Jazz & Sonic Arts 2026 Faculty & Participant Concert 5

Miranda Agnew was generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment.

Miranda Ingram Agnew is a trumpet player, composer, improviser, and educator originally from Tucson, AZ.  She is deeply invested in building supportive and bold spaces for music-making and lasting connections to others through creative practice.  Based in Brooklyn, NY,  she recently performed at the Jazz Gallery with Loomtone, a sextet she collaboratively composes for and leads with saxophonist Katie Webster. She received ASCAP’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer’s Award in 2026, is a member of Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M3) Cohort 8, and a 2025 MacDowell Fellow in Composition.  Miranda performs regularly with Selendis Sebastian Alexander Johnson’s Big Band, has performed at Close Up with a band led by Devon Gates, and at Roulette with Naomi Nakanishi’s band as part of M3’s 2024 Festival. A dedicated educator, she curated two workshop series for highschoolers and received funding to design a guide for educators centering Women in the story of Jazz + Creative Music.

Jayden Blockley was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment.

Saxophonist Jayden Blockley is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most exciting emerging jazz artists, praised by Tony Gould AM as “one of the most beautiful young musicians” he has encountered.

Jayden has been a finalist for multiple awards including the National Jazz Awards and the Freedman Fellowship. In 2018, he was the winner of the prestigious James Morrison Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to young Australian jazz musicians who demonstrate exceptional talent and artistry. He later was a member of the Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, appearing at the Perth International Jazz Festival, and most notably in concert alongside Trio Grande at the Sydney Con Jazz Festival.

In 2020, Jayden released his debut album I Wrote A Song For Her, For Me with ABC Jazz. His original composition ‘Song for a Better Day’ received a WAM Song of the Year nomination.

Jayden has had the opportunity to share the stage with internationally acclaimed musicians including Gordon Goodwin, Wycliffe Gordon, Kurt Elling, Joey DeFrancesco, James Morrison and Jeff Clayton.

Arthur Clees was generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment.

Arthur Clees is a Luxembourg-born electronic music artist, producer, composer, and improviser whose work bridges minimal techno, ambient electronica, jazz-rooted improvisation, and contemporary compositional forms.

Growing up in Esch-sur-Alzette, Arthur began his musical journey studying cello and classical percussion before immersing himself in jazz, vibraphone, and contemporary improvised music.

He went on to study at the jazz departments at the music academy in Dresden and Oslo and formed several bands throughout his early musical career. Including the award-winning duo Kravchenko Clees and the jazz new wave quartet Jambal with whom he still plays and tours today.

Arthur’s debut solo album as a producer and songwriter, Stay, Temporary Home, was released on Macro Recordings in 2023 and earned critical recognition for its hypnotic blend of techno, ambient, and avant-garde influences. The record was nominated for the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik in the Electronic & Experimental category.

He has also collaborated with iconic figures in the electronic music world. A notable release is Jan Jelinek & Arthur Clees: Live in Luxembourg, December 3rd 2021, a vinyl and digital recording of an improvised performance with Berlin electronic pioneer Jan Jelinek.

Beyond his solo work, Arthur produces for other artists, contributing beats, mixes, and creative sonic production for emerging voices in the European scene. He is currently active as a performer, composer, arranger and producer in modern improvised music rooted in Jazz, Hip Hop and experimental music as well as contemporary classical music.

Jeremiah Cossa was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Jeremiah Cossa is the embodiment of a modern musician: a boundary-crossing pianist proficient in a vast array of musical languages. He leads an exciting and unorthodox career that nimbly traverses Classical and Contemporary chamber repertoire, Jazz-rooted and free improvisation, and several Rock projects.
Cossa is a core member of Chamber Rock ensemble Cordis, praised by Billboard for creating “sparkling moments that defy classification.” He has performed with Parlando, the NYC orchestra called “off the scale for its integrity and emotional impact” by the NY Classical Review. His punk band nurse joy was a fixture of the Boston DIY scene while active.

Classically trained, Cossa has appeared as soloist with multiple orchestras and received a share of local and international competition awards before shifting his focus to Contemporary repertoire.
Jeremiah grew up in eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), where he began piano at age 5 and continued after moving back to the US at age 11. He holds a B.M. from Azusa Pacific University and an M.M. from The Boston Conservatory. He resides in Brooklyn.

