Improvisatory Minds

Improvisatory Minds in NYC! 9/18 at St. Peters Church at 7:30 pm.

Clockwise from bottom: Billy Childs, Gernot Wolfgang,Ed Neumeister, Mike Patterson, Alan Broadbent, in center, Bevan Manson.

More about the composers:

GERNOT WOLFGANG - his music has been described by Dave Brubeck as “having unconventional beauty”.   He has received commissions from the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic principals David Breidenthal (bassoon), Joanne Pearce Martin (keyboard) and Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), and the European Broadcasting Union.  Regarding his LACO commission “Desert Wind’ Richard Ginell of the L.A. Times said: “Wolfgang’s arresting, jazz-drenched new score seemed to capture at once the realities and myths of Los Angeles during fire season…music that’s somehow cool and sultry at the same time…”

He is currently associate artistic director to ‘HEAR NOW – A Festival of New Music by Contemporary Los Angeles Composers’ and artistic advisor to the Beverly Hills International Music Festival.

BEVAN MANSON - has received commissions from the San Francisco Symphony, First Night Boston, Sierra Chamber Music, and L.A. Chamber Orchestra violist Victoria Miskolczy.  Bevan recently wrote and conducted string arrangements for saxophonist Gary Smulyan at NYC’s Blue Note. Chatter Chamber Concerts in Albuquerque presented his new piece for French horns and piano in 2013.

His California Concertino for Flute and Chamber Orchestra was premiered by Katherine Fink of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and also performed by L.A. Chamber Orchestra flutist David Shostac with the Brentwood-Westwood Symphony. Regarding a recent recording of the piece with Sara Andon and the Hollywood Studio Symphony, Fanfare Magazine commented that it “spins out a lovely melodic line…appealing… clear American pastoralism”. The Washington Post called his Piano Quartet “powerfully polyrhythmic”. He has performed with George Garzone, Gunther Schuller, Howard McGhee, and many others.

ED NEUMEISTER has received commissions from all over the world from solo to chamber, jazz bands and orchestra and has received a Grammy Award Nomination, Commissions and Awards from ASCAP/IAJE, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer. All Music Guide has called him, “one of the finest of his generation, an underrated giant waiting to be discovered.” Billboard Books said he is “a living legend”.

A long-time member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, he currently is a faculty member at the University of the Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. He is the founder of the NeuHat Ensemble in New York, an 18-piece hybrid ensemble, and ENJO (Ed Neumeister Jazz Orchestra) in New York and Los Angeles. As a leader, he has recorded seven albums.
 Neumeister is also active as a trombone soloist with frequent performances in the US, Europe, and Japan.

MICHAEL PATTERSON- he is a Grammy (2010) and Emmy Award winning composer. Commissions include the London Symphony Orchestra, NYRO, New Mexico, Utah and Sichuan, (China), Symphony Orchestras.

Artists he has collaborated with include Eddie Daniels, Rick Van Matre, Debussy Trio, Bob Sheppard and Marc Copland. Film and TV scores -The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, J.A.G. (CBS-TV), Tiny Toon Adventures with Spielberg, and Lucasfilms’ Radioland Murders. Recent CD’s as producer, arranger, and composer for IPO recordings –Vol. I: The Music of Thad Jones -One More- Vol. II: The Summary. Mean What You Say and Homecoming with Eddie Daniels; Our Delight, Moody 4A and 4B.


Michael currently teaches composition/film scoring at NYU and Composition and Arranging at Mannes College and Manhattan School of Music.