Marilyn Crispell graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music. She studied composition and classical piano. Marilyn has lived in Woodstock, New York, since 1977, when she moved to the Creative Music Studio to teach and study. Her first exposure to jazz was through Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane and other contemporary composers and players. She was a member for ten years of the Anthony Braxton Quartet, the Reggie Workman Ensemble, and a guest with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. She was a member of the NOW Orchestra, Vancouver, Canada in 2005 and 2006 and co-director at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute. Crispell is a soloist, leader and producer of her own jazz groups. She has also recorded and performed extensively with many well-known musicians on the American and international jazz scene. Crispell has recorded and performed music by Robert Cogan and Pozzi Escot as well as John Cage and Pauline Oliveros. She also performed and recorded music from Anthony Davis, Manfred Niehaus, Manfred Niehaus, Manfred Niehaus, Manfred Niehaus, Manfred Niehaus, Manfred Niehäuser, and Manfred Niehaus (including four performances with the New York City Opera’s opera “X”. In addition to playing, she has taught improvisation workshops and given lecture/demonstrations at universities and art centers in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and has collaborated with videographers, filmmakers, dancers and poets. Crispell was the recipient of three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships (1988-1989; 1994-1995, and 2006-2007), a Mary Flagler Charitable Trust composition commission (1988-1989), as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship (2006). She was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1996 by the New England Conservatory. In 2004, she was also cited as one of their 100 most distinguished alumni over the past 100 years. from http://marilyncrispell.com