His music - including a recent trio EP with Boston friends Matt Ares on bass and Henry Godfrey on drums, featuring original compositions and arrangements ranging from John Coltrane to Coldplay - can be heard on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

Oliver Cox was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Ollie Cox is a Narrm/Melbourne-based composer, drummer and improvisor, who works in the spaces between sound and music. Drawing in equal measure from his background in jazz and love of experimentalism, Ollie seeks to craft emotive compositions that flicker between spans of contemplative ambience to moments of frenetic sonic chaos.

Ollie’s rich textural palette and sensitive, considered and creative playing style at the kit have paved the way for a diverse range of collaborative projects, across a broad scope of genres. Cox performs frequently with some of Australia’s most exciting songwriters including Juice Webster, Hannah McKittrick, Phoebe Go, Maple Glider and Armlock - leading him to tour both domestically and internationally (EU, UK, USA).

Away from the drum kit, Ollie is well-known for his avant garde percussion stylings and techniques, which can be heard in solo contexts (Speak Percussion’s Bespoke Artists Program 2023-24), duos with musicians including Zela Papageorgiou and Helen Svoboda, and with local cult-favourite “post-stadium rock band”,  Dragonfru?t  (led by Theo Carbo and Robert Downie).

Ollie holds a Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Contemporary Music from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne). It was during his studies that Ollie developed a penchant for experimentalism, drawing inspiration from the compositional stylings of ambient music, musique concréte and surrealist cinema movements. Under the tutelage of renowned composer Kate Neal, Ollie began investigating the hidden musical capacities of everyday objects and sounds as his honours project in 2020. This work culminated in his debut album, Objects In Mirror, an exploration of electroacoustic composition using found objects, which was released via experimental label Curveball in 2023.

Eli Davidovici was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Eli Davidovici is a bassist and composer who is currently in Tio'tia:ke/Montreal, Quebec. Originally hailing from Vancouver, BC, he has been a long-standing collaborator in the jazz, rock, and experimental Canadian music scenes. While performing in various projects and musical styles over the years, the music he gravitates towards is strongly improvisatory, with an emphasis on group connection and collaboration. In 2023, Eli released his first album as a leader, Shapes, and has been writing and arranging music for his band as well as other local artists. He has performed and recorded with Canadian artists in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto, including Bellbird, Chris McCann, Jean-Michel LeBlanc, Mili Hong, Roman Munoz, Thad-Bailey Mai, Kim Albert, and Erika Angell. His newest record, Bellbird’s The Call, was released on Constellation Records in early 2026, and features him as a composer and bass player.

Kali Gillen was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

“Creatively Sophisticated” - (John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald) Kali Gillen is an active multi-instrumentalist in the music scene in Sydney and beyond. After graduating from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor in Music (Jazz Performance), Kali has been regularly performing with local bands Hot Potato Band, 343 Brass Band and Lyre Byrdland. She also has toured and recorded with Lime Cordiale for the 14 steps to a Better You album, and more recently played with iconic Australian band the Hilltop Hoods for their ‘Never Coming Home’ Australian Tour. With a proclivity to explore new genres and styles, Kali has played with Sydney Theatre Company for Bloom on reeds, Irish Whistle/Flute for Come From Away with Blue Mountains Theatre Co and toured with US Broadway and Tour singers Diana Huey (The Little Mermaid - US Tour), Christine Dwyer (Wicked - Broadway) and Nic Coleman (Book of Mormon - Broadway) as part of a production in China (2024). Within the jazz scene, Kali has played with Pharos for the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival alongside featured artists Silke Eberhardt, Helen Sung and Lekecia Benjamin. 2026 will see the release of Armour, Kali’s debut EP featuring original works alongside Harry Birch (Double Bass) and Ryu Kodama (Drums).

