CALI IMMERSIVE RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Join us for our fourth annual re-imagined professional residency program at the John J. Cali School of Music. The week-long residencies include a rotation of top-rated artists and ensembles. Each residency will contribute to an ongoing exploration of the ever-changing landscape of music today, introducing students to a future that will be, at times, less traditional. Through the multiple opportunities to learn and collaborate with guest artists, Cali students will broaden their understanding of their future musical careers. (Subscribe to the full residency Google Calendar!)
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE PUBLIC EVENTS AT THE CALI SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND THE CO-HOSTED BRIDGES SERIES CONCERTS AT MERKIN CONCERT HALL IN NEW YORK CITY.
Co-presented with Kaufman Music Center
The 24/25 Season
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2024-25
COMPOSER, VIOLINIST + EDUCATOR
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a Black Haitian-American composer who sees composing as collaboration with artists, organizations, and communities within the farming and framing of ideas. He is a prolific and endlessly collaborative composer, performer, educator, and social entrepreneur. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (New York Times), Roumain has worked with artists from J’Nai Bridges, Lady Gaga, and Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones, Marin Alsop, and Anna Deavere Smith.
Known for his signature violin sounds infused with myriad electronic and African-American music influences, Daniel Roumain takes his genre-bending music beyond the proscenium. He is a composer of solo, chamber, orchestral, and operatic works, and has composed an array of film, theater, and dance scores. He has composed music for the acclaimed film Ailey (Sundance official selection); was the first Music Director and Principal Composer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; released and appeared on 30 album recordings; and has published over 300 works. He has appeared on CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, NPR, and PBS; and has been presented and collaborated with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Sydney Opera House. He was Artist-in-Residence and Creative Chair at the Flynn in Burlington, Vermont. Currently, he is the first Artistic Ambassador with Firstworks; the first Artist Activist-in-Residence at Longy School of Music; and the first Resident Artistic Catalyst with the New Jersey Symphony.
Roumain is an Atlantic Center Master Artist, a Creative Capital Grantee, and a Hermitage Artist Retreat Fellow. He has won the American Academy in Rome Goddard Lieberson Fellowship; a Civitella Ranieri Music Fellowship Award; two regional Emmy Awards for The New Look of Classical Music: Boston Pops Orchestra and Art is Essential: New Jersey Symphony; National Sawdust Disruptor Award; and the Sphinx Organization Arthur L. Johnson Award. He has been featured as a keynote speaker at universities, colleges, conservatories and technology conferences, and was the first ASU GAMMAGE Residency Artist. He has lectured at Yale and Princeton University and was a Roth Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College. He currently serves as a board member for the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (Vice Chair), the League of American Orchestras, and is a voting member for the Recording Academy GRAMMY awards.
A student of William Albright, Leslie Bassett, and William Bolcom, Roumain graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned his doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan. He is currently a tenured Associate and Institute Professor at Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2024-2025
Information on specific dates coming soon.
JLIN
ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN
OCTOBER 21 – 25, 2024
Jerrilynn Patton, also known as Jlin, is an electronic musician. She began producing music in 2008 and received early attention for her 2011 track “Erotic Heat.” Jlin’s debut album, Dark Energy, was released in 2015 to critical praise. Her follow-up, Black Origami (2017) received further acclaim.
JLin, originally from Gary, Indiana, developed a deep love for music from an early age, influenced by her parents and favorite artists like Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell, and Sade. She was also introduced to the footwork genre early on. After a brief stint as a math major at Purdue University, she supported herself by working at a steel mill, although she asserts that this experience did not significantly impact her musical work.
JLin began creating her own music in 2008, inspired by her mother to pursue a unique sound and encouraged by figures such as DJ Rashad. Her track “Erotic Heat” marked a pivotal moment in her career. Although hesitant to release it due to its unconventional sound, the track was included in Planet Mu’s Bangs & Works, Vol. 2 compilation in 2011, bringing her significant attention. It was later featured in a 2014 Rick Owens fashion show.
Her debut album, Dark Energy, was released in 2015 to critical acclaim and played a key role in popularizing footwork globally. In 2017, she released her second album, Black Origami, featuring collaborations with William Basinski, Holly Herndon, Fawkes, and Dope Saint Jude. This album received universal acclaim and was listed among the best albums of the year by various publications.
Also in 2017, JLin was commissioned to compose the score for “AutoBIOgraphy,” a work by Company Wayne McGregor, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells in London. In 2020, she created “Perspectives,” commissioned by the Boulanger Initiative for performance by Third Coast Percussion. In 2022, she launched a course with the online music school Soundfly titled “Jlin: Rhythm, Variation, & Vulnerability.”
In 2023, JLin was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Perspective.
Information on specific events coming soon.
