Han Bennink + Mary Oliver masterclass

NEC's Contemporary Improvisation department presents a masterclass with two influential improvising musicians from the Netherlands: drummer Han Bennink and violinist Mary Oliver. The two guests will perform with and coach NEC students.

Han Bennink has worked in essentially every school of jazz, and is described by critic Chris Kelsey as "one of the unfortunately rare musicians whose abilities and interests span [jazz's] entire spectrum." His first percussion instrument was a kitchen chair. Later his father, an orchestra percussionist, supplied him with a more conventional outfit, but Han never lost his taste for coaxing sounds from unlikely objects he finds backstage at concerts. He is still very fond of playing chairs. Bennink has had especially fruitful long-term partnerships with pianist Misha Mengelberg, with whom he co-founded the collective Instant Composers Pool in 1967. Bennink has also worked with greats like Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, and Peter Brötzmann.

Mary Oliver, violin, viola, and hardanger fiddle, is a performer whose virtuosity spans the worlds of scored and improvised music. Oliver completed her studies at the University of California, San Diego where she received her Ph.D for her research in the theory and practice of improvised music. She currently lives in Amsterdam, where she is professor at the Hogeschol voor Kunst and musical director of the Magpie Music Dance Company.