Jasper Hood Bruten was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Jasper Hood Bruten is an acclaimed and award winning drummer, composer and educator, based in Melbourne, Australia. Guided and mentored by some of Melbourne's best drummers, Bruten's genre defying approach to playing embraces improvisation, deep groove and ensemble interaction, creating a unique style that he brings to every ensemble he works with. 
Over the course of his career, he has had the privilege to perform and record with many significant Australian musicians including Andrea Keller, Paul Williamson, Paul Grabowsky, Sam Anning and Julien Wilson. In addition to supporting local musicians, Jasper is regularly called to perform with international artists such as Linda May Han Oh, John Hollenbeck and Ambrose Akinmusire. After nearly a decade of working as a sideman, Jasper is now turning his attention towards crafting original projects. These include the writing of an entirely original suite of music for a jazz quartet and strings, as well as works for solo drumset with improvised, emergent electronics.

Mason Jeffery-Off was generously supported by the Lewitt Family Foundation Artist Award.

Mason Jeffery-Off is a Canadian bassist, composer and bandleader based in Montréal. Originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Jeffery-Off is a graduate of McGill's Jazz Performance program. There, he studied with Ira Coleman and Rémi-Jean LeBlanc. An on-call Montréal bassist, he performs frequently with the likes of Jean-Michel Pilc, Darrell Green, and Kevin Dean. At age 18, Jeffery-Off was one of 16 international jazz musicians under the age of 25 to be selected for Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, a performer-composer residency located at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In 2024, he received the Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant (Oscar Peterson Grant for Jazz Performance).  Jeffery-Off leads a seven-piece ensemble called Marvelous Creatures, which features compositions of his that are derived from written and spoken language, such as poetry, speeches and interviews. A full-length album is currently in the works with this ensemble. To Jeffery-Off, “Musicians share a special bond and to nurture it we must be open to each other's ideas, making them work in tandem. My goal is to abandon my preconceptions and serve the spirit of the moment. It is this humanity and spontaneity that bridge the gap between music and listener and, in turn, connects us all.”

Sean Keenan was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Sean Keenan is a musician, composer, and researcher based in San Francisco, California. He is currently a PhD candidate in Cross-Cultural Musicology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, expecting to finish the program in Spring of 2026. He previously studied music at Mills College in Oakland and visual art at Columbia College in Chicago. Keenan often performs with various improvising/experimental groups, both around and outside of the Bay Area, generally playing either electric guitar or bass guitar. He is a regular performer in the Santa Cruz-based Rodrigo Barriga Ensemble, and New York-based group Das Audit. He also regularly performs solo or as a duo, using a mix of acoustic instruments (Hmong gong, Costa Rican ocarina, Celtic lyre, modified bull horn shofar, tambourine), and altering their sounds through electronic processes (reverb, octave generator, delay, pitch shift). His debut solo album Delay Music (2025) utilizes field recordings processed through Max MSP and is now available through Mixed Media Recordings.

Kateryna Kravchenko was generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment.

Kateryna Kravchenko is an award-winning Ukrainian vocalist and composer. Following her dream of becoming a jazz musician, she moved to Germany in 2018 to study in Dresden. Since then, she has participated in various prestigious programs and residencies, including Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy in Hamburg, and the Gutenberg Jazz Collective in Mainz, and has toured with her music across Europe.

She has performed with internationally renowned musicians such as Melissa Aldana, Lars Danielsson, Lage Lund, Joey Baron, Ben van Gelder, and Linda May Han Oh.

During her exchange year at the Royal College of Music Stockholm, she focused on composition for large ensemble and created a genre-bending suite inspired by paintings by Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko.

Together with Luxembourgish vibraphonist Arthur Clees, she recently released the album Faces, produced by Wanja Slavin, which focuses on poetry about the search for identity and explores not only the unusual combination of vibraphone and voice but also features church organ, percussion and electronics.  

Currently, Kateryna is pursuing a dual master’s degree in Jazz Composition and Vocals at the Cologne University of Music and Dance.
 

Abi Lee was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment.

Abi Lee (she/her) is a pianist, composer, and improviser with Korean heritage based in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia. She relocated from New Zealand to live and study jazz and contemporary improvised music. Driven by her “deep commitment to improvisation” (Andrea Keller, 2024), Lee continues to explore the possibilities and impossibilities of piano and improvisation. Lee’s work blurs the lines between percussive and harmonic aspects of the piano across genres (such as contemporary classical and free jazz). As a recipient of several prizes and awards, Lee presents her works across Australia, taking part in major jazz festivals and sharing the stage with various Australia’s best improvisers. Taking inspirations from improvisers such as Kris Davis, Ornette Coleman, and Tim Berne, Lee’s compositions bring out her unique view of the world with “musical depth and vulnerability necessary to be engaged in high level real time improvisation” (Stephen Magnusson, 2024). Lee’s works has been described: “there is a measured calm to this music, full of minimalist and restive beauty forged from conversational exchange.” (Cowley - Rhythms Magazine, 2024).