DOREEN KETCHENS
CLASSICAL + JAZZ CLARINETIST
October 30 and November 1, 2024
Doreen Ketchens has been called Lady Louie, Miss Satchmo, and The Female Louis Armstrong, to name a few. However, on May 26, 2022, Doreen was honored with a Doctorate degree in music from Five Towns College in Long Island, New York. Now she is Dr. Doreen J. Ketchens! Dr. Doreen has changed the way scholars view their clarinets. She has successfully created her own style that blends her classical training with the soul of jazz.
Dr. Ketchens has appeared in numerous radio and television shows, including HBO’s Treme and Drunk History. Her talents have also been showcased in music videos and movies such as Out of Blue, Come On, Come On, Tyler Perry’s Temptation, and more recently on Jimmy Kimmel Live and CBS Sunday Morning.
Information on specific events coming soon.
ATTACCA QUARTET
INNOVATIVE STRING ENSEMBLE
November 4, 5, 6, 2024 | Bridges Series Concert, November 7, 2024
Two-time GRAMMY-award-winning Attacca Quartet, as described by The Nation, “lives in the present aesthetically, without rejecting the virtues of the musical past” and is recognized and acclaimed as one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment — a true quartet for modern times. Gliding through traditional classical repertoire to electronica, video game music, and contemporary collaborations, they are among the world’s most innovative and respected ensembles.
“THEY MAY BE A RELATIVELY YOUNG ENSEMBLE, BUT ALREADY THEY COME VERY CLOSE TO EPITOMIZING THE STRING QUARTET IDEAL: FOUR STRIKINGLY INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS WITH THE ABILITY TO SPEAK ELOQUENTLY IN ONE VOICE.” — The Washington Post
Attacca Quartet are Passionate advocates of contemporary repertoire, the quartet are dedicated to presenting and recording new works. Their two releases ‘Orange’ and ‘Evergreen’ in collaboration with Caroline Shaw won the 2020 and 2023 GRAMMY awards for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
In 2021, the quartet announced their signing to SONY Classical, releasing two albums, ‘Real Life’ and ‘Of All Joys’, that embody their range as a contemporary quartet at home in the studio and on stage. ‘Real Life’ explores collaborations with leading electronica artists like TOKiMONSTA, Dedalus, and Squarepusher, and ‘Of All Joys’ unites the music of the Renaissance with modern minimalist giants Philip Glass and Arvo Pärt.
The quartet continue to perform in the world’s best venues and festivals, with highlights including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Sala Sao Paolo, SFJazz, Paris’ Théâtre de la Ville, Palau de la Musica, Concertgebouw Bruges, De Doelen, Kings Place, and Amsterdam’s String Quartet Biennale.
Attacca Quartet was formed at the Juilliard School by Amy Schroeder and Andrew Yee in 2003.
Information on specific events coming soon.
BÉLA FLECK
BLUEGRASS, FUSION, FOLK, JAZZ, CLASSICAL + GLOBAL MUSIC
November 19 – 21, 2024
Over the last four decades, Béla Fleck has made a point of boldly going where no banjo player has gone before—a musical journey that has earned him 16 Grammy awards in nine different fields, including Country, Pop, Jazz, Instrumental, Classical, and World Music.
Fleck’s years-long collaboration with the late pianist Chick Corea left a profound impact on him. Their new double album, “Remembrance,” released on May 10, serves as a testament to their creative and personal bond, featuring previously unreleased Corea compositions and live recordings from their final tour in 2019.
“Remembrance” showcases a range of styles, from new Fleck tunes to interpretations of Thelonious Monk and Scarlatti, and highlights Corea’s exceptional writing. Fleck describes the title track as a perfect example of Corea’s genius, combining elements of New Orleans funeral marches and Latin rhythms.
Corea’s death in 2021 was a significant loss to the jazz community. Fleck recalls their relationship fondly, noting Corea’s kindness, curiosity, and positive spirit. Their partnership began when Fleck, inspired by Corea’s work with Return to Forever, included an arrangement of “Spain” on his 1979 debut LP. Over the years, their collaborations, including the 2007 Latin Grammy-winning “The Enchantment,” showcased their symbiotic mastery of music.
In “Remembrance,” Fleck’s compositions and Corea’s improvisations blend seamlessly, a testament to their deep musical connection. Fleck’s reflections on Corea’s generosity and brilliance highlight the special bond they shared. “We pushed the bar up a little higher in terms of what was possible,” Fleck says, celebrating their legacy.
Information on specific events coming soon.
WESTERLIES
VERSATILE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
February 3 – February 8, 2025 | Bridges Series Concert, February 8, 2025
The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times), are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.
“CHAMBER MUSIC WITH BRACING MELODIES AND, CRUCIALLY, AN UNDENIABLE SENSE OF FUN.” — L.A. Times
The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times) are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.
