongside students from Deinze, BE in commemoration of the Vinckt Massacre.

Our name is taken from the program notes to John Supko’s string quartet Inland Ocean. He writes, “David Lynch has likened consciousness to an ocean. That means we have at least a puddle sloshing around inside each of us. Collectively the puddles, lakes, and streams make an inland ocean…There are many characters in Inland Ocean and many stories. You might only catch fragments and you might piece those fragments together differently than the person sitting next to you.” These words resonate with our spirit of cocreation, through which we are actively connecting our inner puddles of consciousness. It also speaks to the expression of a variety of viewpoints and artistic mediums that make up our work. Finally, we connect with the sentiment of welcoming audiences into the world of contemporary art, validating each individual’s experience.