Join us for a celebration of African-American Music featuring performances and discussions with five internationally acclaimed artists from the United States in honor of U.S. National Arts and Humanities Month.
A Celebration of African-American Music featuring performances and discussions with five internationally acclaimed artists from the United States in honor of U.S. National Arts and Humanities Month.
Curated by Mazz Swift, moderated by American writer, musician, and producer Greg Tate.
On Friday, October 1 at 7:00 PM MSK we welcome composer, conductor, singer, and violinist Mazz Swift.
Mazz Swift is a composer, conductor, singer, bandleader, educator, and Juilliard-trained violinist. As violinist and singer, she has performed on many of the world’s greatest stages including Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Müpa Budapest, and David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center in New York City. As composer, Swift’s works include commissions by The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, and the Blaffer Foundation. As an educator, Swift has performed and taught workshops in free improvisation and “conduction” (conducted improvisation) on six continents and is a performing member and teaching artist with the acclaimed Silkroad Ensemble. She is also a Carnegie Hall teaching artist, where she writes and records lullabies with incarcerated mothers and mothers-to-be at Rikers Island, and coaches the inmates at Sing Sing Penitentiary on string studies and composition. Improvisation is a throughline in Swift’s practice across genres and instrumental configurations, and as such, can be found in most of her works. She is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and a United States Artist Fellow.