Formed in 2011, the self-described “accidental brass quartet” takes its name from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East. “Skilled interpreters who are also adept improvisers” (NPR’s Fresh Air), The Westerlies explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music).
The ensemble has produced numerous critically acclaimed albums of genre-defying music. 2022 saw the release of the Songbook Vol. 2 and Live at TOURISTS on Westerlies Records, the ensemble’s in-house record label. The previous year was a prolific year for the ensemble, with the release of Fireside Brass: A Westerlies Holiday (Westerlies Records), Songbook Vol. 1 (Westerlies Records), and Bricolage (Westerlies Records), a collaborative album of improvisations with pianist/composer Conrad Tao. 2021 also saw the release of This Land, the ensemble’s collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Theo Bleckmann. Sought-after collaborators, The Westerlies are also featured on recordings by Fleet Foxes (Nonesuch), Big Red Machine (Jagjaguwar), Vieux Farka Touré (Six Degrees Records), Common (Lakeshore) and Dave Douglas (Greenleaf).
Education and community engagement are core elements of The Westerlies’ mission. In 2021, The Westerlies were named the inaugural small ensemble-in-residence at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School. The Westerlies also produce an annual music festival in Seattle called Westerlies Fest, which combines evening performances featuring numerous guest artists, and workshops in local public schools. The Westerlies have engaged students of all ages and abilities around the country with their innovative assemblies and masterclasses, promoting the values of cooperation and inclusion through music.
Information on specific events coming soon.
PAT METHENY
JAZZ GUITARIST + COMPOSER
February 17, 18, 19, 2025
Pat Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. He has three gold albums and 20 Grammy Awards and is the only person to have won Grammys in 10 categories.
Pat Metheny was born in Kansas City on August 12, 1954, into a musical family. He started on the trumpet at age 8 and switched to guitar at 12. By 15, he was performing with top jazz musicians in Kansas City. Metheny entered the international jazz scene in 1974, showcasing a unique style blending flexible articulation and advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibilities. His debut album, “Bright Size Life” (1975), redefined the jazz guitar sound.
Throughout his career, Metheny has continually evolved the genre, integrating new technologies and expanding the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. He has collaborated with diverse artists like Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento, and David Bowie. His compositions span solo guitar, small ensembles, orchestras, and ballets, covering modern jazz, rock, and classical.
Metheny has also been a dedicated music educator. At 18, he became the youngest teacher at the University of Miami, and at 19, the youngest at Berklee College of Music, where he later received an honorary doctorate. He has taught worldwide, from the Dutch Royal Conservatory to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz.
A pioneer in electronic music, Metheny was one of the first jazz musicians to seriously use synthesizers, employing the Synclavier as a composing tool before MIDI technology. He has developed new guitars, including the soprano acoustic guitar, the 42-string Pikasso guitar, and the solenoid-driven Orchestrion.
Metheny has received widespread acclaim, winning numerous polls as “Best Jazz Guitarist” and earning 20 Grammy Awards in 12 categories. The Pat Metheny Group won seven consecutive Grammys for seven consecutive albums. Metheny has been a prolific performer, averaging 120-240 shows a year since 1974. He remains a prominent figure in the jazz community, supporting both his projects and those of emerging and established artists.
Information on specific events coming soon.
J’NAI BRIDGES
OPERA MEZZO-SOPRANO
March 3 and 5, 2025 | Bridges Series Concert, March 5, 2025
American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, known for her “rich, dark, exciting sound” (Opera News) is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after talents of her generation. Two-time Grammy® Award-winning American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, known for her “plush-voiced mezzo-soprano” (The New York Times), and “calmly commanding stage presence” (The New Yorker), has been heralded as “a rising star” (Los Angeles Times), gracing the world’s top opera and concert stages.
Two time Grammy® Award-winning American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, known for her “plush-voiced mezzo-soprano” (The New York Times), and “calmly commanding stage presence” (The New Yorker) has been heralded as “a rising star” (Los Angeles Times), gracing the world’s top opera and concert stages.
The 2023-24 season spotlights Ms. Bridges in the world premiere of Intelligence by Jake Heggie, where she takes on the role of Lucinda at the Houston Grand Opera. Bridges will make her subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra, performing Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater and Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, respectively. She will be returning to the Metropolitan Opera in John Adams’ El Niño conducted by Marin Alsop, as well as taking one of her signature roles of Carmen to the Hamburg State Opera. Bridges’ recital engagements for the season begin with a performance alongside Latonia Moore at the San Diego Opera, continuing with Modlin Center of the Arts and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with more to be announced throughout the season.
