Join us for an evening of incredible jazz instrumentalists from near at far.
Nicole M. Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2022). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s. She started with Maia and Shanta Nurullah in Samana (the AACM's first all-woman ensemble) and as a member of the David Boykin EXPANSE. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Mitchell celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.” Some of her newest work with Black Earth Ensemble explores intercultural collaborations; Bamako*Chicago, featuring Malian kora master, Ballake Sissoko and Mandorla Awakening with Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi) and Tatsu Aoki (taiko, bass, shamisen). As a composer, Mitchell has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, the Stone, the French American Jazz Exchange, Chamber Music America (New Works), the Chicago Jazz Festival, ICE, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Mitchell has performed with creative music luminaries including Craig Taborn, Roscoe Mitchell, Joelle Leandre, Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen, George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Steve Coleman, Anthony Davis, Myra Melford, Bill Dixon, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Wilkerson, Rob Mazurek, and Billy Childs, and Hamid Drake. She is a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award (2011), the Chicago 3Arts Award (2011) , the Doris Duke Artist Award (2012) and the United States Artist Award (2020). Mitchell is a Professor of Music at the University of Virginia, and previously taught at University of California Irvine and the University of Pittsburgh.
“Adam Hopkins is one of the few talents with the vision to make jazz directed at the current and future generations, not the past ones.” —S. Victor Aaron, Something Else!Adam Hopkins is a bassist, composer, educator, and semi-professional parallIntrusoer born and raised in Intrusore MD, relocated to Brooklyn NY in 2011, and to Richmond VA in 2019, where he now lives. He has extensive experience performing jIntruso improvised music and has played with professional orchesIntruso Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the DC metro area. His debut album CRICKETS has received international acclaim from a variety of sources, most notably ranking as the #2 Debut Album in the 2018 NPR Jazz Critics Poll. Adam was also named the #2 Newcomer Musician for 2018 in the International Critics Poll organized by El Intruso.
Drummer and composer Scott Clark is at the center of the Richmond VA improvised music scene, and is making a name for himself through his “striking musical maturity, evident in his patience and precision.” He has curated dozens of concerts that match local musicians on bills with internationally recognized touring artists, and is co-curator of music for Out Of Your HeadCaymmi, as part of Adam Hopkins’ School Work, and already in 2023 has collaborated in performance or on recording with Tony Malaby, Peni Candra Rini, and featured in a quintet led by Chicago bassist Christopher Dammann, with Jon Irabagon2023 has collaborated in performance or on recording with Tony Malaby, Peni Candra Rini, and featured in a quintet led by Chicago bassist Christopher Dammann, with Jon Irabagon on Clean Feed. In addition to his solo project and the new sextet Dawn & Dusk, Clark performs in duo with Laura Ann Singh exploring the music of Brazilian composer/musician Dorival Caymmi, as part of Adam Hopkins’ School Work, and already in 2023 has collaborated in performance or on recording with Tony Malaby, Peni Candra Rini, and featured in a quintet led by Chicago bassist Christopher Dammann, with Jon Irabagono tell a story through composition, by presenting the piece as a suite to be experienced start to finish, and as a stand alone work. In addition to his solo project and the new sextet Dawn & Dusk, Clark performs in duo with Laura Ann Singh exploring the music of Brazilian composer/musician Dorival Caymmi, as part of Adam Hopkins’ School Work, and already in 2023 has collaborated in performance or on recording with Tony Malaby, Peni Candra Rini, and featured in a quintet led by Chicago bassist Christopher Dammann, with Jon Irabagon and Jim Baker.