Daniel Mayer was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Daniel Mayer is an acclaimed bassist and guitarist from New Jersey. A distinctive emerging artist of his generation, Daniel has performed throughout New York City and internationally at venues such as the Panama Jazz Festival, Nublu, Jordan Hall, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He has performed and collaborated with artists including José Soto, Nasheet Waits, Nat Adderley Jr., Gabriel Nieves, Bruno Bruni, and Fortuno, and currently leads his own cross-genre group performing original compositions spearheaded by his voices on the bass and guitar. While initially starting out on the guitar at the age of nine, Daniel eventually fell in love with the bass and resolved to move forward with both instruments in lifelong pursuit. After earning his B.A. from Bowdoin College, he went on to be awarded the Dean’s Scholarship to pursue his M.M. at the New England Conservatory, where he had the privilege of studying with Cecil McBee, Jason Moran, and Frank Carlberg.

Benjamin Mizrach was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Ben Mizrach is a saxophonist, composer, band leader and educator based in Brooklyn. Ben began playing piano at age 5 and saxophone at
age 9. In high school he attended the Jazz House Kids summer workshop, where the inspiration of mentors Bruce Williams and Christian McBride would encourage him to study jazz saxophone at New England Conservatory, and physics at Tufts University. Ben draws from a sprawling palette of influences, from Stephen Sondheim to Anthony Braxton. Alongside creative partner Harrison Clark, Ben wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Almanac – a stage musical exploring the artistic struggles of three black musicians studying at a predominantly white college. The musical, inspired by the work of composer T.J Anderson and American minstrel shows, premiered in Somerville, MA to a sold-out crowd in November of 2021.
In December 2023, Harrison and Ben reunited to develop and produce Orbiting Lovers & Contraband as part of the Office Hours Residency Program at the Kennedy Center. The project explores connections and disconnections - with each other, our environments, our ancestors, and ourselves. Ben regularly performs in New York with his quartet, Zohar & Adam, and other projects. He works as an educator at Jazz House Kids NYC, Brooklyn Friends School , and as a private lesson instructor.

Kyle Muir was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Kyle Muir (he/they) is a guitarist, producer and audio engineer working on Wurundjeri land in Victoria, Australia. Muir works in a range of different roles (recording, mixing, mastering, guitarist, singer) across many different styles (jazz, West-African music, singer-songwriter, electronic, sound art).

In 2020, Kyle completed their Honours year with a research focus on West-African Manding music under the tutelage of Guinean-Australian griot musician Amadou Kalissa. Through this project Amadou and Kyle formed the ensemble Mandeng Groove.

Mandeng Groove have since toured Australia and undergone two study trips to West Africa. Notably in 2024, Kyle recorded, mixed and played guitar on the LP Conakry, a collaboration between the Melbourne ensemble and local musicians from Guinea.  

In 2021, Kyle took part in the Australian Art Orchestra’s Creative Music Intensive, a 10-day practise-based music residency at Mt Hotham in Victoria. Undertaking the Creative Music Intensive was formative and Kyle met musicians from across the country, forming new creative connections.

Kyle is currently working on an array of different projects including their 2nd LP for Wybie and producing Flora Carbo’s upcoming LP The Cyclist.

Tess Overmyer was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Tessie Overmyer has established herself as one of the most exciting saxophone players in the Australian jazz scene. Originally from Newcastle, Australia, she is currently based in New York City.

Tessie has performed extensively throughout Australia as both a bandleader and sideperson, appearing at major festivals including the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, the Sydney Women’s Jazz Festival, and the Perth International Jazz Festival. She has played alongside Australian jazz legends like Barney Mcall, Mike Nock, Sandy Evans, Vanessa Perica, and Sam Anning. In 2025 Tessie released her debut album, Tidelines with Earshift Music.

