Ravinia Steans Music Institute 2019

RAVINIA’S STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE 15 Billy Childs , Program Director and composer/piano Billy Childs was born in Los Angeles on March 8th, 1957. In 1975, he entered USC as a composition major, graduating four years later with a bachelor of music in composition under the tutelage of Robert Linn. Since then Mr. Childs has received a number of orchestral and chamber commissions from, among others: Esa- Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Kronos Quartet, the Dorian Wind Quintet, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the American Brass Quintet, the Ying Quartet, the Lyris Quartet, Anne Akiko Meyers, Rachel Barton Pine, and Inna Faliks. Thus far, in his career, Childs has garnered sixteen Grammy nominations and five Grammy awards. In 2006, Childs was awarded a Chamber MusicAmerica composer’s grant, and in 2009 was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2013 he was awarded the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. He has been awarded a composers award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2015). Childs has also been named “Outstanding Alumnus” of the Thornton School of Music (sharing that honor with, among others, Morton Lauridsen, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Marilyn Horne). Childs is currently serving as president of Chamber Music America. In 2017, Childs released his most recent recording, Rebirth , which won the 2018 Grammy award for best instrumental jazz album. As a pianist Childs has performed with, among others, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, Renee Fleming, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, Chick Corea, the Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, the Dorian Wind Quintet, Ying Quartet, the American Brass Quintet, and Dave Holland. Rufus Reid , Program Director and composer/bass For the last 50 years, Rufus Reid has been a consistent, formidable, and influential presence in the jazz world as a bassist and educator. His performances and recordings with Eddie Harris, Dexter Gordon, Andrew Hill, The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra and Quartet, Kenny Barron, Stan Getz, J. J. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Jack DeJohnette, to name but a few, has cemented his stature as one of the great living deans of the jazz bass. A distinguished educator as well, for 20 years Rufus was Director of the Jazz Studies Program at William Paterson University and was instrumental in building the program’s international reputation as one of the leading jazz schools in the world. He has recorded more than 400 albums and a dozen albums as a leader, and authored a seminal text and DVD for bass methodology, The Evolving Bassist. Rufus’ reputation continues to evolve as a composer. In 2008, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition. He has written for jazz ensembles of varying sizes, solo bass, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras, and has received two Grammy Nominations for his recording, QUIET PRIDE- The Elizabeth Catlett Project and a composition from that recording. Rufus Reid continues to be The Evolving Bassist. Steve Wilson , alto and soprano saxophones Highly regarded as a musician’s musician, Steve Wilson has brought his distinctive sound to more than 100 recordings and ensembles led by such celebrated artists as Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, George Duke, Michael Brecker, Dianne Reeves, Billy Childs, Rufus Reid, Maria Schneider, Joe Henderson, among many others. Wilson is a respected leader of many diverse ensembles, including his quartet’s Wilsonian’s Grain, with their recording Live in New York: The Vanguard Sessions and Steve Wilson & The Analogue Band, with their vinyl release Sit Back, Relax & Unwind . He is one-half of three dynamic duos, with pianists Bruce Barth (they have one recording, Home ) and Billy Childs, and with drummer Lewis Nash. Wilson and Nash released their first recording, Duologue (MCG Jazz) in 2014. He co-leads a sublime and elegant trio with Renee Rosnes and Peter Washington. Wilson has seven recordings under his own name, leading and collaborating with stellar artists including Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Rene Marie, Ray Drummond, Cyrus Chestnut, Greg Hutchinson, and Ben Riley. An in-demand and passionate educator, Wilson is the Director of Jazz Studies at City College of New York; and he conducts clinics and master classes around the world. RSMI JAZZ FACULTY