The Creative Music Studio (CMS) was a premier study center for contemporary creative music during the 1970s and 1980s, based in Woodstock, New York. Founded in 1971 by Karl Berger, Ingrid Sertso, and Ornette Coleman, it brought together leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS providing participants with a rare opportunity to interact personally with musical giants of improvisation and musical thought on a daily basis.
At CMS, the concept of 'Worldjazz' was born: the improvisational and compositional expansion of the world's musical traditions. Now one of the main driving forces in many styles of music, this concept was pioneered very early at CMS, guided by authentic leaders. Hundreds of live concerts were recorded, many heralded as landmark performances. Thousands of workshops, master classes, concerts and colloquia inspired a generation of musicians who took with them the ideas, concepts and practices developed at CMS. The CMS community still exists in a network of creative musicians, many of whom came to CMS from Asia, Europe and South America. In 1981, the organization celebrated its 10th anniversary at a concert titled the "Woodstock Jazz Festival".
The CMS facility closed in 1984. CMS's World Jazz Encounters program (in the United States, Germany, Italy, Brazil, West Africa, India, the Philippines and Japan) survived.