In 2026 she released a second album, Quartet with ABC Jazz, which was the result of a composition commission from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Tessie is currently studying a Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music, where she has had the opportunity to study with Donny McCaslin, Caroline Davis, Jaleel Shaw, Nicole Glover, and Ingrid Jensen.

Salomé Perli was generously supported by the N. Murray Edwards Family Fund.

An elusive sonic creature, Salomé Perli stands out through her remarkable versatility as a violinist, pianist, vocalist, author, arranger, producer, composer, and improviser. Her singular artistic universe moves fluidly between songwritting, contemporary jazz, electronic and experimental music, driven by bold writing and boundless expressiveness. Fueled by an insatiable artistic curiosity, she continuously expands her practice through interdisciplinary collaborations with choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, circus performers, and dancers, while engaging with musicians from a wide range of backgrounds. Rejecting labels and conventions, she has developed a deeply personal and immersive artistic approach that has led her to perform internationally across Europe, Japan, Canada, and the United States, as well as to take part in numerous creative residencies (CEM, Codes d’Accès, Le Vivier) and festivals, including MUTEK and OFF JAZZ. Alongside her performance and creative work, she is also active as an educator through free improvisation workshops. With two experimental songwritting albums to her name, Salomé Perli follows in the footsteps of artists such as Björk, Thom Yorke, and Esperanza Spalding, asserting a musical identity that is powerful, sensitive, and resolutely unclassifiable.

Fall Raye was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Fall Raye (they/them) is a trans/non-binary saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, improviser, composer, and educator living in Boston, MA. They teach piano, saxophone, flute, and clarinet to students of all ages through Noteworthy Experiences. Fall also works as a freelance musician, playing weddings for Everluxe Entertainment since 2021, as well leading their own projects as a bandleader, show organizer, and composer, performing their original music across the US. Fall has appeared on multiple albums including Raul Molina’s Matria, Naomi Nakanishi’s Hear Me Now, and Paolo Paolo Peruzzi’s Songs from the Past and the Holy Spirit. In January 2024, fall, their debut self titled album, released on Boomslang Records. On May 9th, 2025, they released a collaborative album with Devon Gates and Raul Molina entitled, Lamento. Fall has performed with some of their musical idols, including Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Miguel Zenon, Elena Pinderhughes, Leo Geovese, and Gretchen Parlato. Fall's artistic vision is to create work that speaks from their own experiences as a trans person, as a person healing from their own traumas, and through their interpersonal relationships, to create a listening experience where the audience can feel less alone, seen, and in community with others

Ketija Ringa-Karahona was generously supported by the Denis Jackson Memorial Scholarship Endowment.

Ketija Ringa-Karahona is a Latvian flutist based in the Netherlands since 2019. In 2025 she acquired a Master’s degree at the Jazz Department of Conservatorium van Amsterdam. With a foundation in classical music and a love for improvisation, her musical voice bridges genres and explores various sonic territories. She has collaborated with leading jazz/improvising artists including Petter Eldh, Kit Downes, Mary Halvorson, Reinier Baas, Ernst Reijseger, and Pablo Held, among others.

In 2022 she received the Keep An Eye Outstanding Talent Award. In 2023 she was chosen as the Jonge Makers of Amsterdam Jazzfest. Featured in NRC as one of twelve art school graduates in Netherlands in the year of 2023, as well as winner of the Laren Jazz Award 2023. In 2025 she won the Mingus Prize making her the composer of residence for Paradox Jazz Orchestra.

Natalie Song was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Natalie Song is a pianist, improviser, and composer based in the Seattle area. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Washington, studying with Marc Seales, Ted Poor, Steph Richards, Steve Rodby, and Cuong Vu. She developed her voice performing in a variety of ensembles, both at and outside the school. Under the mentorship of Poor and Vu, Song strengthened her skills as a free improviser and composer. Her current work synthesizes jazz styles with more textural and collective approaches, with an emphasis on open improvisation.

Song performs as the keyboardist for Seattle rock artist Lucia Flores-Wiseman and is an active sideman in various other projects in the local jazz scene. Past collaborations include accompanying Bill Frisell, Luke Bergman, Todd Sickafoose, and Kelsey Mines. In addition to performing, Song works as an educator and recording engineer, capturing both live performances and studio sessions for ensembles ranging from orchestras to jazz quartets.

Paddy Walter was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment.

