Faculty Jorrit Dijkstra
Dutch saxophonist and composer Jorrit Dijkstra has been an active member of Amsterdam's vivid jazz and improvisation scene since 1985, before moving to Boston early 2002. The critical press compares his clear, flexible sound and lyrical improvisation to Ornette Coleman, Paul Desmond and John Zorn, showing the broad spectrum of his saxophone style. Besides the alto saxophone, he plays the Lyricon and uses electronics to process his saxophone sounds live on stage. Jorrit Dijkstra studied improvisation and composition with Misha Mengelberg, Steve Coleman, Steve Lacy and Lee Hyla. He has performed extensively in Europe and North America, and he has released five CDs of his own music on the Songlines, BVHaast, and Trytone labels. He has worked with Anthony Braxton, Gerry Hemingway, Marty Ehrlich, Herb Robertson, Jim Black, Barre Phillips, Marc Ducret, John Butcher, Willem Breuker, and Guus Janssen, among others. In 1995, he received the prestigious Podium Prize from the Dutch Jazz Foundation, and in 1998, a Fulbright grant to study and teach at the New England Conservatory in Boston. In Amsterdam, Jorrit is currently co-leading the cool-jazz Quartet Sound-Lee!, and in Boston, he is active with Curt Newton, James Coleman, Charlie Kohlhase and Stephen Drury. He has scored several documentary films, as well as music for theatre and dance.
