Contemporary Improvisation and Jazz at NEC: Bert Seager, Gospel, and Mark Walker World Jazz Ensembles
Performances by small jazz and contemporary improvisation ensembles coached by NEC's exceptional faculty. This evening's concerts are performed live and streamed in real time from the Eben Jordan Ensemble Room.
Three sets: 7:00, 8:15, 9:30 PM
This performance is open to in-person audiences, and can also be viewed below via livestream.
VIEW LIVESTREAM FROM EBEN JORDAN ENSEMBLE ROOM:
- Bert Seager, ensemble coach
- Mark Walker, ensemble coach
- Renese King, Gospel Ensemble director
7:00 PM | Bert Seager Ensemble
Over the course of the semester, students analyze and learn two-dozen classic jazz standards. They also review the old tunes each week to keep them alive in their memory.
Tianyi Hu, vocals
Emma Blanc, tenor saxophone
Aiden Coleman, trombone
Linhui He, guitar
Will Sheline, piano
Mark Abramovski, double bass
Noah Mark, drums8:15 PM | NEC Gospel Ensemble
The Gospel Ensemble explores contemporary gospel music as it is currently being created and performed. This ensemble works with repertoire composed within the last 20 years of contemporary gospel music and highlights key composers and choir leaders. All music is taught/learned through oral tradition with a focus on the importance and role of music in African American social and spiritual settings.
Zion Dyson, vocals
Serena Bixby, vocals
Yihong Guo, vocals
Isaac Dubow, vocals
Cooper Malanowski, trombone
Thatcher Harrison, guitar
Taibai Mou, piano
William Stark, double bass
Maude Bastien-Desilets, drums9:30 PM | Mark Walker World Jazz Ensemble
This ensemble explores two facets of modern jazz: the authentic use of world rhythms of South America and the Caribbean and the works of high-level jazz composers such as Ralph Towner, Lyle Mays and Paquito D’Rivera, all of whom Walker has worked with and who have utilized these rhythms in ground-breaking compositions.
Yifan Yue, vocals
Michael Brehm, trumpet
Cooper Malanowski, trombone
Kyra Tyboe, piano
Leo Weisskoff, double bass
Maude Bastien-Desilets, Drums