This ensemble is about getting creative and playful with composition. We will explore how music-making can be inspired by other disciplines like visual art, stories, or even objects. The goal is to sharpen your compositional instincts and get comfortable connecting ideas that might not seem related at first.

We will dive into music by Ben van Gelder and also explore works by major voices in composition such as Duke Ellington, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Charles Mingus, and John and Alice Coltrane and others. Through playing and analysis, the goal is to deepen our understanding of how these artists use structure, color, and concept - and apply those insights to create and perform original works.