Stephen Haynes and Joe Morris present Improvisations III

Sunday, December 4, 2011 | 2 PM
$15/$12 members

An afternoon of solos, duets, trios and quartet improvisations.

The Improvisations concert series is an artist-curated performance series centering on improvised music. The aim is to create a listening environment that will allow the audience intimate and deep contact with the music and those who make it. Come early and stay late, listen to and speak with the performing artists.

Stephen Haynes and Joe Morris present Improvisations III

Yasmine Azaiez violin
Ben Stapp tuba
Joe Morris guitar
Stephen Haynes trumpet and cornet

About Yasmine Azaiez and Ben Stapp

Yasmine Azaiez
Born in 1988, Tunisian violinist Yasmine Azaiez began playing the violin under the Suzuki method. Age eight she gained a place at the Yehudi Yehudi Menuhin School in London, where she studied under Mr. Maceij Rakowski for eleven years from 1997 to 2008. In May 2008, Azaiez presented a solo performances in Rabat, Morocco at the Mawazzine Festival and in Boston's Jordan Hall. Since then, she has performed to high acclaim throughout the Middle East and Asia. Yasmine Azaiez is currently pursuing a Masters in Classical Violin as well as Jazz, Contemporary Improvisation and World Music at the New England Conservatory in Boston.

Watch a preview of Yasmine Azaiez

Ben Stapp
Tubist and composer, Ben Stapp, is on the forefront in New York's creative music scene. With his debut CD release featuring Tony Malaby and Satoshi Takeishi, he has received a critic's pic from the New York Times and honorable mention in the Village Voice. All About Jazz praised, "most certainly one to watch," and "a debut of a fresh new sound." Ben also directs and composes for his large ensemble, the Zozimos Collective. As a composer his works have been played all across Europe and in New York. Opus Nine will be performing his piece "Atsumori" in September 2011. He studied with his mentor, the late Tommy Johnson (voice of the Jaws' theme and more) at UCLA. In LA he was awarded a fellowship to play principal tuba in the Henri Mancini Orchestra. Ben obtained his masters from RNCM in Manchester, England where he studied with tuba legend Roger Bobo, and for composition, Anthony Gilbert.

Watch a preview of Ben Stapp