February Concerts Introduce NEC's New Jazz Studies Co-Chair, Internationally Acclaimed Saxophonist, Flutist, And Composer Anna Webber

Internationally acclaimed saxophonist, flutist, and composer Anna Webber, the new co-chair of New England Conservatory's Jazz Studies Department, brings her multiple talents to Jordan Hall audiences for two February concerts.

Webber's teaching and coaching skills, excellence as a performer, and original compositions combine in events that reflect Webber's expansive musical imagination and demonstrate why the Guggenheim Fellow has been called “visionary and captivating” (Wall Street Journal).

• Anna Webber Residency Concert on Thursday, February 8, 7:30 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Free admission, ticket required. Information at necmusic.edu. 

Saxophonist, flutist, and composer Anna Webber, whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music, has been widely heralded for her “visionary and captivating” music (Wall Street Journal). An award-winning composer, Webber has released numerous critically acclaimed albums, most recently 2023's Shimmer Wince. This concert is the culmination of Webber's NEC residency. She will perform with NEC students she has coached, as well as with her Simple Trio featuring pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer John Hollenbeck.

• NEC Jazz Orchestra in The Music of Anna Webber and Angela Morris on Thursday, February 29, 7:30 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Free admission, ticket required. Information at necmusic.edu.

In 2015, Anna Webber and Angela Morris brought together their arsenal of skills as composers-performers-conductors to form the Webber/Morris Big Band, an ensemble of eighteen stellar New York improvisers who bring their combined artistic vision into reality. Their debut album, Both Are True, was named as one of the top 10 jazz albums of 2020 by the New York Times. Their music, though scored for traditional jazz big band, is rooted in minimalism, noise, pop, and the sounds of today. Integrating improvisation and composed material in unorthodox ways and using extra-musical sources such as poetry or mathematics– here the traditional big band sound mutates into something unpredictable and exciting. In this concert, Webber and Morris conduct the NEC Jazz Orchestra playing the repertoire of the Webber/Morris Big Band. 

Anna Webber (b. 1984) is a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. Her 2023 album, Shimmer Wince, explores Just Intonation in a jazz setting, and is a follow-up to her equally acclaimed release Idiom. That album earned Webber the accolade of being named the top composer of the year by JazzTimes in 2021. Her music has been called "visionary and captivating," (Wall Street Journal), and “heady music [that] appeals to the rest of the body” (NPR). Her album Clockwise was voted #6 Best Album of 2019 in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll, and her 2020 release, Both Are True (Greenleaf Music), co-led with saxophonist/composer Angela Morris, was named a top ten best release of 2020 by The New York Times. She was recently named a 2021 Berlin Prize Fellow and was voted the top “Rising Star” flutist in the 2020 DownBeat Critics Poll. 

The band featured on Shimmer Wince is a new group, consisting of Adam O'Farrill on trumpet, Mariel Roberts on cello, Elias Stemeseder on synthesizer, and Lesley Mok on drums. A prolific bandleader, Webber also has been working with her Simple Trio, featuring John Hollenbeck and Matt Mitchell, for over a decade, as well as leading many other groups, such as a large ensemble, a septet, and the aforementioned big band. She has performed and/or recorded with projects led by artists such as Dan Weiss, Roscoe Mitchell, Ranja Swaminathan, Jen Shyu, Dave Douglas, Matt Mitchell, Ches Smith, John Hollenbeck, and Trevor Dunn, among others. 

Webber is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She has additionally been honored with the Margaret Whitton Award (administered by the Jazz Gallery); grants from the Copland Fund (2021 & 2019), the Shifting Foundation (2015), the New York Foundation for the Arts (2017), the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Canada Council for the Arts; and residencies from Exploring the Metropolis (2019), the MacDowell Colony (2017 & 2020), the Millay Colony for the Arts (2015), and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2014). Webber is originally from British Columbia.

Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867, the New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston's rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians' impact on advancing our shared humanity, and empowers students to meet today's changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance.

As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz and contemporary improvisation. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, it empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC's mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, the Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education delivers training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students and adults.

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