My name is Patrick Walter (he/him), I am a 23 year old drummer from Melbourne/Naarm, Australia, currently finishing my Bachelor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium.  I have had the good fortune to study extensively with many of the country’s most accomplished drummers; Dylan Van Der Schyff, Felix Bloxsom, Danny Fisher and Dave Beck. I have performed with local luminaries such as Ben Robertson, Matt Hoyne, Joel Trigg, and most notably Sam Anning, Brett Williams, and Julien Wilson. Williams has been a mentor of mine, over the course of 2025 we worked closely together; gigging, rehearsing and communicating regularly. In 2025 I also performed with two artists in residence, Melissa Aldana, and then later, Danilo Perez. Both visits featured multiple rehearsals and culminated in live performances, the latter of which featured a sold out Jazzlab show on the opening night of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The experience was extremely special and I am endlessly grateful for the mastery, passion, and kindness that Melissa and Danilo shared with us. The opportunity to perform such meaningful and intricate tunes with the composers who created them was a truly humbling experience and one that I will carry with me forever.

Jonathon Wilcke was generously supported by the Judith Anne LaRoque Scholarship Endowment.

Jonathon Wilcke is a saxophonist, composer, and community organizer whose music ranges through strict forms, jazz, free and structured improvisation, text-sound, and vocal accompaniment, in both solo and group situations. Wilcke combines a well-rounded musical vocabulary drawing from jazz, contemporary composition, and various lineages of free improvisation with a high level of proficiency in the outer ranges of their instrument’s possibilities. Based in Calgary/Mohkintsis, Wilcke has collaborated on many musical projects, including Eating Speed with Rob Oxoby (bass) and Eric Hamelin (drums), the Chris Dadge (drums) and Jonathon Wilcke duo, Circular Sparrow, Robots on Fire, ffffffft!, The Real Featuring the UnReal, Midnighties, and Mechanics Who Can Drive. He has shared the stage with players such as Joe Morris, Peggy Lee, Mats Gustafsson, Eugene Chadbourne, Jens Lindeman, John Butcher, Han Bennink, and Jack Wright, and is the co-producer of the long-running Bug Incision Presents series.

Alfred Yun was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Alfred Yun is a Korean-American jazz pianist and composer. His music is influenced by his upbringing in both Korea and the United States. You can hear influences ranging from jazz, hip hop, and K-Pop to traditional Korean music in Alfred Yun’s compositions.

Alfred was honored to be chosen by the Music Center At Strathmore as an Artist-in-Residence for the 2023-2024 season. This includes featured concerts at Strathmore’s prestigious AMP club in January and participating in programs throughout the season.
 
In 2025, Alfred Yun released his album, Voice and Phenomenon, which investigates the different ways we use the voice — gibberish, games, poems, singing, spoken word, laughter, and more. The album invites the listener into an intimate account of these disparate voices and sounds. It is the most personal and revealing work of his career. Voice and Phenomenon was listed on Capital Bop's Top DC Jazz Albums of 2025.

Kris Davis is a Grammy award-winning pianist and composer described by The New York Times as “a beacon for deciding where to hear jazz on a given night.” Her genre-blending approach is deeply rooted in collaboration and draws from jazz, contemporary classical, and experimental music to explore the intersections of composition and improvisation. Davis has released 25 recordings as a leader or co-leader and collaborated with artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Dave Holland, John Zorn, Craig Taborn, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey, Johnathan Blake, Robert Hurst, Julian Lage, and esperanza spalding. She was named a 2021 Doris Duke Artist alongside Wayne Shorter and Danilo Perez, Pianist of the Year by DownBeat magazine in 2025, 2022, and 2020, and Pianist and Composer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2021. Davis is the Associate Program Director of Creative Development at the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, the founder of Pyroclastic Records, and the co-founder of the International Creators and Collaborators Workshop. Davis is a Steinway Artist.

Savannah Harris is a drummer, producer/arranger, and music director widely regarded as one of the foremost drummers of her generation. Equally fluent in the deep traditions of jazz and the genre-blurring language of contemporary Black music, she brings precision, ingenuity, and emotional depth to every project she undertakes. Harris has become a vital presence in today’s creative landscape, touring and recording with Christian McBride’s Ursa Major, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and jazz luminary Kenny Barron.

