Saxophonist-composer Immanuel Wilkins and the Lutosławski Quartet to hit Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Coastal Jazz also announced the second year of the New Improvisers Studio

COASTAL JAZZ HAS just announced a performance by saxophonist-composer Immanuel Wilkins with the Lutosławski Quartet at the 40th Vancouver International Jazz Festival on June 20 at Western Front. The show marks the Canadian premiere of a new work that Brooklyn-based, Philadelphia-raised Wilkins has composed for the group. Tickets go on sale to the public on April 3.

The Lutosławski Quartet is one of Europe’s foremost contemporary classical string quartets, specializing in the music of their namesake, Witold Lutosławski. It features Roksana Kwaśnikowska and Marcin Markowicz on violin, Artur Rozmysłowicz on viola, and Maciej Młodawski on cello, performing a blend of contemporary repertoire with classical, Romantic, and jazz music.

In the same announcement, Coastal Jazz confirmed the second year of the New Improvisers Studio, a week-long educational initiative for 10 young musicians aged 17 to 24 that supports collective explorations in improvisation through the mentorship of a Coastal Jazz artist in residence—Filipinx-American composer, percussionist, and sound artist Susie Ibarra—along with guests from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

The program will culminate in a performance open to the public on June 28 at Western Front.

You can find more information about the New Improvisers Studio at coastaljazz.ca.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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