Braxton

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Recent Wesleyan News The New York Times: "Anthony Braxton Composes Together Past, Present and Future" Anthony Braxton, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, Emeritus, is profiled. Among other ongoing projects, Braxton has spent much of the past four years working on his newest opera, “Trillium L,” which, he says, “is a five-day opera”—if it is ever performed. 2. Los Angeles Review of Books: "That Bit of Philosophy in All of Us" Tushar Irani, associate professor of philosophy, associate professor of letters,…

"Tyshawn Sorey Defeats Preconceptions," proclaims the The New Yorker headline on a profile of Wesleyan's newest assistant professor of music, Tyshawn Sorey MA '11, who will join the Wesleyan faculty this fall. "The prodigious multi-instrumentalist and composer transcends the borders of jazz, classical, and experimental music." (more…)

Composer, saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, pianist and music educator Anthony Braxton was named a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for his unique approaches to jazz. The award is considered the nation's highest honor in the field. Braxton, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, will receive a $25,000 award along with the honor. According to the NEA, Braxton's compositions "almost defy categorization through his use of the improvised and rhythmic nature of jazz but moving it in a more avant-garde direction, such as in his Ghost Trance Music compositions." Braxton, who was born in Chicago, Ill. has redefined…

Anthony Braxton, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, has been honored with the 2013 Doris Duke Artist Award, one of the country’s most prestigious awards for individual artists. It comes with a $225,000 honorarium. Braxton is a composer, saxophonist, teacher and philosopher with a career spanning half a century. He is also the founder of The Tri-Centric Foundation, a nonprofit that cultivates and inspires the next generation of creative artists to pursue their own visions with the kind of idealism and integrity Braxton has demonstrated throughout his long and distinguished career. The foundation also documents, archives, preserves and disseminates…

Anthony Braxton, the John Spencer Camp Professor of Music, received a New Music USA award in the Letters of Distinction category for 2013. This honor has been awarded annually since 1964 and recognizes those who have made a significant contribution to the field of contemporary American music. Braxton is the founder of The Tri-Centric Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that cultivates and inspires the next generation of creative artists to pursue their own visions with the kind of idealism and integrity Braxton has demonstrated throughout his long and distinguished career. The foundation also documents, archives, preserves and disseminates Braxton’s scores, writings, performances…

Rob Rosenthal, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, the John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, announced that six faculty members are being appointed to endowed professorships, effective July 1. They include: Anthony Braxton and Neely Bruce, professors of music, are being jointly awarded the John Spencer Camp Professorship of Music, established by a Wesleyan Trustee in 1929. Jill Morawski, professor of psychology, professor of science in society, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, will become the Wilbur Fisk Osborne Professor. The Osborne Professorship was established with a gift from Wesleyan’s 1861 class valedictorian. Laurie Nussdorfer, professor of history, professor of…

Anthony Braxton, professor of music was honored at the “Tri-Centric Modeling: Past, Present and Future” benefit concerts June 18-19 in Greenwich Village and Brooklyn, N.Y. Braxton joined the performance at points, playing with his former students Taylor Ho Bynum ’98, James Fei ’99, Mary Halvorson ’02, and Chris Jonas '99. Proceeds from the concerts benefited the nonprofit Tri-Centric Foundation, set up to archive Braxton’s work and perpetuate his exuberant legacy. Braxton performed excerpts from his new opera, “Trillium E," which featured a cross-section of past and present collaborators, including pianist Marilyn Crispell, drummer Gerry Hemingway and cornetist Ho Bynum. In…

Drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey will take an extended break to study composition with "avant-garde avatar" Anthony Braxton, professor of music, in a master’s program at Wesleyan. According to a July 2009 article in Time Out New York, Sorey shares an earnest, seeking quality with Braxton, who also has upset convention, particularly in terms of what kind of music African-Americans schooled in jazz are supposed to make. “Quiet as it’s been kept,” Sorey says, “people would tell me to my face that this is not like ‘real’ black music. To me, it’s a very serious problem.” Sorey has had stints with headstrong…

Wesleyan in the News

The New Yorker Profiles New Wes Faculty Member Sorey MA ’11

Braxton Receives the Nation’s Highest Honor in Jazz

Braxton Honored with Prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award

Braxton Honored by New Music USA for Contribution to Contemporary Music

6 Faculty to be Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Braxton Honored at Tri-Centric Foundation Benefit Show

Braxton to Teach Drummer/Composer Tyshawn Sorey