Nicole Mitchell/Paul Plimley

Hailed as “one of Chicago’s more inspiring jazz visionaries” (Chicago Tribune), flutist/composer Nicole Mitchell explores new sounds and creative techniques. She is the founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings. Down Beat magazine’s Critics Poll Winner for Rising Star Flutist 2006, she has performed with George Lewis, Anthony Braxton, Miya Masaoka, and Indigo Trio (Hamid Drake, Harrison Bankhead). She will be a resident artist of the Festival and conductor of the TD Canada Trust High School Jazz Intensive. Pianist and hometown hero Paul Plimley stretches the boundaries as an improviser. He’s assimilated jazz traditions along with contemporary classical approaches to create a formidable and highly personal sonic architecture. A cofounder of the NOW Orchestra, Plimley’s collaborators include such diverse artists as Han Bennink, Lisle Ellis, Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Joey Baron, Trichy Sankaran, and Henry Kaiser, among others. He’s released many CDs including Kaleidescopes, one of the first and most convincing interpretations of Ornette Coleman’s music on the piano.