Roscoe Mitchell

Among the first wave of composer-musicians who helped establish the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Roscoe Mitchell also cofounded the world-renowned Art Ensemble of Chicago. From the mid-1960s onward, he helped create the body of music that ushered in the post-Coltrane period. His innovations as a solo performer, his role in the resurrection of long-neglected woodwind instruments of extreme register, and his reassertion of the composer into what has traditionally been an improvisational form have placed him at the forefront of contemporary music since that time. Now, 50 years into his recording career, he continues to propel experimental and free music forward. He has received numerous awards and grants from institutions such as the National Endowment for the Arts; Wisconsin Arts Board; Vilas Foundation; the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique Musique (IRCAM) in Paris, France. He founded the Creative Arts Collective (CAC) of East Lansing, Michigan, and he is the founder/leader of the Sound Ensemble and a cofounder of the trio Space.