伊兹勒·所罗门, conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, approached the Rockefeller Foundation in September 1965, 他想到了一个基金会支持的项目，包括管弦乐队和印第安纳波利斯地区的学院和大学. Solomon told Martin Bookspan, the foundation’s music consultant, that foundation support could add a week to the ISO concert season. 反过来，乐团将花一周的时间公开排练和表演美国作曲家的音乐, 优先考虑印第安纳波利斯地区以前从未进行过的工程. 这次会议是电子游戏试玩当代音乐节的起源, which celebrates its 53rd anniversary this year.

Solomon’s proposal led to another meeting, 基金会官员在纽约会见了国际州立大学音乐系主席詹姆斯·巴恩斯, along with William Thomson and Wilfred Bain, 理论主席兼院长, 分别, of the Indiana University 音乐学院. The foundation agreed to make a grant to the Indiana State Symphony Society Inc. 为在特雷霍特和布卢明顿首演美国作曲家的交响乐作品提供资金.

一个全国性的广告要求由国际州立大学音乐教师桑福德·沃茨和乔恩·波利弗隆筛选乐谱, further evaluated by Barnes, and turned over to Solomon for final selection. 结果? 电子游戏试玩的第一届当代美国音乐研讨会于5月8日至11日举行，其中包括几场公开排练和一场管弦乐音乐会, 1967, after a week of similar activities at Indiana University.

从那时起, 音乐节的使命已经发展为让学生们了解电子游戏试玩作曲家的生活, 表演者, 批评人士, and scholars; to promote the work of young American composers; and to generate public interest in modern music. 它强调交响音乐，并以主要的电子游戏试玩管弦乐队为特色，在其他当代音乐节中独具一格.

Over the last fifty-three years, the festival has featured numerous nationally and internationally known 表演者, 导体, 和作曲家. 其中18人获得了普利策音乐奖，5人获得了格劳梅耶奖. 他们中的一些人在获得这些奖项前几年是电影节的客人. Festival planners built into the program lectures, 座谈会, 开放排练, 还有社会活动，促进来访音乐家和公众之间的互动. An annual competition for orchestral compositions, part of the festival since its inception, 是否为许多年轻作曲家提供了宝贵的经验，让他们听到自己的作品由电子游戏试玩乐团排练和演出.

After the festival’s first two years, 然而, foundation support ceased. ISU President Alan Rankin, 他自己就是个音乐家, 我不仅看到了这个活动的艺术价值，也看到了它给学校带来的声望，并拨出了大学的资金来维持这个节日.

In 1971, under the leadership of ISU percussionist Neil Fluegel, the format of the festival underwent major changes. One well-established composer—that year it was Michael Colgrass, 谁将在1978年赢得普利策奖——被邀请参加比赛的获胜者. A solo and chamber ensemble concert by faculty and students, featuring the chamber music of the participating composers, 添加了. 白天的活动日程被扩大了，因为乐团团长们举办了大师班, and the principal guest composer led a composition seminar. The additions have been preserved, with some changes, since that time.

Newspaper reports of the first few festivals describe a fairly conventional event, 但对1971年电影节的报道表明了一个新的潜在政治议程:与传统西方文化决裂. 事件 included a modern-dance workshop, a seminar in 多媒体 composition, and a synthesizer demonstration. 《pg电子游戏试玩》,” the title of the special festival edition of the ISU student newspaper, mirrored the anti-elitism that had begun to pervade higher education.

艺术音乐可能与年轻人有关的想法反映在音乐会节目和报纸上的文章中，这些文章将年轻人等同起来, 身穿蓝色牛仔裤的长发作曲家与本世纪初的反传统大师. Now the emphasis was on student involvement: performing, 作曲, and participating in panel discussions. 他们不再仅仅把音乐家和作曲家视为舞台上或课堂上的榜样, but interacted with them at their instruments, 在午餐桌上, or on the softball field.

1972年的音乐节在印第安纳波利斯交响乐团工会音乐家的罢工中夭折, but in 1973 the festival continued to move in new directions. Over the next several years, 音乐的重点是20世纪后期的实验作曲和表演技巧. In the first three festivals, 只有一首作品——查尔斯·沃里宁的《电子游戏试玩》(1967)——包含了非管弦乐元素. But electronic and synthesized music soon became an annual component of the festival.

无调性, twelve-tone and total serialism, 多媒体, and aleatoric compositional methods were represented, as were the influences of ethnic musical styles, 爵士乐, 和岩石. 一些代表性的客座作曲家是大卫·柯普，罗斯·李·芬尼和威尔·盖伊·波特杰. Nonstandard notation became commonplace. Slides, films, and other visual elements were introduced. 他们使用了改变过的乐器(如准备好的钢琴)和不熟悉的技术(如弹拨或弓弦钢琴). Much attention was given to world premiere pieces. The festival clearly reflected the “do your own thing” era.

For several years, many were attracted to the novelty of the festival. But public tastes change with time, 20世纪70年代末的通货膨胀使得节日开销越来越难以维持. 最后的管弦乐音乐会是该大学毕业典礼系列的一部分. Neo-Romantic principal guest composers—such as Ned Rorem, 乔治Rochberg, and William Bolcom—spoke frankly of their desire to communicate with their audience.

室内乐乐团的选择开始倾向于全国知名的团体，而不是地区公认的团体. 音乐 批评人士 from major publications were invited and led student writing seminars. 教师们开始要求学生参加这个节日，并且经常要求学生写相关的课堂论文. The Louisville Orchestra, 是什么使它在20世纪50年代以委托和演奏当代音乐而闻名, began participating in 1987.

Some of the social changes of the previous decades, 然而, 开始留下自己的印记:像Joan Tower和Ellen Taaffe Zwilich这样的女性作曲家开始融入音乐节, 克罗诺斯四重奏的成员更喜欢t恤和皮夹克，而不是正装.

在80年代, festival planners had to do more with less, and over the decade they reduced the number of competition winners to one, returned to the single orchestral concert format, and condensed the festival from four days to three. Getting funding for the festival was a continuing struggle, and several times the future of the festival was in doubt.

然而, overwhelming support from the music faculty, growing audience interest, 国家对这个节日的尊重越来越多，这说服了大学管理部门为它的继续提供资金. Although public funding for many projects was cut drastically during the period, the festival was beginning to receive grants from government and corporate sources.

2007年，印第安纳波利斯室内乐团(Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra)作为音乐节的客座乐团，帮助重建了与印第安纳州优秀艺术组织的联系. 事实上, the 2007 festival featured an all-Indiana cast, including the guest composer, 作文获胜者, 客座管弦乐队, and the guest chamber ensemble. While the principal guests may change, 然而, 音乐节的主要目标仍然忠于其根源-向学生介绍电子游戏试玩音乐家的日常工作，并向公众展示新的音乐. No one can predict the result of the synthesis of these ideas. 但有一件事是肯定的:如果任何风格的艺术音乐要保持活力，它必须继续发展. 电子游戏试玩的当代音乐节是一个鼓励这种增长的活动. 希望各地的大学都能坚持这样的鼓励，以丰富我们的文化和生活. 

By Kathleen Hansen Sabaini