Ms. Bridges’ 2022-23 season highlights included Bridges as Carmen with debut engagements at the Arena di Verona, Canadian Opera Company, and a return to Dutch National Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. As a native of Tacoma, WA, She made her Seattle Opera debut in a concert performance of Samson et Delilah as Delilah in January 2023. Additional concert engagements included Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Detroit Symphony in November, and a world premiere by Carlos Simon in April 2023 with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Bridges’ recital engagements for the season included a world premiere by Jimmy Lopez at 92NY, as well as performances at Washington University, Thomasville Center for the Arts, The Cliburn, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, San Francisco Performances, and the Mondavi Center.
In the midst of the worldwide pandemic, she emerged as a leading figure in classical music’s shift toward conversations of inclusion and racial justice in the performing arts. In 2022 she was announced as one of the Kennedy Center’s NEXT50 cultural leaders, and appeared with The National Philharmonic in the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s A Knee on the Neckthat same year. Bridges led a highly successful panel on race and inequality in opera with the Los Angeles Opera that drew international acclaim for being a “conversation of striking scope and candor” (The New York Times). In early 2021, Ms. Bridges was featured in the Converse shoe brand’s All Stars Campaign for its Breaking Down Barriers collection. Bridges also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel for two episodes of the digital SOUND/STAGE series, and as part of the Global Citizen movement’s Global Goal campaign, a program which also included Coldplay, Shakira, Usher and more. Bridges returned to the LA Phil and Dudamel in June 2022 for a performance of Lieberson’s Neruda Songsas part of the Power to the People! festival.
The pandemic also forced the cancellation of Ms. Bridges’ numerous debuts during the 2020-21 season including the title role of Carmen at The Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Bridges 2019-20 season included her highly acclaimed debut at The Metropolitan Opera as Nefertiti in a sold-out run of Philip Glass’ opera Akhnaten, as well as a house and role debut with Washington National Opera as Dalila in Samson et Dalila.
Other recent highlights include the 2022 Grammy® Award-winning Metropolitan Opera production of Akhnaten and 2021 Grammy® Award-winning recording of Richard Danielpour’s oratorio The Passion of Yeshuawith the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, performing at the National Library of Congress to honor legendary fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg as she received the 2022 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award, her sold-out Carnegie Hall Recital debut, her role debut of Kasturbai in Satyagraha at LA Opera, and her debuts at Dutch National Opera and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Ms. Bridges also created the role of Josefa Segovia in the world premiere of John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West at San Francisco Opera, and performed in the world premiere of Bel Canto at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, an opera by Jimmy Lopez based on the novel by Ann Patchett.
Bridges is a recipient of the prestigious 2018 Sphinx Medal of Excellence Award, a 2016 Richard Tucker Career Grant, first prize winner at the 2016 Francisco Viñas International Competition, first prize winner at the 2015 Gerda Lissner Competition, a recipient of the 2013 Sullivan Foundation Award, a 2012 Marian Anderson award winner, the recipient of the 2011 Sara Tucker Study Grant, the recipient of the 2009 Richard F. Gold Grant from The Shoshana Foundation, and the winner of the 2008 Leontyne Price Foundation Competition. J’Nai completed a three-year residency with the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, represented the United States at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
A native of Tacoma, Washington, she earned her Master of Music degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Manhattan School of Music.
Information on specific events coming soon.
JAKE RUNESTAD
COMPOSER + CONDUCTOR
April 24 – 26, 2025
Jake Runestad is an award-winning composer and conductor who believes in the power of music for positive change. Jake’s “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works have been featured in thousands of performances worldwide and have earned a 2022 EMMY® Award for Musical Composition and a 2020 GRAMMY® Award nomination.
Considered “one of the best of the younger American composers” (Chicago Tribune), EMMY®-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated composer and conductor Jake Runestad has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as VOCES8, Washington National Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, the Pacific Symphony & Chorale, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, the National Chorus of Korea, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Seraphic Fire, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and many more. “The Hope of Loving,” the first album dedicated to Jake’s choral music, recorded by professional American choir Conspirare, received a GRAMMY® nomination. In 2019, Jake became one of the youngest composers ever awarded the prestigious Raymond C. Brock commission by the American Choral Directors Association. “Earth Symphony,” Jake’s ground-breaking choral symphony written with librettist Todd Boss, earned a 2022 EMMY® Award for musical composition. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and conducting engagements, enabling him to share his passion for creativity, expressivity, and community with musicians around the world.
Dubbed a “choral rockstar” by American Public Media, Jake is one of the most frequently performed composers of concert music. His thoughtful and compelling works “that speak to some of the most pressing and moving issues of our time” (Star Tribune), have been heard in thousands of performances across the globe. Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts. Find out more at: JakeRunestad.com
Information on specific events coming soon.
SEASON 3: Cali Immersive Residency Program 2023-34 Highlights
SEASON 2: Cali Immersive Residency Program 2022-23 Highlights
SEASON 1: Cali Immersive Residency Program 2021-22 Highlights