Her creative reach extends to her award-winning collaborative project ØKSE, whose debut earned a Deutscher Jazzpreis for Album of the Year. Harris’s wide-ranging recording work includes contributions to Helado Negro’s acclaimed albums Far In and Phasor, where her rhythmic sensitivity and textural awareness play a defining role. She is also a longtime member of Or Bareket’s Quartet, appearing on the albums Sahar and Yom, and she joins Angelika Niescier and Tomeka Reid on the adventurous trio release Beyond Dragons.

Harris also serves as music director for MIKE, shaping the rapper’s live sound with her distinct rhythmic identity. Continually expanding her artistic footprint, she stands at the forefront of a transformative new wave in modern music.

Photo Credit Antonio Porcar.

Based in Oslo, Norwegian bass player Ole Morten Vågan has been a central part of the scandinavian jazz and impro community for the last decade, performing with among others Motif, The Deciders, Håvard Wiik Trio, The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Maria Kannegaard Trio, Andratx, Bugge Wesseltofts NCOJ, Maciej Obara Int. Quartet, Audun Kleive´s Generator X and more recently also Joshua Redman Trio with Jorge Rossy and Ole Morten Vagan . After discovering jazz as a youngster in the Northern town of Brønnøysund (just below the polar circle), he went on to study with amongst others the fantastic bassist Mats Eilertsen, and attending the very influential Jazz Conservatory in Trondheim, Norway.

Also active as a composer, he has written commissions for a.o. the Grammy Nominated Norwegian string orchestra The Trondheim Soloists, and more recently for the well renowned Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, of which he is now Artistic Director for 2017-2019 - In addition to steadily writing for bands like Motif and The Deciders for the last ten years.

Folk music of different kinds has also been at the core of Vågans interests, and through collaborations with a.o. Jovan Pavlovic, Ola Kvernberg and Stian Carstensen, he has immersed himself in the gipsy music of eastern Europe, Indian Classical Music and also norwegian folk music. He has also had the pleasure of performing with artists from an array of different countries and cultures, including some of the premier Eastern European folk musicians, among them Giani Linca, Filip Simoneov, Ivo Papasov and Petar Ralchev (after a rehearsal with the latter two, Ole Morten experienced his first and probably also last odd meter-induced fever.)

A curious interest in folk music and also classical music is the main focus in the group Gammalgrass, where he plays alongside Carstensen and Kvernberg, two of the most talented musicians coming out of Norway in recent years.

Vågan was also the recipient of the Dnb Nor/Kongsberg Jazz Festival Award in 2009, following in the footsteps of people like Sidsel Endresen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Christian Wallumrød, Audun Kleive, Nils Petter Molvaer and many more.

"Her voice a transparent gossamer of silk." Hers is an instrument that can shape sound and syllable, making it the messenger of every articulation whether it is a whisper, an ululation or a prance on the edge of a scream." -All about Jazz (USA)

Sissel Vera Pettersen is a multifaceted artist. She is a sound improvisor and composer who fuses highly creative vocal techniques with live electronic processing, and is also a brilliant sax player. Her diverse recorded work can be heard in over 50 international CD releases and she has toured all over Europe, in the USA, Canada, the Middle East and Africa. She was the artistic director of acclaimed Norwegian vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices from 2016-2025, and also works regularly with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra both as a singer and sax player. She has collaborated with artists including Chick Corea, Marilyn Mazur, Lionel Loueke, Marc Ducret, Jon Balke, Toumani Diabate, Django Bates, John Hollenbeck, Theo Bleckmann Christian Wallumrød, Terje Isungset, Tim Hagans, Helge Sten and Ståle Storløkken. Pettersen has been nominated several times for the Danish Music Awards and for the Norwegian Grammys, and won a Norwegian Grammy in 2022 with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Gurls. She regularly collaborates within contemporary dance and theatre, both as a performer, composer and musician, and she is also a visual artist, exhibiting paintings and graphic prints.

"Capable of producing sustained lines of the utmost purity, wild ululations and the occasional melodic line that simply disappears off the treble clef, Pettersen's voice is an instrument of extraordinary flexibility. ...one of those powerful emotional jolts that really stirs the soul." -The Arts Desk (UK)