CRS is delighted to present M³ (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians)’ Winter Solstice 2021 Cohort member Jessica Ackerley (guitar) with Sarah Manning (saxophone) and Alma Laprida (tromba marina) on June 18, 2023 at 5pm in the award-winning White Room at CRS. An audience Q&A will take place following the concert.

This trio’s music is mostly centered around improvisation with a melding of modern jazz and ambient music. But the ensemble is highly unique with the addition of the string instrument tromba marina, especially in this context because it was originally an instrument for Rennaissance music.

A tromba marina, marine trumpet or nuns’ fiddle, (Fr. trompette marine; Ger. Marientrompete, Trompetengeige, Nonnengeige or Trumscheit, Pol. tubmaryna) is a triangular bowed string instrument used in medieval and Renaissance Europe that was highly popular in the 15th century in England and survived into the 18th century. The tromba marina consists of a body and neck in the shape of a truncated cone resting on a triangular base. It is usually four to seven feet long, and is a monochord (although some versions have sympathetically-vibrating strings). It is played without stopping the string, but playing natural harmonics by lightly touching the string with the thumb at nodal points. Its name comes from its trumpet like sound due to the unusual construction of the bridge, and the resemblance of its contour to the marine speaking-trumpet of the Middle Ages. — from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tickets are $20 general admission and $10 for students and are available in advance on eventbrite.com. If not sold out, tickets will also be available at the door for cash only. Some seating may be on blankets on the floor. 

The concert will take place in the award-winning White Room at CRS. Please note that the venue is accessible only via a flight of stairs and is not wheelchair accessible. Proof of vaccination is not required but the wearing of masks is encouraged.

The White Room at CRS is located between 12th & 13th streets, above Think Coffee, in Manhattan. The nearest subway station is 14th St / Union Square (4/5/6, N/R/Q/W, L).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Sarah Manning is a saxophonist and composer. She has released four critically acclaimed albums. Harmonious Creature (Posi-Tone 2014) received 4 stars in Down Beat Magazine, and was on multiple jazz top ten lists including the Los Angeles Times. She is a recipient of a 2021 NYSCA composer commission and a MAP Fund 2020 and 2021 grantee for We Will Not Be Composed, a new multimedia work with author and activist Soraya Chemaly to challenge perceptions of women’s anger in America. In addition to being a MacDowell Fellow in composition (2012, 2021), she can most recently be heard on William Hooker’s 2021 release Big Moon.

https://www.sarahmanningmusic.com

Alma Laprida explores the territories among composition, improvisation, performance and installation. She works with trumpet marine, field recordings, synthesizers, lyre and other non- conventional instruments and objects. Her work was presented in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Italy, Mexico and the United States.

Alma released three solo albums, two collaboration albums and several pieces in compilations. She’s currently part of Hypnotized Chickens, the Bureau of Sensory Affairs and GEXLAT. After living and working in Buenos Aires for ten years, she’s been based in Maryland, USA, since 2021.

https://almalaprida.wordpress.com

Jessica Ackerley is a Canadian guitarist, improviser and composer based in Hawai’i and a current PhD candidate at University of Hawai’i after a decade of living in New York City. Ackerley continually develops a hybrid musical language drawing on the influences of Black American Music and avant-garde improvisers, as well as the culture of the thriving New York City and Toronto rock and noise scenes. Since 2017, Ackerley has released thirteen albums to much critical acclaim with features in Wire Magazine, Pitchfork, BBC Radio, and Bandcamp. They has been commissioned by Adult Swim, M³ (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians, and New Music USA as well as received funding from Canada Council for the Arts and Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

https://www.jessicaackerley.com

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

CRS (CENTER FOR REMEMBERING & SHARING) is a spiritual healing and art center founded in 2004 by the writer/lecturer/spiritual counselor Yasuko Kasaki and artist Christopher Pelham. Our mission is guided by A Course in Miracles (ACIM). ACIM says that recognizing that you and your brother are actually one is the only way to experience peace. The mission of CRS is to promote the awareness that limitless creativity lives within each of us. We train minds to recognize the light in themselves and others and provide them opportunities to share their inner vision through the healing and creative arts. Since its founding CRS has provided numerous residencies and performance and exhibition opportunities to artists from all over the world.

Currently, CRS is a multi-year sponsor of M³ (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians), a platform created to empower, elevate, normalize and give visibility to women, non-binary musicians and those of other historically underrepresented gender identities in intersection with race, sexuality, or ability across generations in the US and worldwide, through a radical model of mentorship and musical collaborative commissions.

https://crsny.org