The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Ars Nova Workshop
Free/Form: Composer Portraits
2008 Grantee
$40,000
Ars Nova Workshop received $40,000 to present “Free/Form: Composer Portraits,” a six-concert series featuring the work of three composer/musicians: Andrew Hill (1937-2007), Julius Hemphill (1940-1995) and Anthony Braxton (1945- ). The series will feature rare appearances from past collaborators, new interpretations, and many Philadelphia debuts, all in an effort to present the compositional breadth of Hill, Hemphill, and Braxton. Performing artists taking part in the project are the Nels Cline Ensemble, trumpeter Ron Horton and Ensemble, pianist Ursula Oppens, the Daedalus String Quartet, the Rites Quartet, the Julius Hemphill Saxophone Choir, the Anthony Braxton Brass Quintet, the Anthony Braxton Trumpet Sextet, the Anthony Braxton Diamond Curtain Wall Trio, and Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound. MacArthur Fellow Anthony Braxton will visit with a new ensemble and conduct two compositions performed only once to date: Composition 103 (for seven trumpets), which includes choreography for seven costumed instrumentalists, and one of Braxton’s seminal pieces, Composition 169 (for brass quintet).
Founded in 2000, Ars Nova Workshop is a Philadelphia non-profit jazz and experimental music presenting organization. ANW seeks to inform, inspire, and challenge listeners while elevating the role of jazz and experimental music in contemporary culture. Fervently upholding the jazz/Free Jazz continuums by supporting its musicians, composers, and improvisers, ANW events are a forum for discourse and new trends in contemporary music theories and practices. http://www.arsnovaworkshop.com/
Anthony Braxton, photo by Emiliano Neri